Who pays for the promo? Seven questions for your rep
A rep calls with a promotion: a discount for new customers, free delivery, buy one get one. The first question is always who pays for the discount, and the apps' own pages rarely say.
What the apps' pages say, and don't
None of DoorDash's, Uber Eats' or Grubhub's pricing and marketing pages says who funds a customer discount, or whether your commission comes off the full price or the discounted one. Here's what they do say:
- DoorDash takes a percentage of each order's subtotal, set by your plan.
- Uber Eats: on the Plus plan, Uber One orders cost an extra 5%. On Premium they're included, and Lite stores can't join Uber One.
- Grubhub sells promotions with a monthly budget you set, and offers Grubhub-backed promotions you can opt into, without saying how their cost is split.
So the answer is in your contract, your plan, or your rep's mouth. Get it before you say yes.
Sources: DoorDash: Pricing · Uber Eats: Pricing · Grubhub: Marketing tools
Seven questions for your rep
Each one has a yes, a no or a number for an answer. Write the answers down.
- Who pays for the discount: me, you, or split? If split, what share is mine?
- Is my commission taken on the full price or the discounted price?
- Is there a fee on top, per order, per redemption or per click?
- Is there a budget cap, and what happens when it's hit?
- Which orders get it: new customers only, members only, or everyone?
- When does it end, and does it renew on its own?
- Where will each promo order, and what it cost me, show up in my report?
Run one order through it
A made-up example: a $40 order, $8 off, you fund the discount, 25% commission.
- Commission on the full price: 25% of $40 is $10, plus the $8 discount, so $18 of the $40 goes to the promo and the app.
- Commission on the discounted price: 25% of $32 is $8, plus the $8, so $16.
Put that next to your plate cost, packaging and labor before you decide. A promo that brings new customers can be worth it; you just want to know the price first.
Who pays? Every promo, fee or program in unComped News gets this box: who funds it, as far as the announcement says, and the one question to ask your rep.
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