For businesses
An Alternative to Groupon for Irish Restaurants
Mosey · 5 min read
Deal sites are good at one thing: filling a room fast. For a restaurant, the question is what that room costs.
The maths of a deal-site offer
A typical deal-site restaurant offer stacks two reductions on top of each other:
- The discount itself, often deep, because that is what makes a deal site's customers buy
- The platform's share of what remains, which has commonly been reported to be large — often in the region of half of the discounted price
Take a meal you would normally sell for €60. Offered at €30, with half of that kept by the platform, you receive about €15 for a €60 meal. Terms vary by platform and by negotiation, so check the current offer before signing anything — but run your own numbers the same way, and include the food cost.
That is why so many restaurants describe deal-site promotions as busy and loss-making at the same time.
Why the customers often do not come back
There is a second cost that does not appear on the invoice. Many deal-site customers are loyal to the discount, not the restaurant. They buy the next deal, somewhere else.
A promotion is worth running when it introduces people to you who then come back at full price. That is far more likely when the offer reaches local people looking for somewhere to eat, rather than bargain hunters browsing spa days and gadgets.
What a promotion that works looks like
The promotions that pay for themselves share a shape:
- Aimed at a quiet slot — Tuesday to Thursday, early evening, January — so it fills a table you would not otherwise sell
- Capped at a number the kitchen can handle on top of normal trade
- Priced as a product — "two courses and a glass for €29" — rather than a percentage off
- Paid up front, so the money is yours before the night and people turn up
- Modestly discounted, because the aim is a new regular, not a one-off bargain
Running it on Mosey
Mosey's promotions are built around that shape.
- Cost: 4.5% of the price, plus Stripe's card fee at cost. The customer pays a €1.29 booking fee on top. No monthly fee, and nothing per promotion.
- Cap and dates: every promotion has both, so it cannot swamp the kitchen.
- Money up front: paid when the customer buys, straight to your Stripe account.
- Redeemed in person: applied at the counter or the till and marked used, so it cannot be spent twice.
- Free promotions: claimed rather than bought, at no cost at all.
The same offer, both ways
A restaurant sells a three-course early-evening menu at €35, capped at 40, Tuesday to Thursday.
- On Mosey: €1,400 of sales. Commission is 4.5%, or €63, leaving €1,337 before Stripe's card fee. Each customer pays the €1.29 booking fee on top.
- On a deal site keeping half: of the same €1,400, you would receive about €700.
The difference is the promotion's whole margin.
Protecting the kitchen and the regulars
Two practical rules keep any promotion from backfiring. First, brief the floor: staff should know the offer, the days it is valid and how to redeem it before the first customer arrives with a voucher. Second, protect your full-price nights. If regulars start waiting for the offer instead of coming on Friday, the promotion is moving your own trade rather than adding to it, and it is time to change the days or end it.
Who sees the offer
On a general deals site, a restaurant offer sits among everything else a deals site sells. On Mosey, it appears on your venue page and in the app to people looking for food near them — the people most likely to become regulars. You also get a link for your own posts and emails, and you can Boost it to nearby customers when you want more reach.
Refunds
A promotion that is not tied to a specific date carries the statutory 14-day right of withdrawal while it is unredeemed. Mosey honours that directly where the facts are clear, and everything else reaches you as a refund request for you to decide. If you prefer, you can ask buyers to waive the right at checkout, and that waiver is recorded against each purchase.
How to tell whether it worked
Whichever route you use, judge a promotion by three numbers rather than by how busy the night felt:
- Net takings for the slot, after the discount, the platform's share and the food, compared with a normal week
- How many of those customers came back at full price within two months
- What they spent beyond the offer — drinks, sides, desserts at normal prices
A promotion that loses a little on the night and returns a third of its customers as regulars is a good one. A promotion that fills the room and returns nobody is a very expensive way to be busy.
When a deal site still makes sense
To be fair to them: if you are brand new, nobody knows you exist, and you need a lot of people through the door quickly to be seen, a deal site can do that. Treat it as a launch cost, cap it tightly, and have a reason ready for those customers to come back at full price.
What it connects to
Questions
Common questions
How much do deal sites usually take?
Deal platforms have commonly been reported to keep a large share of the discounted price, often in the region of half. Terms vary, so check the current offer before you sign.
What does Mosey charge for a promotion?
4.5% of the price of a paid promotion, plus Stripe’s card fee at cost. The customer pays a €1.29 booking fee on top. Free promotions cost nothing.
Why do deal-site customers so often not come back?
Many are buying the discount rather than the restaurant. A promotion aimed at local people who want to eat nearby tends to bring back more of them at full price.
Can I limit how many people buy an offer?
Yes, and you should. Every Mosey promotion has a cap and the days it can be used, so an offer that works cannot swamp the kitchen.
When do I get the money?
When the customer buys, through your own Stripe account — not when they redeem it and not at the end of a campaign.
Can I run a free offer instead?
Yes. A free promotion is claimed rather than bought, costs nothing to run, and gives you a list of everybody who claimed it. Cap it harder than a paid one.
Do customers have a right to a refund?
A promotion not tied to a specific date carries the 14-day right of withdrawal while unredeemed. You can ask buyers to waive it at checkout if you choose.
How do people find my promotion?
It appears on your venue page and in the app to people looking for food nearby, and you get a link for your own social posts and emails.
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