The goal of the game is to make money. You make money by selling sandwiches for more than they cost.
(Part 2 of the sandwich series. Part 1 is here.)
The previous customer had ordered and left without entering his phone number for loyalty rewards. So I entered mine.
Today’s cashier had panache. Flair. Real excitement about which side was heads and which was tails. When I asked if they were still doing the 50%-off coin flip, he said “of course!” like his job was attitude, not mere cash-register-button-pushing.
The cashier showed us the coin: this side is heads, this side is tails. Partner called it: “sandwich logo.”
It landed sandwich side down.
She lost.
The cashier rang up 50% off anyway.
I hadn’t considered this until today: when I win the flip, I get 50% off 100% of the time. When I lose, I get… 50% off some percent of the time? The expected value just got better.
Since a sandwich is bread, meat, and veggies, the shop probably still exceeds its cost of goods even at half off. So they’re not exactly losing on the flip. But they could have netted more revenue by simply charging me the appropriate amount.
In any case, the promotion is working: they pay a small acquisition cost to attract me back. Which they have. I’m here, eating my second sandwich in three days, and they also have my phone number.
They played me. I played them. And the dinky coin flip is what made it work.
Partner says my odds will increase even further if I’m cuter. I think she says this so I keep bringing her places.
Well played.
Julian Wise 