Sanjay Rishi,

“Don’t merely offer discounts like Groupon; offer meal enhancers”

cashless payments – it would handle the billing process for restaurants and a percentage would be charged as fees.

The business became less cashsucking because it did not discount meals. Instead, the company persuaded restaurants to dole out freebies, called ‘meal enhancers’, to attract diners. “Not a single deal for a meal enhancer is funded by EazyDiner,” Dasgupta asserts. This appears to be working for restaurants in some cases, leading to higher sales. Kapil Chopra, President of The Oberoi Group and number is growing at 30 per cent every month, the hotel says.

The Claridges in New Delhi views EazyDiner as a marketing tool. Its “sweetened” deals attract people who wouldn’t have otherwise dined at a five- star restaurant, says Simran Kodesia, Associate Director, Marketing at the hotel.

There is competition brewing. Dineout, a similar table reservation service, appears to be the largest in the space going by the number of listings and cities. According to data on its website, it currently seats more than 100,000 diners across 2,000 restaurants in eight cities per month. The bigger fish is restaurant discovery platform Zomato which, in November 2015, launched Zomato Book, its table reservation product. The company, India’s only food-tech unicorn, says it has currently partnered with over 300 restaurants – in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Nevertheless, EazyDiner has one differentiation it loves to flaunt. While Zomato relies on user reviews of restaurants – that could lead to soured ties with restaurateurs who feel targeted by the less-ethical bloggers – EazyDiner hires experienced critics for 100-word reviews.

“There was an opportunity to do more than user- driven content. There was an opportunity for curated content,” Sanghvi says. “Instead of going through 100 reviews, diners may want to read just one good review.” Sanghvi says he reads every review and hires every critic.

It could take a year before a clear winner emerges in this tussle between user-generated content and the critic- written one. EazyDiner, meanwhile, appears focused on expanding the number of cities it operates in. The start-up is going international, too – Dubai will be its first test. A bigger test in India will be getting on board smaller restaurants in what is largely an unstructured market. Another question looms large: are “deal enhancers” a viable option for the smaller guys?

Riyaaz Amlani, CEO and Managing Director of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality, says platforms that attract diners through deals can be detrimental to the industry over the long term. “That’s because people will get used to discounts and become deal hunters. They would not prefer quality and this will hurt the profit margins of restaurants even more,” he says. As of now, 40 of his restaurants are on EazyDiner. In some, he offers a free dessert. Sweet endings are always welcome. ~