I was looking over a discussion forum when I came across the following question...
"My good friends David and Terra own an amazing restaurant and bar in Colorado. They have owned the restaurant for a couple of years and do a steady business of mostly repeat customers. That's good. They don't have a web-site yet - that's not so good. I constantly obsess about all of the opportunities that they are missing because of it."
It's a simple question really. Why do I need a website?
Here's my reply to the question...
Not having a website is like having a road with no signposts to get to it.
The majority of potential diners are looking online when deciding ahead when to dine. If they don't find your website, they'll find someone else's. You need to interact with your customers in the channels which they inhabit.
Your marketing relies not only on your physical presence (your location) but also on your virtual presence. I'm sure there's a sign on the front of the restaurant and a menu in the window. Having a website takes that same principle and gets your storefront into the virtual world.
Of course I imagine what your friend is thinking is not "do I need a website" but rather "what is the return on investment" that I get for spending those hours and dollars on a pretty set of webpages.
It's simple; your website needs to work for you and pay it's way. It needs to take reservations, it needs to provide directions, menus and it needs to persuade people that your restaurant is where they want to dine.
At Livebookings we've found that you can convert 1 website visit in every 10 to become a reservation. And when you take those reservations, they give you email data that you can store to start building a guest database. After that you can do email campaigns to build a stronger relationship with your customers and encourage repeat diners.
Showing posts with label Livebookings Network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Livebookings Network. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Find A Restaurant Near You
The guys over at lastminute.com labs have been busy.
Last year they brought us fonefood, a website especially built for a mobile phone that allows you to search and book restaurants. The restaurant booking capability is powered by Livebookings.
Now, they are testing a new service called nru (near you). It's a nifty device that can be used on the latest Android phone from T-Mobile.
It's a sign of things to come.
Not sure where to eat? Load up your phone to find and read about restaurants near you.
The video below shows it in action:
Last year they brought us fonefood, a website especially built for a mobile phone that allows you to search and book restaurants. The restaurant booking capability is powered by Livebookings.
Now, they are testing a new service called nru (near you). It's a nifty device that can be used on the latest Android phone from T-Mobile.
It's a sign of things to come.
Not sure where to eat? Load up your phone to find and read about restaurants near you.
The video below shows it in action:
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Mobile Online Restaurant Booking From fonefood (lastminute.com)
Booking a restaurant online on your mobile.
I'm excited. Today sees the launch of fonefood, a new beta mobile restaurant booking service from lastminute.com.
You want to find or book a restaurant. Nowadays one of the easiest ways to do that is online. You don't need to wait for the restaurant to be open, you don't need the restaurant to answer your call. You can book there and then online and in real-time.
Increasingly though people are taking the internet with them in their pockets and more of us expect to be able to get online anywhere at anytime.
That's what's great about fonefood. You can book tables on the move! You're on the train, you're in a taxi, you're at the airport. Wherever you happen to be it's easy to search and book with your web enabled mobile phone.
fonefood is available at http://m.lastminute.com/fonefood
Try it out. You are given descriptions of nearby restaurants, with currently over a thousand available deals, discounts and promotions. It uses Google Maps to show restaurants near your chosen location. Once you’ve chosen a restaurant there is no need to call, you just book directly on your mobile (for free!) and receive an instant confirmation via SMS. (This is especially handy if you're abroad and don't speak the local language).
It is available in 12 countries and gives users access to over 6,000 restaurants. The restaurant reservations technology is powered by Livebookings Network.
lastminute.com even put a cool little video together on Youtube to market the service....
I love progress!
Friday, 6 June 2008
Do I Know You?
This really made me laugh.
One of our senior guys (he shall remain nameless) showed us the perils of working in such a fast growing company.
We share our offices with many other companies, we're on the 6th floor...
He said, "I guess there are quite a lot of people that have joined us lately. On the way up in the lift this morning I spoke to a girl that I was convinced is working for us. I introduced myself and asked her if she was enjoying her new job. She answered a little hesitantly. Actually, she looked slightly shocked but I thought she was just a little apprehensive about speaking to one of the bosses. However, I was a little perplexed when she walked out of the lift on the 4th floor and said, “Bye-Bye, nice to meet you John”
(Names chamged to protect the guilty).
One of our senior guys (he shall remain nameless) showed us the perils of working in such a fast growing company.
We share our offices with many other companies, we're on the 6th floor...
