Skip to main content

Google Offers’ inaugural business says ‘So far, so good’

floyd's coffee shopAs you may have heard, Google Offers launched yesterday and rolled out its first deal with 70-percent off at Floyd’s Coffee Shop in Portland, Oregon. Google’s take on deal-a-day has been in development for some time now, and it was clear the Internet titan was serious about its own application with its heavy-handed attempt to buy Groupon. After a spurned acquisition and social media stalls, the introduction of Google Offers has been met with ample fanfare.

But how is it really going? According to Floyd’s Coffee Shop owner Jack Inglis, it’s been something of a mixed bag. Inglis says that as they watched the number of coupons bought rolling up, he “realized the enormity of this.” After the deal went live around 8am PST, a customer walked in to redeem the discount – only to be turned away, as the daily deals are only accepted a day after purchase. And this wasn’t a singular situation: Inglis says four dozen coupon-happy customers had to be told to come back the next day. “But that’s why it’s a beta test,” Inglis says. “Mid-day, they changed how the ad read.”

Related Videos

The entire experience is a learning process for Inglis and Floyd’s. He’s never used Groupon or similar sites for his business (although he’s personally bought a few), and until Google Offers, a daily deals site sales team hadn’t approached him. When Google came calling roughly a month ago with the opportunity to be a part of Offers, something about the venture appealed to him. “I think that they’re [in] a position to do things with information that almost no one is. And it didn’t take any time to see that if they were going to be a coupon vendor then they would have great advantages.”

As for the coupon’s current effect on Floyd’s business, Inglis says it’s “not as big of a pop today as expected.” Which may not be a bad thing: The idea of customers holding onto the coupon and coming in to the coffee shop more intermittently would benefit Floyd’s more than a massive, sudden influx. “How quickly people redeem it has a big effect on our ability to absorb that lack of income. That’s what I was chewing on yesterday: If everyone comes in within the next three or four days, it’s going to be rough.”

When asked whether he would work with Google Offers again, Inglis says “Sure” but that he wants to see how this plays out. But if he were to ever use a daily discount site in the future, he says Google has his business. It doesn’t hurt that Floyd’s position as the inaugural local shop has received almost as much media attention as the new site itself. Inglis has also been happy with Google’s advertising team, and remarks that the company clearly knows how to reach people.

It isn’t just Google’s marketing prowess either. Inglis gives the Google Offers’ team a glowing recommendation, saying they’ve been an incredibly valuable resource. Many businesses have complained about deal-a-day services’ lack of personal involvement and assistance with complications, and it’s one element Google seems to be taking seriously with its extremely local presence. Inglis reveals the company’s team has been on site to anticipate and help with any foreseeable hiccups. “So far, so good,” he says.

Editors' Recommendations

Facebook experiments with ‘buy button’ for Shopify merchants
facebook with buy button for shopify

Facebook has experimented with different online commerce approaches in the past. Now, it’s settling on a deal with Shopify for its latest experiment. Recently, according to TechCrunch, the social network has unveiled a "buy button" on both page posts and promoted-post ads for Shopify merchants. The implications of this could be potentially huge: If this Shopify experiment proves successful, Facebook could expand this model to almost everyone.

Shoppers who are browsing Facebook news-feed pages and see Shopify page posts or promoted-post ads, and like what they see, could purchase from the retailer directly through Facebook, according to a Shopify blog announcement. This eliminates the usual step of having to leave the social media site, go to the retailer’s site, and complete the purchase there.

Read more
Twitter Offers stores coupons on your credit card for in-store purchases
twitter hacker dccc suspended

The tweets are talking and the tweets are offering. Today, Twitter announced a new feature, Twitter Offers, which allows users to select offers they see on their timeline through Twitter, and redeem the deals offline for cash back savings.

The inner workings of convenience usually reveal a complex network of services, and Twitter Offer is no different. When a Twitter user sees a coupon offer from a participating brand on their timeline, they can click, "Get Offer," and the coupon will be stored in their registered debit or credit card. Consumers will need to add their card information after the first purchase and it "will be encrypted and safely stored," according to Twitter.

Read more
How to get the most out of Pinterest for your small business
pinterest

Remember that guy who created the perfect wedding for his wife using her Pinterest? No. Well remember that time you got a bunch of new customers using Pinterest? You should. It's happening, this internet giant is making the jump from time-waster to marketing tool with the rest of it's social media friends, and it is time for all small business owners to get on board. 
Now before you completely write the rest of this article off saying, "But Pinterest is for pictures of wedding cake and dogs," you're right. But that doesn't mean it can't be used to bump up your business as well. It is okay to use Facebook and Twitter, why not just use the same log in and password on a different site? Just take a gander at these interesting uses for Pinterest and think about how they could make any business more awesome. 
1. Make boards about things customers wouldn't think about

Most companies post photos of their product or services, but it is way more fun to think out of the box, or boards ... I'm not sorry. Follow the lead of Deschutes Brewery in Oregon. Their page has boards for recipes using beer, lists of events they are putting on and even how to reuse old bottles around the house. This is a fun way to extend your brand and make your company even more useful and accessible. Deschutes even has a board for beer news so people can learn more about their product. Become the go-to for information on your product while also producing some really interesting content. Pinterest is hip and educational. 
2. Contests

Read more