Technology has gripped the life of consumers like never before. Today, every decision is taken with the click of a button. And the food & Hotel service industry is no different. In today’s busy world, you don’t want to spend time waiting for your table when you go out for dining. You are better off if you reserve well in advance. If you know which restaurant you want to dine in, then making a reservation is simple – just call and make a reservation. But what happens when the restaurant you wish to eat at is fully booked or when you are not sure about where to dine? This is where table booking apps come to the rescue.

Not only do they provide real-time table availability at restaurants, they also bring exclusive deals and discounts to the diners. A range of options such as bill discounts, party bookings, happy hours etc. aims at targeting audience from all age groups.

Attractive Market: The Indian restaurant industry includes a range of outlets from the unorganized sector covering small outlets & Dhabas to the structured outlets covering QSR’s, take away outlets, standalone restaurants, clubs, pubs & bars. The reservation market however is restricted to the structured segment which is further limited to casual and fine dining restaurants where the average cost of dining for two people is above INR 700-800. There are roughly 8000 such restaurants in top 10 cities of the country where the reservation potential is estimated to be around 3 million reservations per month.

Restaurant Table reservation service industry is one of the most vibrant industries that has seen unprecedented growth in the recent past and continues to expand rapidly.

This can be attributed to changing demographics, increase in disposable income, urbanization and innovation in technology. A rising young population, along with a fast paced trend of eating out and experimenting various cuisines on a frequent basis, that too without any waiting has provided a plethora of growth opportunities for the industry. Simultaneously, technology has played a pivotal role across various facets of the table reservation service value chain.

Reserving a table online and through Mobile Application has pushed the boundaries of convenience further, where table availability is available on real-time, thereby facilitating instant confirmations.

Reserving a table online and through Mobile Application has pushed the boundaries of convenience further, where table availability is available on real-time, thereby facilitating instant confirmations. The Indian Diaspora presents a significant array of opportunities in this domain. An ever increasing consumer base offers eye catching prospects.

There are multiple regional/national players which are trying to tap into this market but the prominent ones would include Dine-Out, Clicktable and Eazydiner. More recently, Zomato entered the space as well looking to leverage its web traffic.

Technology: These are cloud based technologies which help improve the management and customer experience via facilitating inventory management, customer management and order management. Various restaurants and cafes have also started using these technologies to enhance consumer experience and increase operational efficiency. It optimizes management of reservations, wait-lists, guest data, and table allocation. Many restaurants through the recession have struggled with keeping tables filled and have reached out to Click table and others like to list their tables to keep them booked/reserved. Consumers have also started to rely on this technology to reserve a table, compare a restaurant, menu items, deals and offers for making decisions about their eating out.

Help Boosting Restaurant Revenues: Restaurants are also increasingly adopting online booking models as they help fill up empty tables, offer more convenience and enhance the efficiency. Now, many restaurants in India use reservation platforms like Clicktable & others to allow their guests to book for a meal. But these Hassle-Free reservation platforms do more than help customers secure a place to eat. It also provides marketing for the restaurants that use it, provides reviews, and helps restaurants boost business and manage flow. It also gives special offers or deals to diners as an added incentive to use the restaurants that are signed up.