Eveve Press Releases
Global online restaurant reservation leader Eveve announces expansion into its second U.S. market with a new partnership with leading Boston Restaurant
Minneapolis, MN and Boston, MA - February 1, 2012
Continuing a successful rollout of its cloud-based reservations system, Timothy Ryan, President and Director of EVEVE's U.S. operations, announced today that a leading Boston restaurant has switched its online reservation system to EVEVE. EVEVE announced their 2012 expansion plans into Boston after surpassing its expectations in their initial U.S. test market of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Entering the U.S. market just six months ago, EVEVE has succeeded in capturing more than 20% of all Twin Cities online bookings and announced last month that they have now surpassed Urbanspoon as Open Table's leading U.S. competitor.
"We feel very fortunate that one of the most prestigious restaurants in Boston has switched their online reservation systems to us," said EVEVE's Tim Ryan. "Boston is our next U.S. market – it is one of the most celebrated restaurant cities in America - and we are thrilled that our initial foray into this market is going so successfully," said Ryan.
Boston's critically acclaimed The Fireplace announced today that they have switched their online booking systems to EVEVE. "The Fireplace has won numerous awards from the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and the Wine Spectator," said Ryan. "We are very grateful Fireplace has joined the extraordinary restaurant partners we have in our initial U.S. market in the Twin Cities."
The Fireplace is a New England Grill and Barbeque, with an emphasis on wood-smoked and rotisserie dishes utilizing the freshest offerings of the New England region. The Fireplace's owner and chef, Jim Solomon, said "While open minded to a new system we have relied comfortably on Open Table for years." "Yet, the tremendous expenses and some system limitations lead me to explore other options. After thorough examination we decided with great confidence and enthusiasm to partner with EVEVE," added Solomon. "Jim Solomon's extraordinary commitment to both domestic and international non-profit organization work is legendary and we are very proud to have the opportunity to be part of his future," said EVEVE's Ryan.
"Several other restaurant reservation companies have tried to compete with Open Table but none of them have succeeded the way we have in our initial U.S. test market," said Ryan. "Our successful entry into our next market - Boston – validates our research that shows a huge market of restaurateurs have been waiting for an affordable alternative." "Our newest restaurant partner did extensive research about our successes in the Twin Cities and chose us because they have come to trust our software to take care of customer reservations while significantly cutting overhead," said Ryan.
EVEVE's cutting-edge technology, which uses cloud-based solutions, makes it easier for restaurants to take advantage of critically important new mobile technologies. "As restaurants start to look into mobile websites, they realize our system will be much easier to integrate" said Ryan, "and I think that's another reason we're fielding calls from all over the country. Restaurant owners not only have to cut costs, but stay on top of technology at the same time, and the fact that Eveve offers both has contributed to our careful but rapid growth."
Launched in 2007, EVEVE is a leading global supplier of live reservation systems and has relationships with approximately 1,000 restaurants worldwide.
Midwest's leading hospitality manangement company moves two restaurants to Eveve
St. Paul, MN - January 30, 2012
Continuing a successful rollout of its cloud-based reservations system, Timothy Ryan, President and Director of EVEVE's U.S. operations, announced today that Morrissey Hospitality Companies (MHC), the Midwest's leading hospitality management company, has switched the reservation systems for Enjoy! Restaurant and Bar in Apple Valley, MN and Paradise Landing Restaurant in Balsam Lake, WI to EVEVE. Entering the U.S. market just six months ago, EVEVE has succeeded in capturing more than 20% of all Twin Cities online bookings and announced last month that they have now surpassed Urbanspoon as Open Table's leading U.S. competitor.
"We feel very fortunate that one of the Midwest's most prestigious hospitality management companies has switched their online reservation systems for two of their restaurants to us," said EVEVE's Tim Ryan. "Morrissey Hospitality Companies is one of Midwest's most respected hospitality management companies and we are thrilled to announce them as our newest partner," said Ryan.
Morrissey Hospitality Companies, located in St. Paul, MN, is the Midwest's leading hospitality management company with a prestigious portfolio of hotels, restaurants and sports and entertainment brands. MHC's restaurants – including Enjoy! and Paradise Landing – rank among the best of the best in the country, garnering awards from the Zagat Survey, Gourmet Magazine, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine, Wine Spectator, Twin Cities Business Monthly and Minnesota Monthly.