He said, "I guess there are quite a lot of people that have joined us lately. On the way up in the lift this morning I spoke to a girl that I was convinced is working for us. I introduced myself and asked her if she was enjoying her new job. She answered a little hesitantly. Actually, she looked slightly shocked but I thought she was just a little apprehensive about speaking to one of the bosses. However, I was a little perplexed when she walked out of the lift on the 4th floor and said, “Bye-Bye, nice to meet you John”
(Names chamged to protect the guilty).
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Q & A on Restaurants and E-marketing
I recently had a chat with the guys at e-consultancy.com about Livebookings Network (My day job).
We talked about which types of restaurants are making the best use of online marketing and what other opportunities are out there for its aggregated reservations model...
Livebookings has been around for a while now, as has the idea of online bookings for restaurants. How well has the idea caught on with consumers and what types of restaurants have made the biggest strides on the web?
Livebookings Network as it currently exists has been around for two years, having been created in 2006 by the merger of two restaurant reservation system providers – Livebookings in the UK and Loghos in Sweden. The ambition then was to build the business model and prove it would work in our core markets of Sweden and the UK.
Having done so, the plan was to go for a second round of funding and take the business model further geographically. That’s what we are now doing. We are now focusing on expanding through Europe – to France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and throughout the Nordics.
Our most mature market is London. There, there is a wide range of very sophisticated, fine dining restaurants that are looking to maximise their covers. It is obviously better to get two guests per chair in an evening than one, as it doubles your turnover. So a lot of those restaurants are using complex software solutions to manage their reservations and many of them are then connected to online distribution networks, such as ours.
The more advanced restaurants are also using a lot of online promotional activity to drive bookings, such as special offers to fill their shoulder periods. It is often difficult for restaurants to fill every session throughout the week so if you can put together offers for those periods, such as between 6pm and 7pm for the pre-theatre dining crowd, you have more chance of maximising your profitability.
What about consumers?
Consumers are getting used to the idea of booking online. The majority of our bookings come through a la carte bookings but we do see major spikes in booking levels when we run a significant promotional campaign around events. Many bookings also come from secretaries that are reserving tables for their bosses.
In terms of how big the market is, we do know that around 62% of UK consumers are searching the web to decide which restaurant to visit, according to a study conducted by the American Express Hospitality Monitor last year. So that’s a lot of people deciding which restaurant to book online.
Our mission is to make sure that when people have made that decision, our services are in front of them. We focus on a B2B model, rather than spending a large marketing fund on creating an audience for our own site. We focus on people that already have the audience and visitors that are willing to book.
Read the rest of the article at e-consultancy...
We talked about which types of restaurants are making the best use of online marketing and what other opportunities are out there for its aggregated reservations model...
Livebookings has been around for a while now, as has the idea of online bookings for restaurants. How well has the idea caught on with consumers and what types of restaurants have made the biggest strides on the web?
Livebookings Network as it currently exists has been around for two years, having been created in 2006 by the merger of two restaurant reservation system providers – Livebookings in the UK and Loghos in Sweden. The ambition then was to build the business model and prove it would work in our core markets of Sweden and the UK.
Having done so, the plan was to go for a second round of funding and take the business model further geographically. That’s what we are now doing. We are now focusing on expanding through Europe – to France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and throughout the Nordics.
Our most mature market is London. There, there is a wide range of very sophisticated, fine dining restaurants that are looking to maximise their covers. It is obviously better to get two guests per chair in an evening than one, as it doubles your turnover. So a lot of those restaurants are using complex software solutions to manage their reservations and many of them are then connected to online distribution networks, such as ours.
The more advanced restaurants are also using a lot of online promotional activity to drive bookings, such as special offers to fill their shoulder periods. It is often difficult for restaurants to fill every session throughout the week so if you can put together offers for those periods, such as between 6pm and 7pm for the pre-theatre dining crowd, you have more chance of maximising your profitability.
What about consumers?
Consumers are getting used to the idea of booking online. The majority of our bookings come through a la carte bookings but we do see major spikes in booking levels when we run a significant promotional campaign around events. Many bookings also come from secretaries that are reserving tables for their bosses.
In terms of how big the market is, we do know that around 62% of UK consumers are searching the web to decide which restaurant to visit, according to a study conducted by the American Express Hospitality Monitor last year. So that’s a lot of people deciding which restaurant to book online.
