Restaurants, cafes and other hospitality venues across New South Wales, Canberra and Victoria are struggling financially as lockdowns evaporate their sales and decimate their business.
According to Pan Koutlakis, many businesses are now turning to apps to fight for customers and sales.
Pan Koutlakis is the founder and CEO of EatClub, an innovative app that enables restaurants to push out meal deals and other special offers directly to customers. It is currently the only platform at scale to give restaurants the power and control to post and manage granular deals in real time. EatClub allows businesses to harness the power of big data and machine learning to drive sales and make data driven decisions on the deals they post resulting in the most customers at the lowest possible cost.
“It is absolutely horrific to see what lockdown closures are doing to restaurants and other outlets across the country,” Koutlakis said.
“For many not being able to fill seats is devastating and so the importance of contactless collection is increasing by the day as venues fight for survival.”
Apps that enable venues to push out deals and reach customers directly are now helping businesses to stay afloat. EatClub has experienced a surge of over 200 percent in venues registering to its platform.
“Mama Saan is a very popular Japanese tapas restaurant and bar in Bondi that has traditionally struggled to attract takeaway customers. By utilising apps such as EatClub, they have been able to very easily add over $3,000 in takeaway volume a week,” Koutlakis said.
“What is really great, is that they have done this without any increase in fixed costs – so it has helped with profitability. They are able to switch the offers on and off with the click of a button, depending on how many customers they want.”
Koutlakis believes that while COVID has been damaging, it has also helped to move some businesses into tech savvy spaces, enabling them to drive sales and capitalise on clever software and digital tools improving financial outcomes.
“Many businesses that are now adopting these new tools, will keep using them post the pandemic to help drive even greater growth and profitability,” Koutlakis said.“Sapa Vietnamese restaurant in Ultimo, Sydney, is another venue that is using EatClub to push out tailored promotions to get more orders in through the door.
“Gami Chicken and Beer has been using EatClub now for over a year. They have 28 venues across Victoria, NSW, WA and the ACT and are continuing to expand. The app has helped them to elevate their business during COVID to a while new level, push out tailored deals and adjust offers in real time to boost revenues and provide a seamless customer experience.
“Our machine learning AI has evolved recently to now predict with great accuracy how much revenue and contribution a restaurant will get from any deal putting us in a position to offer a revenue guarantee to any new venues that sign up.
“We can guarantee $1000 after the deal in the first month for any venue, really taking any of the risk of signing up out of the equation.”
Currently over 200,000 people are using EatClub every day to claim exclusive deals and discounts up to 50 percent off on amazing food, and there is no sign that these numbers are reducing during the latest lockdown.
EatClub is available to download on the App Store and Google Play, and registering a restaurant on EatClub only takes five minutes. Since 2017, EatClub has filled millions of tables for restaurants around the country.”
For customers, the App is easy to use and navigate with EatClub’s three-step ordering system:
- Find nearby restaurants that have just uploaded last minute deals.
- Find an incredible deal at a top restaurant, and redeem your voucher.
- Show your digital voucher when you arrive at the restaurant to receive your deal.
App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/eatclub-live-restaurant-deals/id1053752571
Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dinnerdeal.android.customer&hl=en_AUhttps://