Restaurant search and discovery app set to revolutionise the online experience for Australians foodies and restaurateurs alike
MELBOURNE,
Australia/PRNewswire/ -- Zomato, the global restaurant search and
discovery app that provides in-depth information for over 1.4 million
restaurants globally, will today complete the transition of Australian
users following its USD 52 million acquisition of Urbanspoon at the
beginning of the year.
In an age of ever-increasing connectivity,
where consumers expect access to information, peer engagement and
services all at the touch of a button, Zomato brings Australia's
restaurant industry to the forefront of this revolution. Elevating the
restaurant review website into an integrated platform, Zomato combines
expert, consumer, restaurant and social content in the palm of the
diner's hand.
As of Wednesday 3 June, Urbanspoon's users will be
completely migrated over to the Zomato platform, which keeps the best
of Urbanspoon's content whilst enhancing it with a host of new features
that will shake up the way Australians dine, and deliver a host of new
opportunities to restaurant owners.
The new website and app
blends the best of the old and the new by bringing in best practice for
user-generated content and supplementing this with curated collections
from Zomato's own 'feet on the street' experts.
Zomato's new core content features for users include:
Scanned menus, photos, and geocoded coordinates for restaurants, sourced by Zomato's massive street team
Curated
collections for each city, including 'Trending this Week', 'Artisan
Bakeries', 'Paleo Friendly', 'Kickass Burgers', and lots more
A 5-point rating scale, which replaces Likes and Dislikes used on Urbanspoon
Leaderboards and Foodie Rankings that help recognise the most prolific contributors in a city
'Spoonbacks', which enable Bloggers to easily publish their reviews on their blog and Zomato
Inspiration from fellow foodies in the form of a feed which shows you where your friends and people you follow are eating
A
personalised Food Journey in the form of a timeline, which helps you
keep track of all the places you eat, with chronologically sorted
reviews, photos and check-ins
For restaurant owners, Zomato has
expanded beyond a search and discovery portal to offer technology that
helps merchants more effectively connect with customers -- and potential
customers -- creating a host of commercial opportunities. Restaurants
can now access a range of free and paid services that include analytics
on how they are performing compared to other restaurants in the area,
sharing events, daily deals and special menus, as well as hyperlocal
advertising. This is just the tip of the iceberg; over the next couple
of months, Zomato will begin rapidly rolling out online ordering,
followed by table reservations, cashless payment facilities and a point
of sale system for restaurants.
Kate Parker, Country Manager --
Zomato Australia comments: "We're excited to announce the launch of
Zomato in Australia today, which will truly change the way Australians
dine.
"At the heart of the new website and app is our commitment
to building local relationships with restaurants and bloggers and
working together to grow Australia's vibrant foodie community. That is
why Zomato combines the best of Urbanspoon with a wealth of new
features, meaning Australia's foodies are better informed, more socially
connected and engaged with the experience of dining out than ever
before."
Melbourne will become the hub for Zomato's Asia Pacific
operations, supporting Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines,
Indonesia and other countries in the APAC region where Zomato is
scheduled to launch its services. The move will create 200 jobs in the
city, and up to 400 jobs in Australia, over the next eight months.
Founder
& CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal adds: "Bringing Zomato to
Australia is an exciting and important step for our young company. Not
only does Australia play host to some of the best restaurants in the
world, but it is also home to a nation of adventurous, discerning and
engaged diners, making it a global trendsetter when it comes to dining
out. This is why we feel confident that the popularity Zomato has
already seen in other countries will be emulated here in Australia,
making Zomato the country's go-to restaurant service for both
restaurateurs and diners."
For more information or to arrange an interview with Country Manager -- Zomato Australia, Kate Parker, please contact:
Corinna Fawls
Hausmann Communications
02 83535 5792 / 0197 400132
Corinna.Fawls@hausmann.com
About Zomato
Zomato
is a restaurant search app, providing in-depth information for over a
million restaurants across 22 countries, helping over 85 million
visitors every month discover great places to eat around them. Zomato's
core content features include scanned menus, photos which are sourced by
its massive feet-on-street team across its various cities of presence;
users can rate and review restaurants, as well as create their own
network of foodies for personalised recommendations. For more
information, please visit www.zomato.com.
About Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon
was acquired by Zomato in January 2015, and is a leading restaurant
discovery app that aggregates reviews from professional food critics,
bloggers, and local diners to help people everywhere decide where and
what to eat. Available on the web and through its popular iPhone,
Android, and Windows applications, Urbanspoon provides reviews for
restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Australia, and New Zealand.
Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150531/8521503536-a
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150531/8521503536-b
SOURCE Zomato