Our mission is to make sure that when people have made that decision, our services are in front of them. We focus on a B2B model, rather than spending a large marketing fund on creating an audience for our own site. We focus on people that already have the audience and visitors that are willing to book.
Read the rest of the article at e-consultancy...
Friday, 4 April 2008
Restaurant Online Marketing Workshops
According to the American Express Hospitality Monitor, 62% of customers search the Internet to decide which restaurant to visit.
If you are in the restaurant business, there's a great new free workshop that you can go to start learning about how to get your business online. Not only is online marketing now an essential part of the marketing mix, but it is the most cost effective and successful form of marketing that a restaurant can engage in.
Livebookings Network are running a series of workshops around the UK, focusing on providing practical advice to restaurateurs on the topic of online marketing.
London, Thursday 24 April
Topics being covered...
Email Marketing - Creating and measuring email campaigns to your existing restaurant customers, capturing valuable data and delivering promotions.
Expert speaker: Matthew Kirby, UK Managing Director, Fishbowl Marketing, www.fishbowluk.com
Search Engine Marketing - Basics and benefits of search engine optimisation for restaurants looking to attract traffic to their websites and capture more customers as a result of improved search engine rankings.
Expert speaker: Warren Cowen, Chief Executive Officer, greenlight search engine marketing, www.greenlightsearch.com
Effective Web Design - Implementing effective web design, the importance of maintenance and maximising opportunities available through your website.
Expert speaker: Keith Davie, Creative Director, Salad Creative, www.saladcreative.com
Time: 9.30am coffee, croissants and networking
10am start – 11.30am
Venue: Slug and Lettuce, 80-82 Wardour St, London, W1F 0TF
Cost: FREE to Livebookings Network members. Membership is free.
£25+VAT for non-members (includes breakfast)
If you sign up to the Livebookings Network on the day, you are refunded the cost of your Workshop place.
Booking: Book Online: www.livebookings.co.uk/workshops
If you are in the restaurant business, there's a great new free workshop that you can go to start learning about how to get your business online. Not only is online marketing now an essential part of the marketing mix, but it is the most cost effective and successful form of marketing that a restaurant can engage in.
Livebookings Network are running a series of workshops around the UK, focusing on providing practical advice to restaurateurs on the topic of online marketing.
London, Thursday 24 April
Topics being covered...
Email Marketing - Creating and measuring email campaigns to your existing restaurant customers, capturing valuable data and delivering promotions.
Expert speaker: Matthew Kirby, UK Managing Director, Fishbowl Marketing, www.fishbowluk.com
Search Engine Marketing - Basics and benefits of search engine optimisation for restaurants looking to attract traffic to their websites and capture more customers as a result of improved search engine rankings.
Expert speaker: Warren Cowen, Chief Executive Officer, greenlight search engine marketing, www.greenlightsearch.com
Effective Web Design - Implementing effective web design, the importance of maintenance and maximising opportunities available through your website.
Expert speaker: Keith Davie, Creative Director, Salad Creative, www.saladcreative.com
Time: 9.30am coffee, croissants and networking
10am start – 11.30am
Venue: Slug and Lettuce, 80-82 Wardour St, London, W1F 0TF
Cost: FREE to Livebookings Network members. Membership is free.
£25+VAT for non-members (includes breakfast)
If you sign up to the Livebookings Network on the day, you are refunded the cost of your Workshop place.
Booking: Book Online: www.livebookings.co.uk/workshops
Thursday, 6 March 2008
News: Livebookings Network wins £6.5 million of investment led by Balderton Capital
Online restaurant marketing and reservations will be boosted by new investment.
Today, Livebookings Network welcomed a £6.5 million financial injection led by leading global VC firm Balderton Capital.
This investment will add fuel to Livebookings’ drive for international growth and will strengthen plans to recruit talent from countries all over the world. The funds will also be used to build the success founded in existing markets (UK and Nordics), in addition to the development of Livebookings’ tech infrastructure.
Niklas Ekland, CEO says “With this investment, we can further expand our partner network and extend our reach as hungry guests go online to make their next reservation.”
London-based Balderton Capital is one of Europe’s largest venture capital organisations, with an investment strategy focussed on finding and helping talented entrepreneurs build great companies.
Notable investments include
Tim Bunting (partner at Balderton Capital) said, "Livebookings is a fantastic, easy-to-use service for the restaurant sector. By bringing together
booking agents, restaurants and diners, it fulfils a vital reservations and marketing role. We’re really looking forward to working with the Livebookings team as it builds the business across Europe.”
