@eazydiner - The story of eating out at great restaurants and bars. From a rocking start in 2020, to a complete shutdown and then a complete recovery, this is our story - a thread :

For all those who think Foodtech is about food delivery companies,well it’s much bigger than that, Food Services is a $ 61 Billion market and 75% of that is eating out, delivery is only 11% ( pre Covid ). Has maybe doubled post Covid but still less than half of eating out.

@eazydiner we are the leaders in eating out,which is basically table reservations and within 18 seconds we get you a table in a great restaurant with an amazing deal always.We wanted to be the bridge between the restaurant and diners and reduce the friction while booking a table.

We were nearly profitable, growing at 10 X in the last 3 years till Covid struck and the restaurants closed down for 4 months. We are funded well but not as well funded as the delivery companies, yet we took a call that companies have a social responsibility too.

So we cut salaries but we did not LAY OFF a single person,these people believed in the story of eating out and we were nearly profitable with loyal customers and partnerships from Google to American Express.And more than money it’s important to have a heart and stand by your team

So inspite of close to zero revenue for 4 months, we worked on making our restaurant search technology better, we made paying on the app better, you can now save upto 50% on eating out by paying on the app with our banking partners like Citibank and Indusind.

Every time you eat out with us you save the maximum,get a seat in a restaurant but also earn points which get you free meals and even free hotel nights, think of it as the only loyalty program across restaurants and hotel partners. People love EazyPoints and that is exploding !

Restaurants opened July onwards slowly and in the meantime, we helped more than 75% of the restaurants digitise their inventory without any cost and complete training, given free of cost to our restaurant partners, thousands of restaurants are able to manage their seats better.

A major positive that Covid introduced in the consumer psyche was to book in advance and this helps a restaurant plan better on managing their resources. So it’s been a dramatic shift to making reservations and low focus on just walking thereby helping restaurants reduce costs.

This behaviour change inspite of a challenging environment has led to a greater resurgence in our numbers, our app traffic is up but only that, this week the website traffic has been up 100% as compared to last year and dining numbers are 25% higher than last year.

More people are searching, exploring,still a bit scared but because we have only digitised a bit of India’s eating out inventory, there is a 100X scope to grow from here. Our numbers this week as we head into New Year are at a LIFE time high with 10% marketing spends vs last year

For all those who believed that people will take time to eat out again, well, they are back and with a vengeance, eating out making an advance reservation and checking out safety ratings, which is good for the restaurant industry overall.

The magic of eating out,restaurants and cafes with great outdoor seating define the culture and magic of a city and that is what we have always believed at @eazydiner Thank you for trusting us and booking through us.Thank you also for making us a part of your life’s celebrations.

A big thank you to all our partners, restaurants, banks working closely with us and our team for keeping the faith and serving our guests better. And yes, the salary cuts are gone, and yes, we did not lay off a single person as we believed that things will get better.

@eazydiner We promise to work harder to serve you even better this year. Wishing your families,teams and you a healthy and safe festive season ahead. And,yes,do book your table, we are hungry to serve you. No meal without a deal and an electric fast table confirmation !