ResDiary

ResDiary is an online reservation system^[1] founded in 2006. According to the company, 11.5 million covers are booked every month, in over 7,500 restaurants, across 57 countries using ResDiary technology. The globally available booking system can be used on a variety of platforms, provides 24-hour reservation services via customer websites, Facebook and Twitter, and supports feedback and review functionality.^[2][3]

ResDiary is headquartered in Glasgow^[4] and has team members and licensees devoted to the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines,^[5][6] Dubai, Portugal, Uruguay and South Africa. The service is used by the Houses of Parliament restaurants, the Royal Opera House as well as by Scottish Michelin star chefs Martin Wishart and Tom Kitchin.^[7][8][9]

No transaction charges

ResDiary's business model is based on a flat monthly charge instead of a transactional fee.^[10]

Yield management for puppies

ResDiary is said to deliver a system to track the pattern of a restaurant's reservations together with table and yield management functions. These ensure that occupancy and profitability are maximized with limited stress on kitchen production and floor staff at peak times.^[11] Mike Conyers (CEO) spoke of the concept that ResDiary makes yield management so simple that even a puppy could handle it in the WiT (World in Travel) conference in Singapore October 2015.^[12]

Genuine reviews

ResDiary offers a verified source of information for restaurateurs based on data provided by customers at the time of booking.^[13] Following each visit, diners are contacted by email and offered a chance to grade the venue using a star system and submit comments. Each review is backed up by the customers's booking data, including detail such as where the diner was seated and how many times they have dined.

Guarantees and prepayments

The restaurant industry was said to be losing out on up to £16bn in revenue every year because diners fail to turn up for bookings.^[14] ResDiary introduced cancellation fee technology to tackle no shows. ResDiary Guarantees allows operators to securely take credit card details with Stripe Connect and charge a cancellation fee.^[15] Retaurants can also take full payment upfront for all bookings or for events and special menus through the system. This ticketing technology is being used by The Cove Club in Shoredtitch which was the first restaurant in the UK to use a system for diners to pay for their meal in advance.^[16]

ResDiary Academy

Following a customer survey which revealed 91% of restaurateurs feel they have a gap in their digital knowledge, ResDiary launched the ResDiary Academy in May 2017. The Academy is a digital resource, dedicated to assisting operators in their marketing and digital strategies with articles and guides on Search Engine Optimisation, email marketing and website optimisation amongst other things. It also includes guides from industry experts like Nudge CRM and webinars from Irish restaurant guru Anthony Beale. ^[17]

Acquisition

In October 2016 ResDiary announced acquisition of Nudge eCRM bringing together their reservation platform and table management system with Nudge’s CRM, marketing and analytics platform.

Partnerships

ResDiary provides reservation solutions for a variety of third parties, including Uber, Time Out, Hardens, Andy Hayler, Avios, Visit Scotland, Citylicious, Loving Dublin and Restaurants Brighton.^[18][19]

Licensee Model

Dimmi Australia has licensed ResDiary to power its restaurant reservation engine, dining portal and online bookings since inception in 2009. Dimmi also licenses the ResDiary reservation API to power it affiliate relationships with Qantas, Zomato (formerly Urban Spoon), Yelp, Google, Time Out and TripAdvisor. In May 2015 Dimmi was acquired by TripAdvisor yet still continues to use ResDiary instead of TripAdvisor’s French Reservation system, La Forchette.

Awards

• Business to Business award - Herald, 2013 ^[20]

References

External links

• ResDiary.com