Week 12 - Part 2: Research on Online Business Tools

Project Research: Other Online Tools for Fily Willy Auto Care

1) Yelp:  Yelp is a helpful tool for online users to research and find local services in their area.  As mentioned in the lecture, it is a way to gain insight on how customers view services and connect with them as well.   Fily Willy Auto Care is in the process of establishing and claiming its account on the site.

My question is, Does it look bad to have only a few reviews?  The approach is that reviews should be organic and unsolicited. "Positive reviews should happen organically because customers love your store! Yelp does not recommend that you ask customers to write reviews or bribe customers with discounts – huge no-no. However, you can still attract customers to your Yelp page by putting a link to your page on your website, on your email signature, social media, and by encouraging people to check-in to your store. The key is to spread awareness and engagement." (Kim, 2015)

That being said Yelp could have a potential of boosting business with positive reviews and will require dedicated monitoring to ensure if there are negative reviews, that a response is generated and customers' concerns acknowledged.

Another concern about rating sites, are reviews in too many places, for instance, on Yelp, Google Business, Facebook, Angie's List, etc.?  To keep up with all the various places where your business can be reviewed can be overwhelming.  Is it better to funnel customers to one place rather than peppered on various sites?  I think it is a mixed.  There are so many opportunities for online visitors to go.  I think concentrating and committing to a few sites so that there are sizable number of reviews where visitors can look would be the best approach for a small business.   Conversely, larger businesses could benefit from numerous review sites depending on where they channel from.

The most notable concern is the cost beyond the free options on Yelp.  "That depends on, well, a lot. For one, you should know that advertising on Yelp will cost $350 minimum to have your business sponsored on search listings. This means it is 1,000x more expensive than your average online advertising. According to MarketWatch, a recent Pacific Crest report deemed that ads were not only expensive, but also overpriced: “On average, independent restaurant operators spend roughly $7,200 a year on local advertising, compared with $4,600 in revenue on Yelp.” Ouch." (Kim, 2015) With that, other options such as Google Ads would be a better ROI option with the PPC based on smaller marketing budgets.  


Looking at Yelp reviews for other similar businesses in the same service sector in the local area, it appears that it is very helpful the categorization of services offered.  For instance, a highly rated local auto shop, would definitely draw in the customers as it is, well of course, highly rated and offers friendly customer service.  I see Yelp being extremely effective here.  Conversely, if a business has a low rating and customer complaints, it could be disastrous and would need attention for immediate damage control.

Again, with a smaller marketing budget, I think taking advantage of free options of Yelp would help in promotion and is important for every business big or small.  


2) Online Coupons: Online coupons are great for visibility, especially one like LocalFlavor for small businesses.  While initially a favorable thought, it can be extremely cost prohibitive.  I found an article online that offers a great perspective on why not to use Groupon or LocalFlavor (owned by Groupon).  Here is a summary:

1) Using Groupon will be extremely expensive (Groupon gets a 50% cut)
2) It won't make your business memorable (remember the deal, not the business)
3) Deteriorates the value of your business (trains people to wait for coupons...I do this!)
4) Hurts loyal customers (when coupons are offered to new customers only)

The article writer, Mr. Chou, reasons resonates with me because points #2, #3, and #4 reflect my shopping practices.  For instance, there is a trampoline park I won't visit unless they are running a coupon on either Groupon or LocalFlavor because I don't feel it is worth the full cost once I have paid less than half. So, I will look for their competitors to see if they are offering special deals, too, therefore, I'm not necessarily a loyal customer to one park.