MHC's Corporate Director of Marketing, Arthur Morrissey, said "Our brands provide authentic hospitality to our guests and we need to give our people the tools to be successful." "Controlling the input costs help keep the cost to the guest down and we all like having more dollars in our pockets," Morrissey added. "We welcome the partnership between Enjoy!, Paradise Landing and EVEVE,"
"Several other restaurant reservation companies have tried to compete with Open Table but none of them have succeeded the way we have in our initial U.S. test market," said Ryan. "EVEVE's successes validates our research that shows a huge market of restaurateurs have been waiting for an affordable alternative." "Our newest restaurant partner did extensive research about our successes in the Twin Cities and chose us because they have come to trust our software to take care of customer reservations while significantly cutting overhead," said Ryan.
EVEVE's cutting-edge technology, which uses cloud-based solutions, makes it easier for restaurants to take advantage of critically important new mobile technologies. "As restaurants start to look into mobile websites, they realize our system will be much easier to integrate" said Ryan, "and I think that's another reason we're fielding calls from all over the country. Restaurant owners not only have to cut costs, but stay on top of technology at the same time, and the fact that Eveve offers both has contributed to our careful but rapid growth."
Launched in 2007, EVEVE is a leading global supplier of live reservation systems and has relationships with approximately 1,000 restaurants worldwide.
Eveve emerges as Opentable's leading U.S. competitor, passing Urbanspoon's Rezbook numbers
December 6, 2011
Minneapolis, MN – December 7, 2011
Continuing a steady and successful rollout of its cloud-based reservation system, Timothy Ryan, President and Director of EVEVE U.S. operations, announced today that EVEVE has surpassed Urbanspoon as Open Table's leading U.S. competitor. Entering the U.S. market only 5 months ago, EVEVE focused on the Twin Cities as a test market, and the initial efforts surpassed all expectations as well as garnered heavy investor interest.
Not only did EVEVE beat Rezbook's most recently published numbers, but it took a significant bite out of industry giant OpenTable's market share. "EVEVE now processes over 20% of all Twin Cities online bookings," explained Ryan, "even though OpenTable flew in top brass to try and stop the exodus." OpenTable lost not only its "most booked" restaurants (Bar La Grassa and Hell's Kitchen), but also won accounts from award-winning establishments such as Barrio, Meritage, and other notable names. "The fiercely independent operators were key to us, because they understood it's not just that we cost far less; it's also about actually gaining online bookings. The facts have borne out: restaurants that take their own reservation system in-house usually are happily surprised to see an immediate increase in bookings. Once they realize how many of their own customers were being lured to competitors with all the offers people see on OpenTable's home page, the picture became far more clear, and thus these restaurant owners weren't enticed by 'last minute deals' from OpenTable to get them back."
Until Eveve came, the Twin Cities had been OpenTable's top market, followed closely by Washington DC. Even more significant is that EVEVE has only been in the U.S. for five months, focusing initial efforts in their test market of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.
EVEVE surpassed Urbanspoon's claim to 18,000 covers in November and projects reservations of 27,000 this month. "We are very pleased to have become the leading US challenger to Open Table in such a short time, proving a hungry market for an alternative that can actually increase the number of bookings," said EVEVE's Ryan. "We will have 50 restaurants in the EVEVE family next month and we look forward to announcing our U.S. expansion plans after January 1st."
Established in 1997, EVEVE has been a technology leader since 1997 and entered the restaurant market in 2007. EVEVE currently has relationships with approximately 1,100 restaurants worldwide.
New wave of Twin Cities restaurants switch to Eveve - Restaurants who have switched to Eveve see their online bookings increase as much as 42%
November 18, 2011
Minneapolis, MN and London,UK
Another wave of Twin Cities restaurants have switched their online restaurant systems from Open Table to EVEVE. The newest restaurants include the two Sunset's restaurants in Wayzata and Woodbury, Joe's Garage, Fuji Ya, Rainbow, Jax's Café and King and I Thai. These seven restaurants join some of the highest profile restaurants in the Midwest including Bar La Grassa, Hell's Kitchen, Meritage and the 3 Twin Cities Barrio restaurants.
"Several other reservation entities have tried to compete with Open Table but none of them have succeeded the way we have in our initial U.S. test market," said Tim Ryan, Director and President of EVEVE's U.S. operations. "Our first foray into the U.S. has been an unprecedented success. We are now poised to become the lead challenger to Open Table in 2012," said Ryan.
