Restaurant.com, the leading provider of restaurant savings nationwide, today announced the launch of Specials by Restaurant.com. An evolution of its core gift certificate business, Specials by Restaurant.com is an additional avenue for consumers to save on exciting and memorable dining experiences through a unique selection of daily deals.
“We’re excited to announce the launch of Specials by Restaurant.com,” said Cary Chessick, CEO of Restaurant.com. “Groupon (GRPN) has recently shown tremendous consumer demand for daily deals. We believe the combination of time limited deals plus marketplace based everyday deals will offer consumers a gratifying choice.”
Restaurant.com has been in the online deal business for more than a decade, and has vast experience in the space. Restaurant.com’s core consumer offering, a $25 gift certificate for $10, has been available on the web since 2001. The profitable, private company consistently offers more than 45,000 unique daily deals that never expire, available at more than 18,000 restaurants nationwide. The business was built with a keen eye and deep exploration into making restaurants happy. The company focuses on filling tables, improving profits and providing valuable consumer survey data, all at no cash out of pocket for restaurant partners. With a nationwide footprint of restaurants to choose from, the business turned its focus toward bringing great deals to consumers.
Restaurant.com’s Incentive & Loyalty Solutions (ILS) business, launched in 2005, has successfully partnered with thousands of companies to create bundled offers using Restaurant.com Gift Certificates. Companies in the travel, entertainment and retail verticals offer Restaurant.com Gift Certificates as employee and customer incentives. Consumers have enjoyed more than $700 million in bundled savings via the incentives business.
Specials by Restaurant.com is a natural extension of more than a decade of experience in the online deal space. The company’s extensive experience in the use of bundled gift certificate packages has created offers that have consumer appeal, improve profits in restaurants and help non-restaurant businesses expand through promotional and incentive marketing. The company has always made it a priority to be a consumer-friendly business and will continue to maintain that philosophy.
Unlike OpenTable (OPEN), who recently turned off its Spotlight to focus on its core business, Restaurant.com is an ecommerce company focused on everyday deals. The company has an opportunity to dive deeper into the restaurant savings space, a space the company knows quite well.
Restaurant.com Gift Certificates bundled with movies, travel, wine, cooking, food and entertainment will be the initial focus of the business unit.
The first daily deal offered by Specials by Restaurant.com was extremely successful, selling out at 2,000 $100 Restaurant.com eGift Cards.
Today’s daily Special is two movie tickets and a $25 Restaurant.com eGift Card for only $25.
“We’re not offering deals on skydiving or laser hair removal, as one may be inclined to lose their lunch with such a bundled offer. We are offering deals that help diners deepen relationships with family and friends and help create lasting memories one dining experience at a time,” said Chessick.
“We are currently signing up our own deals and are in discussions with strategic partners in the space to help us grow this business unit in a measured, careful and profitable manner,” said Christopher Krohn, president and CMO of Restaurant.com.
