Washington, D.C.-based LivingSocial, an e-commerce experiences marketplaces that offers customers a myriad of coupon-enabled deals, has expanded its new offering called Restaurants Plus to the District. On launch, 140 local restaurants in the D.C. area will participate. Over the last two years, and beginning with the appointment of CEO Gautam Thakar, the once D.C. tech behemoth has worked to resurrect the brand. Today, it takes another step toward that goal.
D.C. follows after Atlanta, Ga., the first pilot city, for Restaurants Plus, which functions as a cash-back rewards offering per visit at partnering restaurants. Customers can access these deals from their smartphones and pay with a preregistered payment option, racking up reward points to use for subsequent restaurant discounts throughout the city. In some instances up to 30 percent cash back per meal is saved.
No coupon, voucher or scan is necessary in Restaurants Plus transactions, illustrating a deviation from the company's model of old and importantly, showcasing an internal product development shift.
The user's smartphone acts as a complimentary payment vehicle in transactions. Customers link their preferred card and then when they use their credit (or debit) card to pay for meal at the restaurant, they receive a text message or email letting them know how much has been saved. Servers are tipped on a total bill not a discounted amount.
Sign up/registration for Restaurants Plus can occur via desktop or mobile, while the "application," itself, is opened through the web from a smartphone.
Notable D.C. eateries that will be included upon launch are: Döner Bistro, Ella's Pizza, Fat Pete's Barbecue, Flippin’ Pizza, Gordon Biersch, Juniper at the Fairmont, The Perfect Pita, Merzi, Sette Osteria and Toro Toro.
According to Bloomberg Business, D.C. has the 7th highest "Eateries per Capita." And LivingSocial is currently in talks to bring more of those restaurants, up from the original 140 options, to their fresh platform as soon as possible.
From the perspective of restaurant owners, Restaurants Plus "is another powerful marketing and [customer] loyalty tool ... provid[ing] restaurant partners more control, allowing them to choose when and how much to reward customers, especially during slower periods," the company said in an official announcement.
In essence, the product, at least from a marketing standpoint, is meant to catalyze business for partners while giving them a polished, cloud software platform to further control deal flow in real time, dependent on their own needs and resources without an on-premise system overhaul of any kind.
"It's our home city, and we have a highly engaged customer base here."
In terms of expansion beyond D.C., that's actually already underway. LivingSocial is currently building up its restaurant base in some of the neighboring Maryland and Virginia areas to give customers a broad range of options throughout the Metro area, Nick Stafford, vice president of new business initiatives, told DC Inno.
So, why did LivingSocial choose D.C. as its second city for the important new program?
Stafford said that because LivingSocial has been headquartered locally and boasts a long history with city restaurant owners, the region appeared advantageous for a successful rollout. "We have a multi-year relationship with many of D.C.'s restaurants and so we were able to onboard many of them into the new Restaurant Plus program ... [also], it's our home city, and we have a highly engaged customer base here who love to dine out at their favorite restaurants."
