Restaurant owners have trouble filling up empty tables; customers want discounts. So the trick here is simple: Give the customers discounts if they reserve a restaurant space online — now everyone is happy!
Simply put, Singapore-based start-up, Gastro Couture mashes both the online reservation and discount concepts into one. Users pay SGD$7 to reserve a space through the service and in return, they will get 20 to 30 percent discounts in the restaurant. Not a bad deal!
It’s smart because it discourages the kind of idiot who makes reservations but doesn’t ever turn up. The $7 dollar charge is a monetary commitment; a promise that they will show up. Of that fee, Gastro Couture takes $2 as a booking fee, and the rest goes to the restaurant. This arrangement makes both the restaurant and Gastro Couture happy, at least theoretically.
The service was founded by Lester Chia and Loh Zheng Rong. Lester explained to us that they always wanted to be entrepreneurs and now they finally have a chance. “Once we found a good idea, we just took it and ran with it,” he said. Gastro Couture currently has about 17 restaurants listed on their site, and the team is looking to even more on board.
Currently they have many indirect competitors. There are numerous online restaurant reservation sites that allow users to book online but don’t give them discounts; whilst there are daily deals sites that give customers big discounts but the restaurant pays a hefty price. This fragmented situation is not a great long-term solution for restaurants.
Lester explains to us:
We work long-term with a restaurant and we don’t just do a one time deal, so a person can be assured of making a booking instead of missing the opportunity once the deal is over.
The founders were funded SGD$50,000 by Spring Singapore’s YES! startup fund to test the concept. It’s new, it’s raw, and we’ll have to wait and see whether or not it can work. But if executed well, Gastro Couture could be the golden ticket empty restaurants need to fill tables day in and day out.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