The Livebookings Network is a global marketing and real-time restaurant booking service. With millions of reservations made since its conception in 2001, Livebookings has successfully welcomed almost 17,000 restaurants into the network.
There will be more than a few million reservations made in the next few years. Watch this space...
Today, Livebookings Network welcomed a £6.5 million financial injection led by leading global VC firm Balderton Capital.
This investment will add fuel to Livebookings’ drive for international growth and will strengthen plans to recruit talent from countries all over the world. The funds will also be used to build the success founded in existing markets (UK and Nordics), in addition to the development of Livebookings’ tech infrastructure.
Niklas Ekland, CEO says “With this investment, we can further expand our partner network and extend our reach as hungry guests go online to make their next reservation.”
London-based Balderton Capital is one of Europe’s largest venture capital organisations, with an investment strategy focussed on finding and helping talented entrepreneurs build great companies.
Notable investments include
- Bebo (the leading social networking site)
- Betfair (online betting exchange)
- Codemasters (video games developer and publisher)
- Habbo Hotel (teen social networking site)
- MySQL (open-source database business)
- Setanta Sports (the European sports broadcaster)
Tim Bunting (partner at Balderton Capital) said, "Livebookings is a fantastic, easy-to-use service for the restaurant sector. By bringing together
booking agents, restaurants and diners, it fulfils a vital reservations and marketing role. We’re really looking forward to working with the Livebookings team as it builds the business across Europe.”
The Livebookings Network is a global marketing and real-time restaurant booking service. With millions of reservations made since its conception in 2001, Livebookings has successfully welcomed almost 17,000 restaurants into the network.
There will be more than a few million reservations made in the next few years. Watch this space...
Monday, 18 February 2008
Growth In Online Restaurant Reservations - Why?
What is driving the increase in online reservations for restaurants?
Demand is being driven from both customers and from restaurants.
From Customers
From calls to clicks, the world is changing. According to The 2007 American Express Hospitality Monitor 62% of UK consumers search the internet to decide which restaurant to visit. Restaurants, that’s over half your potential customer base.
When they find the restaurant they want, how do they book? How they book and how they want to book are two different things. Many customers book on the phone because they have to. Restaurants that can be booked online are booked online. Why? Because web booking is quick, it’s easy, and it’s free.
From Restaurants
The phone is great. But wouldn’t it be good if the phone only rang when you are there and when you’re not busy? The worst time to take a booking by phone is when you’re at your busiest.
The best time to take a booking online however is anytime. Anytime means: when you’re closed as well as when you are too busy to answer the phone. You can’t answer the phone 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but the internet is open for business anytime.
Looking at our 2007 data, at Livebookings Network we've found that 18% of online bookings are made between 10pm and 10am - that’s 18% of bookings you might have otherwise lost. On the other hand, 44% of online bookings are made during busy service times. The most popular hour of the day to make a booking online is between 1 and 2pm - that’s when you want to be focussed on service, not answering the phone.
More and more customer reservations behaviour is changing and the internet is proving to be an important channel that is being adopted by both restaurants and their customers in increasing numbers.
Demand is being driven from both customers and from restaurants.
From Customers
From calls to clicks, the world is changing. According to The 2007 American Express Hospitality Monitor 62% of UK consumers search the internet to decide which restaurant to visit. Restaurants, that’s over half your potential customer base.
When they find the restaurant they want, how do they book? How they book and how they want to book are two different things. Many customers book on the phone because they have to. Restaurants that can be booked online are booked online. Why? Because web booking is quick, it’s easy, and it’s free.
From Restaurants
The phone is great. But wouldn’t it be good if the phone only rang when you are there and when you’re not busy? The worst time to take a booking by phone is when you’re at your busiest.
The best time to take a booking online however is anytime. Anytime means: when you’re closed as well as when you are too busy to answer the phone. You can’t answer the phone 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but the internet is open for business anytime.
Looking at our 2007 data, at Livebookings Network we've found that 18% of online bookings are made between 10pm and 10am - that’s 18% of bookings you might have otherwise lost. On the other hand, 44% of online bookings are made during busy service times. The most popular hour of the day to make a booking online is between 1 and 2pm - that’s when you want to be focussed on service, not answering the phone.
More and more customer reservations behaviour is changing and the internet is proving to be an important channel that is being adopted by both restaurants and their customers in increasing numbers.
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