Yelp today introduced a new feature that lets users book SeatMe reservations directly from its service’s restaurant and nightlife venue listings. The integration is now available on Yelp’s Web, Android, and iOS apps.
Yelp says its SeatMe reservation feature helps consumers “seamlessly close that loop between discovering a great local business and experiencing the best that business has to offer.” Here is how the integration looks on Yelp’s website:
Yelp notes that reservations aren’t limited to just food: some 20 percent of SeatMe venues are bars and lounges. The company also claims restaurants and bars “love SeatMe because of their flat fee structure” and no “per diner” fees. That may be, but Yelp now has to convince all the other business that don’t yet use SeatMe.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
Yelp acquired the online reservation startup SeatMe back in July. The news came less than two weeks after Yelp announced its entrance into the food delivery industry.
At the time, Yelp explained the deal would enable it to “further enhance the consumer experience by extending the convenience of easy, online reservations directly through Yelp to thousands of currently unserved businesses.” Four months later it has finally delivered.
The move is a much larger part of Yelp’s competition with FourSquare. Both companies are increasingly looking to strengthen relationships with local companies to provide a better experience to mobile users who are constantly looking for a fresh way to broaden their outing options.
Yelp and Foursquare are reaching a point where they can focus on providing more and more features to their existing userbases, rather than mainly focusing on user growth. Expect this space to continue heating up well into 2014, with more acquisitions on the way.
See also – Yelp confirms Harvard study about fraudulent reviews, says its algorithm discards 25% of user submissions and Yelp now matches photos and reviews by the same user on desktop and mobile
Top Image Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.