"In the U.S., Open Table charges more than double what they do in Europe," said Ryan. "Twin Cities restaurants have grown tired of subsidizing Open Table's expansion in Europe. We are also receiving very positive feedback to the fact we do not market other restaurants to their diners, said Ryan." "Unlike Open Table, we realize that a restaurant's customers belong to them and not to either Open Table or us."
"We have also successfully helped restaurants deal with the concerns some of had regarding the possibility of their losing customers as a result of their transition to EVEVE, said Ryan." "Those restaurants who switched to EVEVE are now seeing their online bookings increase by as much as 42% from their 2010 numbers when they were with Open Table," said Ryan.
- Jax's Café's bookings are up 42%
- WA Frost's are up 37%
- Hell's Kitchen are up 21%
- Scuzi's are up 12%
- Bar La Grassa's are up 5%
"Twin Cities restaurants are giving us seven reasons for their decision to switch to us," said Ryan. These factors include:
1. Cost savings
2. Maintain control over their brand
3. Retain control of their reservations
4. Stop losing reservations to their competitors
5. Manage tables exactly as individual restaurants want with EVEVE's custom designed systems
6. Work with a provider that has worldwide support and financial stability
7. Partner with a company that uses cutting edge reservations system technology
An already established global technology company, EVEVE established its live reservations systems in 2007. EVEVE is a leading global supplier of live reservations systems and has relationships with approximately 1,100 restaurants worldwide.
Barrio drops Open Table reservation system, switches to Eveve
November 10, 2011
blogs.citypages.com
Open Table lost another Twin Cities customer Monday.
Barrio's three restaurants--in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Cocina del Barrio--switched their online reservation account to local company Eveve, which has been steadily siphoning off the company's business in Minnesota since spring.
"It just came down to the economics of it," says Ryan Burnet, owner of Barrio. "It makes more sense for us."
Burnet estimates Barrio was paying "three or four times more at Open Table" than Eveve will charge them.
"I don't think we were seeing the benefit of it," Burnet says of Open Table's reservation system.
Barrio joins a list of high-profile restaurants including Meritage, Hell's Kitchen, and Bar La Grassa that have teamed up with Eveve in the past few months.
Open Table boasts that it's been serving the Twin Cities for seven years and hosts online reservations for more than 230 local restaurants.
"We've always had competition in the marketplace," writes Tiffany Cox in an email to City Pages. "However, the chief competitor remains the pen and paper reservation book."
Cox questioned whether Eveve can handle the businesses it's taking on.
"In terms of the competitor you referenced below, what we're hearing from restaurant customers who experimented with it and subsequently decided to return to OpenTable is that the software they tried was not robust or reliable enough for their reservation-intensive businesses," Cox wrote.
Eveve's owner shrugs off Cox's criticism.
"It's fairly well known that, by volume, Hell's Kitchen is the busiest restaurant in town," Timothy Ryan says. "They've done this service for four months now."
Ryan projects future growth for his company.
"I think the fact that they're not taking us seriously is going to haunt them," Ryan says. "I believe that 50 restaurants will switch to us by Christmas."
Original Article: blogs.citypages.com Barrio drops Open Table reservation system, switches to Eveve
The Exodus Continues:
More top Twin Cities restaurants move online bookings from OpenTable to Eveve
November 1, 2011
In just four months, 30,000 of the estimated 150,000 Twin Cities online restaurant monthly bookings have switched from OpenTable to Eveve, topping off a successful US introduction of the European-based reservation system.
Timothy Ryan, Director and President of U.S. operations, announced today that three more critically acclaimed restaurants –Barrio Minneapolis, Barrio St. Paul, and Cocina del Barrio—have joined the growing list of other heavy hitters who left OpenTable for Eveve's more affordable reservation system.
"We feel very fortunate to announce our partnership with Barrio," explained Ryan, "not only because they are three of the most highly-regarded restaurants in the Midwest, but also because the founders, Ryan Burnet and Tim Rooney, did extensive research before making the switch. There are several alternatives out there, and the fact that they, along with Meritage, Hell's Kitchen, and Bar LaGrassa -- chose Eveve further proves that restaurants of all sizes trust our software to take care of customer reservations while significantly cutting overhead." Hell's Kitchen and Bar LaGrassa were OpenTable's top 2 "most booked" establishments, while Meritage represents St. Paul's most high-awarded restaurant.
