small businesses

Groupon launches Breadcrumb iPad app, vows to not be a typical POS

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/14/groupon-breadcrumb-pos-ipad-app/

Yesterday, Groupon POS appeared in the iTunes Store, but was quickly pulled. Now we know why. Breadcrumb POS, which is the official name of yesterday’s leaked point-of-sale iPad app, is now officially available, bringing a simple interface and a handful of financial incentives. The application, which can be downloaded for free, charges vendors a credit card processing fee of 1.8 percent plus 15 cents per transaction, assuming you’re swiping plastic from MasterCard, Visa or Discover. In an effort to get small businesses signed up, however, Groupon is offering to cover the fees on the first $5,000 in credit card transactions, a savings of $90 by our calculations, plus whatever you’d be paying per swipe

The app enables you to log transactions, manage menu items and issue refunds, in addition to processing credit cards and emailing receipts. The POS uses Breadcrumb Payments for processing, with deposits posting within 24 hours, and can be paired with a card swiper and optional printer (you can email receipts if you’d prefer). There’s also free 24/7 telephone support, should you run into any issues while using the system. Breadcrumb POS won’t replace the more sophisticated Pro version, which is available starting at $99 per month, and retailers will still be able to use the Groupon Merchants App for redeeming vouchers and processing supplemental payments. If the new Breadcrumb POS sounds like a fit, snag some more info at the source link below.

Filed under: Software

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Source: Groupon

Tags: breadcrumb, card swiper, credit card processing, credit card transactions, financial incentives, handful, iPad, issue refunds, optional printer, point of sale, receipts, small businesses, snag, source link, supplemental payments, swipe, telephone support, vouchers

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 news No Comments

Google Violated Its Own Evil-Free Policies While Promoting Chrome [Google]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5872566/google-violated-its-own-evil+free-policies-while-promoting-chrome

The first rule of not being evil is: don’t do things you think are evil. So it’s a shame that Google has violated its own policy by giving bloggers cash in exchanges for writing about its browser, Chrome.

Google, or perhaps more likely its advertising firm Unruly, has managed to sponsor bloggers to chew the fat over Chrome, reports SEO Book. Some of them talk about how great Chrome is for small businesses, and most contain a Google promo video.

Meh, that’s kind of fine, right? Mmm, the thing is, paid-for links to the Chrome download page would be just fine according to Google’s rules — as long as they were tagged up as “nofollow” links. That’s supposed to let PageRank know that a link was paid for so as to exclude it from search rankings.

But, uh, some of the links didn’t follow that guideline.

OK, so this isn’t too bad: it isn’t like Google is culling small kittens, granted. And it could in fact be an innocent mistake on the part of the bloggers. But what it more likely indicates is that Google is getting so large that it can’t help but trip over its own policies. And at that point, it becomes difficult to hold an entire organisation up to its existing ethical codes.

So, don’t be evil. At least, if you can remember what you mean by evil. [SEO Book via TechCrunch; Image: brionv]

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Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 news No Comments

This Bakery Had To Make 102,000 Cupcakes Because Of A Groupon Deal And Lost A Ton Of Money

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/london-baker-makes-102000-cupcakes-groupon-deal-2011-11

A London bakery recently experienced the worst-case scenario of offering a Groupon for a small business, and it cost the owner thousands (via NBC Chicago).

Need a Cake bakery owner Rachel Brown decided to put up a 75% discount on a dozen cupcakes on the site, which dropped the price down to $10 from $40.

Apparently, people really love getting cupcakes cheap, because she was rushed by throngs of customers in a cupcake frenzy. 8,500 people signed up, and her crew of eight had to make 102,000 cupcakes to meet the orders.

Brown lost $3 per batch because she had to hire 25 extra workers to help, and she ended up losing $20,000 because of it, which a ton for a small biz. It wiped out her profits for the year, reports the Daily Mail.

“Without doubt, it was my worst ever business decision,” she told the BBC. “We had thousands of orders pouring in that really we hadn’t expected to have. A much larger company would have difficulty coping.”

This is just the latest in Groupon small business horror stories. A story popped up in September about a Portland cafe losing $8,000 because of a Groupon, which prompted a personal letter from founder and CEO Andrew Mason.

It brings up the always-present question about the daily deals site: does Groupon suck for small businesses?

Well, it looks like most small businesses think so. An overwhelming majority of 70% hate Groupon, if the latest survey from iContact is to be believed.

As for Brown and her bakery, the experience may have cost her 20 grand, but what about all the exposure she’s getting for her store? Great, right? It doesn’t hurt, but it probably wasn’t worth the cost.

Small businesses like this bakery thrive on relationships with their local customers, not crowds of outsiders coming in to snatch up a free lunch.

Getting new customers is great, but in this case, the bakery rewarded the wrong customers. Those 8,500 people that rushed for the Groupon probably won’t be coming back to pay for the same cupcakes at quadruple the price.

Only those the store has nurtured relationships with for a long time (in Brown’s case, 25 years), should be the ones rewarded. They’re the ones that keep coming back for more.

NOW SEE: The 10 Largest Family Businesses In The US >

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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 news No Comments

Groupon’s Future Is Groupon Now

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-groupon-now-2011-10

Groupon Now is a mobile app that shows users all the deals surrounding them on a map.

Because it allows Groupon to offer more deals than one per day, Groupon Now is the future of Groupon’s business.

As Groupon’s margins compress, Groupon Now is supposed to save the company by bringing in a huge volume of sales.

Also, because the deals are offered in “real-time” Groupon Now is an important part of Groupon’s plan to become a “yield management platform for small businesses” – as one source recently described the vision to us.

Unfortunately, according to Yipit, Groupon Now isn’t growing very fast.

Go read Yipit’s whole, careful breakdown of Groupon Now’s slowing growth for more >>

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Monday, October 24th, 2011 news No Comments

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.

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