[codegeek]

You are getting hammered by the HN crowd here but there is merit to stuff like this. I will tell you what I do want as a customer:

- Ask me to opt-in but only the 3rd or more time I am ordering from the same restaurant. Asking me to opt-in right away will seem more spammy. If I am coming to a restaurant for the 3rd time, I probably like the food and will be open to receiving some marketing stuff if it helps me as well

- Send me targeted messages and not generic. For example, lets say I frequently order "General Tso's Chicken", perhaps send me an offer that mentions it. I would be more inclined to act.

- Do not over text/SMS. You mentioned this already but cannot be understated. Thi is where you have to teach the restaurants. I would even say put technical limits ( a restaurant cannot SMS same customer more than 2 times a month etc) even though you charge by the SMS. It is in your long term interest that customers are not turned off by too many messages.

- Make it a bit fun and not all marketing/money. Send me interesting stuff on the food I just ate (may be how it was made etc).

- Coupons would be awesome if I haven't visited for a while and it could get me to order my fav. food again.

[shaneliammurphy]

These are great suggestions! I especially love the thought of going the extra mile to make it relevant to you as an individual. I like the idea of eventually allowing the individual consumer to set the limits on what they receive, such as frequency, type of content, etc. (For example, I only want to receive messages about events happening at this restaurant and no more than 2x per month.)

[codegeek]

Np. Even though I have never worked or owned a restaurant myself, I did have a stint as a Cafeteria worker in college and since then, my respect for food industry and workers in general has gone up by a lot. Anything to help them make more money, I am up for it.