"At this point, we're handling 30,000 of the estimated 150,000 monthly total online reservations in the Twin Cities," continued Ryan, "which is notable because in this test market, we've already met and exceeded our most optimistic expectations, validating research that shows a huge market of restaurateurs have been waiting for an affordable alternative."
Eveve's cutting-edge technology, which uses cloud-based solutions, makes it easier for restaurants such as Barrio to take advantage of critically important new mobile technologies. "As restaurants start to look into mobile websites, they realize our system will be much easier to integrate" said Ryan, "and I think that's another reason we're fielding calls from all over the country. Restaurant owners not only have to cut costs, but stay on top of technology at the same time, and the fact that Eveve offers both has contributed to our careful but rapid growth."
Established in 1997, EVEVE is a leading global supplier of live reservation systems and has relationships with approximately 1,000 restaurants worldwide.
Eveve Announces new round of investment funding and opening of US headquarters
October 24, 2011
Timothy Ryan, Director and President of U.S. operations for EVEVE, announced today that the affordable restaurant online reservation system has just completed a round of angel investment to expand its entry into the U.S. market.
"We're delighted to have this new round of funding," explained Ryan, "not only to capitalize on our rapid growth, but also because it validates our assertion that the U.S. market would quickly adopt our cloud technology approach." While OpenTable's system is based on Visual Basic --technology over a decade old-- Eveve embraces cloud solutions which makes it easier for restaurants to take advantage of critically important new mobile technologies.
"The extraordinarily enthusiastic reception we are receiving from restaurant owners in our initial U.S. test market – Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – now puts us in a position to fully execute our U.S. expansion plans," according to Ryan.
"While some business writers have focused on restaurants who switched from Open Table to Eveve, our immediate success also proves there's a huge untapped market of restaurateurs who have never offered online reservations and now finally have an affordable alternative using cutting-edge technology.
Ryan also announced the opening of EVEVE's U.S. headquarters in Minneapolis:
EVEVE
100 South 5th Street
Suite 1900
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: 917-725-3114
Contact: Timothy Ryan.
Tel: 651-395-9468
Some restaurants leave OpenTable
October 7, 2011
www.bizjournals.com
Hell's Kitchen co-owner Cynthia Gerdes had long been frustrated with the costs of OpenTable Inc. 's online reservation system. The downtown Minneapolis restaurant spent $32,000 on the service last year — subscription fees of $199 per month, plus another $1 for each diner booked through OpenTable.com or 25 cents for each diner booked through hellskitcheninc.com.
So, in June, Gerdes took her business elsewhere, switching to a European competitor called Eveve Software Ltd. that charges a flat rate of $200 per month for its booking system — a savings of more than 90 percent compared to what Hell's Kitchen was paying OpenTable.
"OpenTable was great. We never had any problems whatsoever with the software or customer service," Gerdes said. "It was strictly about price. It was just way too expensive."
Gerdes isn't alone. Roughly 20 Twin Cities restaurants have switched from OpenTable to Eveve in recent months, including some popular spots such as Bar La Grassa, Jax Café, Meritage and W.A. Frost & Co.
Over the past couple of months, the competition has evolved into a full-fledged food fight as Eveve tries to lure more restaurants to its reservation system, while OpenTable attempts to retain its customers and win back those that have left.
OpenTable, which has done business in Minnesota for seven years, remains the dominant player in the market, with 235 restaurants using its system. However, Eveve Director Tim Ryan said he expects to have 50 Twin Cities customers on that system by the end of this year.
"We're looking at Minneapolis as a test market for us to validate our business in the United States," he said, noting that the company has a few restaurant customers in states such as Texas and New Jersey. "Most of the sales we've gotten have been through word of mouth."
Last week, Eveve signed a lease for an office at Fifth Street Towers in downtown Minneapolis, which will serve as the company's U.S. headquarters and provide room for as many as seven employees. It now has two Minnesota employees, but plans to have three more by the end of next week.
The Scottish company's largest market is the United Kingdom, where it has more than 500 restaurant customers. It has more than 250 customers in Australia and New Zealand, as well as some in Spain, Greece, Ireland and Canada.
Making the change
While price is the biggest factor driving restaurants to Eveve, concerns about losing customers have been among the biggest deterrents. So far, that hasn't materialized, according to several of the restaurants that made the change.
