This is amazing. And is so much fun. It shows the power of language in shifting perceptions about an everyday experience we take for granted. And it shows actual people (not corporations) authentically co-opting commerce to do something good and joyful and connected. What an incredible way to re-invent for the better an experience we take for granted. Cheers to Bluffton, South Carolina.
.@Mint iPhone: when I edit transaction & go back to list, take me where I was, not to top of list. Have to scroll & load over & over.
(This receipt shows a discount of $612.65 on dinner from Club A Steakhouse in Manhattan…from a Facebook post for Savored.com.)
So here’s what I want to know: How can restaurants that participate in Savored.com (Facebook | Twitter) and Restaurant.com (Facebook | Twitter) actually draw enough business to cover the costs of these extraordinary discounts? I get that this is a marketing expense, and not every check is discounted, which reduces the average per-check discount. And to fill more seats and possibly create some momentum, perhaps you’re willing to eat into your huge profits on alcohol. But I can’t help feeling that:
- This is a tactic for desperate restaurants on their last leg that are probably deeply in debt (and that I probably don’t want to go to because they’re not good enough to make it without discounting), and;
- This cannot be profitable, particularly if people return and get the discount every time, and/or if the average bar tab is low.
I can see trying this tactic for a defined period of time to fill empty tables if you believe that your restaurant is brilliant but that not enough people know about it. (Although watching Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey would lead me to believe that usually it’s not an awareness problem, but a food and/or ownership problem.)
But more often, I see restaurants participating over long periods of time, and I don’t understand how they continue to absorb the cost of the promotion. I wonder if there is a typical break-even point? Average length of participation? Rates of failure for businesses who discount like this? I’d be curious to see some profitability analysis of these sites and promotions. Sounds like a great thesis topic for a PhD in economics. Short of signing on for that, I’d welcome hearing from anyone with expertise in this area. @BrianRaganUX on Twitter.
It’s subtle, but it’s a nice effect for a full page video player/browser: the left nav and Other Videos nav on the bottom dim unless you roll over them. It helps the video stand out, and provides fewer visual distractions while watching it. Subtle. Not setting the world on fire for video online. But a nice touch.
Now if they could only dim that Citibank ad…it’s like a flashlight to the face during the movie.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/24/theater/100000000742149/brantleybookofmormon.html
Google, you drive me nuts with this: when I’m in Bethany Beach, DE (before this screenshot I clicked the current location arrow and it showed me where I was in BB), and I search “Parkway” to get the phone number of a restaurant a half mile away, why are you giving me as a result the town of Parkway-South Sacramento, CA? This happens quite a bit. Please fix your algorithms.
Yelp: stop showing me this screen. You’re wasting my time. I already have the app. I’m on the mobile site for a reason (usually because I clicked on a Google search result). At least let me click to never show this screen again. Maybe better: deliver the mobile result (I might want it vs the app for some reason), but ask me if I’d like to see the page in the mobile app instead (I might think that’s a brilliant, time-saving idea under certain circumstances).
iOS calendar, why can’t I tap on my meeting location and have you serve up a map? Fix this, so I don’t have to: -tap Edit -tap the title/location area -long tap the location field -tap Select All -tap Copy -tap the home button -find and tap Maps -tap Search (if i’m not there already) or Edit if I’m in the directions area) -long tap into the field -tap Select All -tap Paste -tap Search or Route button Apple, save me 12 steps, please. Provide a link to the meeting location when you recognize that it’s an address.
We’re not paying $16 a month for Netflix. And let’s face it, I’m not becoming a Blockbuster customer (too much brand baggage). We’ll pick Netflix streaming or DVDs, until a great competitor comes to our attention. In the meantime, what should we do? Here’s my analysis:
We have a DVD at home, unwatched, from last August, so clearly, making time to watch this particular DVD is an issue. Yes we want to see the move, but it’s usually “not this movie tonight.” We’ll sometimes stream a movie we’d rather like to watch instead, or just go to the movie theater. It’s all about instant choice.
+1: Streaming.
92 of 125 movies in our Netflix queue are DVDs. As hard as it is to make time to watch a DVD, I don’t want to have to plan two days in advance to watch a movie…it’s an escape when we need it, not a meeting to plan in advance. Nonetheless, there is no video store anywhere near us to watch a hard DVD when we need one, and most of these movies can’t be streamed from anywhere.
+1: DVDs (irritatingly, with advance planning required)
WINNER FOR NOW (see update, below): DVDs. And anything we would have otherwise streamed, we’ll rent through iTunes or Amazon or anything but Netflix, because it won’t be more than a couple a month (based on our history), which should pull us under the price we would have had to pay with Netflix.
FUTURE WINNER: Streaming. Either because all moves will eventually become streaming enabled, or because with the outrage this pricing change has invited, it’s only a matter of time before the local video store businesses rise again to conquer the digital age. In fact, there’s a Blockbuster kiosk in the drug store around the corner. Maybe I’ll pinch my nose and see if they some of the titles on our Netflix DVD only list.
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Update:
- The Blockbuster kiosk is wildly insufficient. Crap selection.
- Maybe the streaming option is better for now (because four seasons of The Tudors are there—something that our cable-less selves have been wanting to watch). That will probably be true for other high-quality shows that don’t appear on Hulu or the network sites. We can’t get The Tudors on DVD from Netflix, and we’d otherwise have to buy each episode on iTunes, which would massively defeat the savings gained by sticking with the DVD-only Netflix plan.
- I realized today that SOME, but definitely not all, of the movies only available on Netflix via DVD might be available to stream through Amazon.com or on iTunes.
- If we really want to see a DVD, we can order it on eBay (for example with Woody Allen’s Match Point—something you can’t stream on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Blockbuster or Walmart).
- Worst case scenario: we can rent a DVD from Blockbuster (through the mail) for $4.99, with no other commitment. We do this once a month, on average (and I’m telling you there’s no way this happens 12 times a year for us), and we’re still saving money compared with the DVD+streaming Netflix plan.
This is a very smart request. Instead of just asking me if I want to rate the app, TripTracker prods me to join the thousands of people who have rated the app with five stars. It’s a great psychological move: “don’t you want to be among the many who realize how awesome this is?” My guess is that this significantly improves response rate (number of people prompted that rate the app), which also helps insulate the app against lower reviews.
An iPhone news app (New York Daily News) that misses the mobile mark. Maybe 25% of this screen is for actual news stories? That leaves 55% for navigation and 20% for advertising.
