Chope
 | |
| Industry | Internet |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 15, 2011 |
| Founder | Arrif Ziaudeen |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
Area served | Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing |
Key people |
Arrif Ziaudeen - CEO Dinesh Balasingam - General Manager |
| Products | Online restaurant reservations |
| Website | chope.co |
Chope is a real time restaurant-reservation booking platform which connects diners with its partner restaurants. The name “Chope” was inspired by the term chope spoken colloquially in Singapore. The means to online reservation include the company’s website, mobile applications, and plug-ins for restaurant websites and Facebook pages.[1] Chope charges restaurants fixed and per-diner fees for the use of its table booking system; diners are not charged booking or cancellation fees for reservations made through Chope’s system.[2] In July 2012, Chope announced its application has been used by 1,000,000 diners.[3]
On June 30, 2015 the company announced it had secured an investment of US $8M in a series C round co-led by F&H Fund Management, a fund chaired by pioneering Alibaba CTO John Wu, and NSI Ventures. [4]
In April 2016, the company announced its acquisition of MakanLuar.com - Indonesia's top restaurant reservations platform co-founded by Kunal Narang and Hiro Mohinani in its foray into the country of 250 million people. [5]
History
Founded on 15 June 2011, Chope was inspired by the idea of making the restaurant reservation process simpler, seeking to address the problem of placing restaurant reservations through phone calls that could normally only be done during operating hours. Chope overcomes this limitation by providing a real-time online service for the process of table reservations. Chope was only able to secure a dozen reservations in its first week.[6]
Chope builds on the trends of innovation in technology advances and the evolution of business concepts. At the time of its startup, restaurateurs and café owners had been known to be slow to adapt to technology advancements. However, aided by the rise in 3G and WiFi internet access, this trend had been slowly changing.[7]
Services
For users
The website and the mobile app allow users to search for restaurants and reservations based on parameters including times, dates, cuisine, location, price range and promotional offers from credit cards or other partners. Users who have registered their email address with the service will then receive a confirmation email.. Users can also receive Chope Dollars, a rewards-point system after dining (100 or multiples of 100); these points can be redeemed for vouchers at select member restaurants on the service, or other gifts from time to time [8]
The company also has a mobile application available in Apple's App Store that allows users to find and book dinner reservations.[9]
For restaurants
The service provides restaurant owners with comprehensive reservation management. Subscribing restaurants use a Table Management or Reservation System that replaces conventional paper reservation systems. The service offers options to handle reservation management, table management, guest recognition, and email marketing.[10]
Features include:
- Reservation management – manages making, changing, canceling and confirming reservations
- Guest management – keeps track of customer preferences and repeat customers; also allows targeted marketing to customers
- Table management – assists restaurant staff in seating (and even preassigning to seats) customers and tracking table status
- Reporting – provides advanced analytics helps sustain and improve restaurant efficiency
Chope may also offer Chope Dollars to diners for every reservation made, subject to some terms. This acts as an incentive to repeat usage and increase loyalty of customers. A list of restaurants when booked at, offer these incentives, are displayed on the search results page when looking for a reservation.
Markets
The company's home market is Singapore. It has expanded to include markets including Hong Kong, Mainland China and Thailand.
Similar Applications
- Similar company in Singapore: Quandoo
- Similar company in Asia: EZTABLE
- Similar company in Europe: Quandoo
- Similar company in the US: OpenTable
References
- ↑ "Chope Group", crunchbase. Retrieved on 8 April 2015.
- ↑ Mahtani, Shibani (November 2011). "Chope Adds Personal Touch to Online Booking". Retrieved on 8 April 2015.
- ↑ Tay, Daniel (August 2014). "Having sat over 10 million diners in Hong Kong, Chope expands to mainland China". Tech in Asia. Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ↑ Lee, Terrence. "Online restaurant booking service Chope raises $8M, revenue doubled in past year". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 20 Aug 2015.
- ↑ "Chope Acquires MakanLuar to Gobble up the Indonesian Market".
- ↑ TAE Team (July 2014). "Interview with Ariff Zaiudeen". Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ↑ "Four up-and-coming trends in the restaurant business".Tech in Asia. Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ↑ "Reserve through Chope when you dine, and collect dining perks for every booking!". June 21, 2015.
- ↑ Tan, Vanessa (May 3, 2012). "Chope Launches New iPhone App, Ready to Take Your Reservations". Tech In Asia. Retrieved Aug 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Singapore's Digital Start-Up Giants - Chope". DBS SME Banking. Retrieved Aug 24, 2015.