"We've been happy with it," said Nancy St. Pierre, co-owner of Bar La Grassa, which switched to Eveve two months ago. "We haven't seen a change. We've stayed very busy."
Hell's Kitchen also reports positive results. Gerdes planned a six-month re-education campaign to make sure customers knew about the change and how to make online reservations, but she didn't need it.
"I figured if we lost half of our online bookings we could still come out quite a bit ahead financially, but we actually ended up with an increase in bookings," she said. "That was my biggest surprise."
Overall, customer feedback at Scusi restaurant in St. Paul has been positive, said Stephanie Shimp, co-owner of parent company Blue Plate Restaurant Co.
"We sent an e-mail blast to our entire customer database to inform them of the change, and I only heard from two or three people who were disappointed that they wouldn't get rewards points from OpenTable for booking online anymore," she said, noting that her company has tried to mitigate that by directing customers to its new mobile app that includes loyalty rewards across all seven of the company's restaurants.
Beyond price, another big difference between the services is that Eveve, unlike OpenTable, does not operate a main reservation website featuring all of its restaurants. Instead, it merely operates as an online reservation system that restaurants run on their own websites; there's no mention of Eveve and customers do not need to sign up.
Ryan said he thinks OpenTable's portal works against busy restaurants because customers might opt for another option if they can't get the exact reservation they want. With Eveve, the customer only sees other options for that restaurant, not its competitors.
"Essentially OpenTable redistributes bookings from the busy restaurants to the quiet ones," he said.
Original Article: www.bizjournals.com Some restaurants leave OpenTable
Eveve v. Open Table: More prominent Twin Cities restaurants switch reservation services
August 10, 2011
www.twincities.com
(image right) Ryan Huseby, left, assistant general manager of W.A. Frost, and host Ryan Michelson review dinner reservations at the St. Paul Cathedral Hill restaurant. W.A. Frost recently replaced its online reservation system with Eveve, which allows reservations only via the restaurant's website. (Pioneer Press: Joe Michaud-Scorza)
ARTICLE
The Twin Cities restaurant scene has become a battleground between established online reservation service OpenTable and U.K. upstart Eveve.
Eveve, which is hoping to lure notable restaurants nationwide, has already picked up W.A. Frost and Meritage in St. Paul and Bar La Grassa and Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis.
OpenTable offers diners restaurant listings complete with available seating and customer reviews. Users generally must go to OpenTable for those options, though the company also powers reservations taken directly from restaurants' websites. Eveve, which costs restaurants less, is a markedly different service. Eveve provides software for restaurants to take reservations on their own websites only - and that's enough for some of its new clients.
"We're going on the fact that if people want to make a reservations at W.A. Frost, they're going to seek us out and make a reservation at our website," said Bob Crew, general manager.
One major client sticking with OpenTable is the Parasole restaurant group that includes Manny's, Burger Jones and Chino Latino. Parasole doesn't want to risk losing OpenTable users, particularly at legacy brands such as Muffuletta in St. Paul and the Good Earth chain.
"On an annual basis, we have 1.8 million guests," said Kip Clayton, a Parasole vice president. "Could you imagine if 10 percent of them went away for any reason? It would be a horrible blow."
DISTINCT SERVICES
For many frequent diners, Open-Table has become a go-to site to make restaurant reservations from their phones or laptops at no cost while earning points for restaurant discounts along the way.
"I'm one of that generation that doesn't like to physically talk to people on the phone, so it's just so easy to make reservations at OpenTable," said Laura Okell, a 20-something self-confessed foodie from Minneapolis.
Eveve is trying to attract busy restaurants that don't need marketing. So far, Eveve has signed 20 restaurants after setting up for the U.S. market eight weeks ago in the Twin Cities, according to Tim Ryan, chief executive of Eveve. The company just signed a lease at Fifth Street Towers in Minneapolis and has offices around the world, though its home office is in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ryan insists the company, launched in 2007, doesn't want to emulate the wide-ranging OpenTable business model, just lure some of its largest accounts. "The Twin Cities is our test market for North America," Ryan said. "It's affluent; it's got two vibrant restaurant sectors."
Eveve provides its software for a flat monthly fee of $200. The Open-Table cost structure provides more options, such as live table management, website design and email newsletters. With options, the service can run up to a few thousand dollars a month.
