Ten Popular Philadelphia Restaurants Switch Reservation system to Eveve
Karma, Zento and Vesper amongst the restaurants which have recently joined EVEVE in Philadelphia, the company’s fifth US market. Find out about Philadelphia’s burgeoning food scene and why these leading restaurants are choosing EVEVE.
Philadelphia is one of America’s most established food cities, claiming some of the nation’s finest and most popular restaurants, and is a hub of new activity as a raft of new eateries open over coming months. As millennials move in to the city and it becomes ever more densely populated, eating out and fine dining is becoming a way of life for many in Philadelphia.
As a global international powerhouse in terms of economic power and fine-dining clout, it may be no surprise to find that greater Philadelphia is one of the world’s ten largest restaurant reservation markets, by online diner volume, with well over 800 restaurants accepting online reservations in the greater metropolitan area. Aside from sheer number, Philadelphia also has some of the nation’s most booked restaurants and ranks amongst the highest in terms of reservations per capita. Outside of Philadelphia itself, there are significant concentrations of online restaurant bookings in Collingswood, Cherry Hill, King of Prussia and Conshohocken.
Booking a table online is useful for both the diner and restaurateur. For the diner, online bookings allow convenience, as they can book a reservation 24/7, regardless of whether there is a skilled telephonist in the restaurant. Moreover the diner receives an instant confirmation by email, giving them assurance of their plans. For the restaurant, online reservations offer a conduit for bookings 24/7 at minimal cost. With Eveve technology, each online booking is structured as if the restaurateur had placed it personally.
The problem facing restaurateurs in Philadelphia until 2015 (shared across Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland) was that if they wanted to make use of live reservations technology, they were served by just one monopoly supplier, Opentable, which enjoyed over 95% market share. Though Opentable provides a quality reservation product and professional service, like any monopoly situation when there is only one supplier, prices were inevitably uncompetitive.
In May 2015 the situation changed profoundly, as ten popular independent Philadelphia restaurants joined Eveve, within a few weeks of Eveve launching in the market. Karma, Barra, Bleu Martini, Vesper and Zento formerly used Opentable as their primary reservation supplier, but now use Eveve to place online bookings from their websites and social media outlets. In addition Guild Hall and b-Side have chosen Eveve, having never used a reservation system. The ten is made up by three further restaurants which will be installed by June 2nd. EVEVE expects to manage at least 5,000 online diners in June, and build from there.
Why are restaurants rushing to join EVEVE? The reservations supplier has proven it can deliver just as many online reservations per restaurant as Opentable, across 200 case studies. This is underpinned by world class reservations software and local, designated account managers. All this is provided at a tremendously competitive price, with restaurants typically saving 60-80% when switching to EVEVE, and sometimes as much as 90%.
In addition, many restaurants are attracted to the fact that EVEVE is a white label solution, rather than a middleman or broker. EVEVE does not promote itself to the restaurant’s diners nor does it promote other restaurants to their own user base. Indeed, many diners use EVEVE software without even knowing it.
Philadelphia is EVEVE’s fifth market in the USA, following success in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, Seattle and Denver. EVEVE chose Minneapolis-St. Paul as its first target market in 2011, and the company now manages the online reservations for eight of the Twin Cities’ 10 busiest independent restaurants, and over 50% of all online diner reservations in the state. In Texas, EVEVE serves four of the top 10 most booked restaurants in Houston, as well as acclaimed fine dining establishments, such as Fresh Fish and Barley Swine (in Austin). Seattle became EVEVE’s third market in November, and 15 restaurants now utilise the company’s product across the greater metropolitan area. In Denver Eveve manages the reservations for 25 restaurants and over 20,000 online diners per month.
EVEVE is very enthusiastic about the Philadelphia market, and has made a strategic investment in the city, committing to locally based sales and technical support teams. Timothy Ryan, EVEVE’s CEO added “Philadelphia is one of America’s most historic and important cities, with a firmly established fine dining scene, and rapid growth in quality new establishments. It was the standout choice for us as a hub for our East Coast operations, and we feel confident and privileged to invest in the city. We hope we can serve Philadelphia like we have our other cities, meaning lower overheads for restaurants”.
EVEVE offers onsite installs throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware from its new base in Philadelphia.
If you have a restaurant in Philadelphia, wider Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware or Maryland, and need first class reservations technology and professional account management and training, but without the per diner cover fees, call EVEVE’s local team in Philadelphia today, and they will be delighted to visit with you in person.
Eveve Software
T: 713 701 5383