The 7 Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make When Running Daily Deals

Running a deal with platforms like Groupon and LivingSocial can be lesson in preparation and follow-through for businesses.

While consumers simply see emails, Web pages and social media updates touting hefty discounts on various products and services, merchants must be ready to commit to a full process that involves a lot of moving parts behind the scenes.

This means there are more than a few ways businesses can go wrong when running a deal. To help local merchants run a profitable and smooth online deal, here are seven mistakes to avoid.

Not knowing your own needs
It’s easy for businesses to get caught up in what potential customers might want when running a deal, but this can often be a hazard that distracts businesses from focusing on what they need.

“One big mistake companies make when running a deal is not knowing enough about their own needs,” says Dave Bona, vice president of partnership marketing at Access Development. “Sure, everyone just needs more customers, but they can serve their causes better by knowing specifically where to turn the dials.”

Bona uses a restaurant as an example, citing its need to know when their lunch hours are, how many tables it has available during the first hour, how many tables are open during their peak time, what each table is worth and how much a customer is expected to spend, among other things. “These are all questions that, when answered, can give a restaurant owner a clearer idea of what type of deal to run.”

Being too proud to discount as much as you should
Smaller merchants can often let their pride get in the way of their determination of how much they have to discount their product or service to get consumers to bite. “Bigger, established brands can get away with a ’10 percent off’ deal,” Bona says. “For brands that are newer or just starting out and aren’t as popular among consumers, it makes more sense to do a more aggressive offer, like a ’50 percent off’ deal, to get people in the door.”

Using complicated terms and conditions
Reading isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but reading confusing terms and conditions rife with unintelligible jargon is a cup of poison no one wants to drink.

“For merchants, it’s imperative to keep their deals clean and easy to ensure a positive consumer experience,” says Brad Brodigan, president of merchant services for Rearden Commerce. “The more complicated, the more likely it will frustrate consumers. Avoid unnecessary terms and conditions.”

Forgetting who the deal’s supposed to benefit
Yes, running a deal is inherently beneficial to consumers who choose to purchase the voucher, but this doesn’t mean businesses should forget who’s No. 1