Original Article: www.twincities.com Online reservation showdown under way in Twin Cities: OpenTable vs. pilot Eveve
Eveve v. Open Table: More prominent Twin Cities restaurants switch reservation services
August 22, 2011
blogs.citypages.com
A few months ago, the Hot Dish reported on several local restaurants that were unhappy with their electronic reservations provider, Open Table. More recently, a couple major players, Hell's Kitchen and Meritage, switched their service to Open Table's biggest competitor in Europe, Eveve, in order to save money and avoid the possibility of having potential bookings cannibalized by Open Table's discount-heavy marketing program.
After Hell's Kitchen and Meritage joined Eveve, the company decided to focus on the Twin Cities restaurant market. In the past few weeks, Eveve has secured several other prominent local eateries and seems to be gaining a foothold.
Making the assumption that the most reviewed restaurants on Open Table are its most booked, just this week, Eveve launched online reservations services for several of the metro's top 20 restaurants, including the top 5 Bar La Grassa, which typically books about 4,000 covers online each month. (Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre's other restaurant, 112 Eatery, has never offered online reservations.)
A few other major eateries with substantial online monthly bookings have also recently joined Eveve, including Al Vento and Rinata, along with Rock Bottom Brewery, Jake O'Connor's, and Lola's Lakehouse.
Eveve's director and co-owner Timothy Ryan says he believes that Hell's Kitchen and Bar La Grassa were Open Table's number one and two most-booked restaurants in the Twin Cities, which brought the company tens of thousands of dollars worth of annual revenue. For large restaurants not in need of online marketing services, Eveve's $200 a month flat fee can be much lower than Open Table's per-cover fee, and in talking to several local restaurateurs, Ryan was surprised to discover the substantial size of that gap. Hell's Kitchen, for example, was previously paying up to $3,000 a month. "We didn't realize just how much these busy restaurants are paying Open Table," he says.
Ryan estimates that, so far, Eveve has captured some 20 percent of Open Table's business in the Twin Cities market by booking about 18-20,000 monthly covers. And the company is already in talks with several other major players, including the Parasole group, which owns more than a dozen restaurants in the metro. Ryan says the biggest concern that restaurateurs have about switching from Open Table to Eveve is the possibility of lost bookings, but he quickly notes that Hell's Kitchen, which switched a few weeks ago, has actually seen its bookings increase.
Eveve's play for Open Table's business won't come without a fight. Open Table has reportedly been trying to win its former clients back, offering extra discounts and incentives. Still, Eveve feels it can compete against the Goliath of online restaurant reservations by offering a lower-cost alternative. "Open Table abused its market position in America," Ryan says.
Original Article: blogs.citypages.com Eveve v. Open Table: More prominent Twin Cities restaurants switch reservation services
Eveve announces new partnerships with leading Twin Cities restaurants
August 12, 2011
Open Table, the country's largest reservations system, loses their top Twin Cities restaurants
Minneapolis, MN & London, England – August 12, 2011
Ten leading Twin Cities restaurants have recently decided to drop their relationships with Open Table and switch to EVEVE. Critically acclaimed Hell's Kitchen plus St. Paul award winning Meritage and Rock Bottom Brewery in Minneapolis have all switched their online reservations to Europe-based reservations system EVEVE. Established in 1997, EVEVE is a leading global supplier of live reservations systems and has relationships with approximately 1,000 restaurants worldwide. EVEVE has just begun to establish a U.S. presence initially focusing on the Twin Cities market.
"We are very grateful for the confidence Hell's Kitchen, Meritage and our other eight clients have placed in our future in the U.S. market," said EVEVE's Director Timothy Ryan. "Of the 246 restaurants Open Table has relationships with in the Twin Cities, these ten represent roughly 18% of their projected 90,000 covers per month. We've been fortunate to emerge as Open Table's strongest competitor in Europe and Asia and we are looking forward to bringing our successful reservations system, our level of customer service and our uniquely affordable pricing model to the U.S."
"Our software allows a restaurant to control everything within their own website," said Ryan. "Our system gives restaurateurs complete control over their tables and private customer data. EVEVE doesn't host a consumer website or point potential diners toward 'high point rewards' competitors, which ring up even higher fees for Open Table. Restaurant owners have balked that Open Table's fees are justified by their 'marketing opportunities' but in essence seem to often work against them," said Ryan.
