Restaurant reservations platform, Dimmi, launched Dimmi Off Peak nationally on Friday 1 July, after launching in NSW and Western Australia in early June. Dimmi founder and CEO Stevan Premutico told Hospitality the company planned to roll out the service nationwide later this year, but after receiving a positive response from restaurateurs they decided to get the ball rolling early.
Dimmi Off Peak is a yield management system, which operates in a similar way to dynamic pricing structures used by airlines and the hotel industry, designed to help restaurants improve their profitability and efficiency by attracting customers during quieter times.
“Today restaurants charge the same prices on a Tuesday as they do on Saturday, and the same prices for a meal at 5.30pm as they do at 7.30pm. So what we’ve set out to do is give restaurants the ability to do dynamic pricing, to charge different prices at different days or time according to demand,” said Premutico.
Dimmi Off Peak offers restaurants a number of options, specifically designed to drive consumer activity during off peak periods. Restaurants can release a certain amount of covers at a reduced rate, offer specific discounts or ‘value add’ with a complimentary item or a bespoke menu.
“A restaurant could offer a 20 percent discount for customers who dine on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, or they could apply a free glass of wine for customers who dine at 6pm and vacate the table by 7.30pm, for example,” said Premutico.
The aim is to increase turn over in order for venues to get the most covers out of an entire service.
“A restaurant that in the past might have done 100 covers on a Saturday is now able to fit in 120 by getting some diners in earlier,” he said.
Restaurateurs can manage the platform to suit their individual needs.
“It’s all instant and it’s all dynamic. Some of our restaurant partners cap it at 20 covers. So they’ll take a maximum of 20 covers at a 6pm slot. That way, they’re protecting their core by taking 80 percent of covers at full rate, but they’ll have an additional 20 covers that might come in at a slightly reduced rate or with a free glass of wine for example. Once those 20 covers are booked, the promo is taken down,” Premutico said.
“It’s all managed on a real time basis by the restaurants.”
So far, the most popular usage has been on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus early sittings, such as 6pm tables. And there hasn’t been any backlash from diners, Premutico said, with most Australians already familiar with the concept of yield management, thanks to the hotel and airline industries.
“I think we’re lucky in the sense that Australians are used to this. They know that ‘I can catch a flight from Sydney to Melbourne at 7am and it’s going to cost $199 or I can fly at the crack of dawn and it will cost $99.’ They’re used to paying more during peak times and less during off peak. So we definitely haven’t received any push back,” he said.
“What we’ve seen is that customers are willing to change their booking patterns and they are willing to eat earlier in the week or earlier in the day if there is a small incentive there for them.”
Dimmi, which is powered by ResDiary, was acquired by TripAdvisor in May 2015. The parent company was quick to ask why the restaurant industry in Australia hasn’t implemented dynamic pricing.
“They’ve seen the impact it’s had on the hotel and airline industries. [Plus] TripAdvisor is plugged into 35,000 restaurants all around the world, and markets like France, Spain and Scandinavia have been using a yield management platform for a couple of years, so we’re taking those learnings and applying them here,” Premutico said.
While this is the first platform of its kind for the Australian hospitality industry, restaurants have long offered yield management promotions – the aim of Dimmi Off Peak is to take blackboard specials and distribute the message to wider audience through the Dimmi website and app.
“The reality is that restaurants have been doing this for a long time, with things like express lunch [but] they’ve never really had a platform to communicate it widely,” he said.
“We do believe this is a game changer. Restaurants have operated on slim margins for too long. It’s about helping restaurants run a better business. This platform is well overdue.”
Dimmi Off Peak is available nationally to restaurants using the Dimmi platform at no additional cost.
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Erez Gordon, Restaurant Consultant and owner of Bishop Sessa, talks about the need for restaurants to manage their yield and drive business at off peak times.
An example of the Dimmi Off Peak interface. Image supplied.