"Open Table's pricing policy results in larger restaurants facing annual billings in excess of $30,000 and an inability to control how Open Table markets to its customers," said EVEVE's Ryan.
"The minute Hell's Kitchen and Meritage announced their switch to EVEVE, we were deluged with inquires. Restaurants margins are shrinking; people said they've been looking for a solid alternative for a long time. Anyone fearful of losing online bookings can look to Hell's Kitchen as an example. The first 30 days with us, their online bookings actually increased by 20% over last year," said Ryan. Open Table's strongly-skewed revenue model highlights a paradox. The restaurants who need Open Table the least are the ones who pay the most," added Ryan.
"Elite restaurants are also subject to diner cannibalization. Diners at elite restaurants can only book online if they sign up with Open Table," said Ryan. "While this confers convenience, it also opens up your diners to having their heads turned by the many savage discounts on Open Table, particularly Spotlight, or its new partnership with Savior. By forcing their own high end diners to sign up for Open Table and its discounts, the elite restaurants, by proxy, are advertising low-end discounts at rival restaurants to their own customers."
"Restaurants have been frustrated with most of the other alternatives because they have emulated Open Table's cover pricing model and they've not had the industrial technical capabilities to successfully meet their needs," said Ryan. "The Twin Cities restaurant market is very representative of major markets around the country and we are convinced that our early successes here will be replicated in the rest of the country."
Meritage and Hell's Kitchen drop Open Table: The exodus begins?
July 7th 2011
blogs.citypages.com
A recent Dish column looked into online reservations' impact on Twin Cities restaurants. While many restaurants, especially those that are new, off the beaten path, or have many seats to fill, are benefiting from using the dominant online reservation system, Open Table, some were feeling beholden to a service didn't really meet their needs and took a huge bite out of their budgets.
Desta and Russell Klein, the owners of Meritage in St. Paul felt that Open Table wasn't aiding their restaurant enough to be worth its exorbitant cost, roughly $15,000 to $18,000 a year. They wanted to be able to offer their customers the ability to make online reservations, but they didn't really need Open Table's marketing services.
So a couple of weeks ago, Meritage dropped Open Table and switched to another reservation system...and a lot of other local restaurants may soon be following suit. Here's why:
Desta Klein says that after the Dish article came out, she talked to Cynthia Gerdes, co-owner of Hell's Kitchen, who had just received her monthly $3,000 Open Table bill and was fearing she would have to raise menu prices to cover the costs. The two looked into an online reservation service called Eveve, which is Open Table's primary competitor in Europe. "We were both kind of scared to leave Open Table," Klein says. "They have such a dominant market share. That's not a good position to be in."
Eveve still offers diners same-time reservations and confirmations, Klein says, but with the ability to customize the process in a way that better suited her restaurant's needs. (The system can be set to designate which seats should be filled first and factor in the restaurant's ability to push tables together for large groups, for example.)
Also, with Open Table, diners' contact information feeds into Open Table's database, which means customers on one restaurant's email list receive marketing information from Open Table, essentially encouraging them to visit competing restaurants. "Open Table forced to pay for marketing I didn't really want," Desta Klein says. "Some of it was directly working against me."
Best of all, Klein says, Eveve charges only a $200 per month flat fee. By contrast, Open Table charges a one-time installation fee of several hundred dollars (to cover setup and training for the Open Table computer terminal and software), plus, at minimum, a basic monthly fee of $199 and a per-cover charge of $1 for each person in the dining party on reservations booked through Open Table's website. Eveve requires no contract, no special equipment, and can be accessed through as many computers as the restaurant desires, so staff can even manage reservations from home.
Klein says that so far, the new system is working better, and has cut Meritage's online reservations expenses about 85 percent. Hell's Kitchen made the switch a week ago and says it has seen its numbers of online reservations hold steady. Open Table was very useful to the large, downtown Minneapolis, tourist-friendly spot--Hell's Kitchen was the system's second most top booked in the Twin Cities, and among the top 10 in the nation, Gerdes says. But while the restaurant may miss out on some of the exposure Open Table offered, Gerdes thinks the annual savings--they paid a whopping $32,000 last year--will be more beneficial to the business overall.
Interestingly, Klein says she's already received calls from several large local restaurant groups who are also interested in finding an alternative to Open Table. "We might be starting a mini revolution here," she says.
Original Article: blogs.citypages.com Meritage and Hell's Kitchen drop Open Table: The exodus begins?
