WEBVTT - Open Table Data Shows Dining Demand Returning

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well. Open Table

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<v Speaker 1>is a subsidiary of the publicly traded booking holdings. They've

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<v Speaker 1>got great insight into what's going on when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to the restaurant industry. After all, pretty much knows in

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<v Speaker 1>real time how many people are making reservations on the

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<v Speaker 1>platform now versus pre pandemic, and they can see that

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<v Speaker 1>data at a given moment. In fact, you can look

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<v Speaker 1>at open table data on the Bloomberg terminal. We're very

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<v Speaker 1>pleased to have with us this afternoon. Debbie Sue, CEO

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<v Speaker 1>of open Table. She joins us via zoom from Stanford, Connecticut. Debbie,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you. I'm doing well? Thank you. Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>kind of know the answer to this question because I've

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<v Speaker 1>tried to make reservations on open table and other apps

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<v Speaker 1>on you know, a Tuesday night or a Friday night

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<v Speaker 1>in Manhattan, and it is not an easy thing to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now. Has the restaurant industry recovered and then some

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<v Speaker 1>or is there just less to choose from post pandemic?

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<v Speaker 1>The restaurant industry has definitely seen a pickup in demand,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're still seeing that kind of post pandemic pent

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<v Speaker 1>up demand where a lot of us have been cooped

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<v Speaker 1>up in our houses or our apartments, UM, and there's

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<v Speaker 1>this need to engage and meet with people and oftentimes

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<v Speaker 1>over a meal. And so I think we're still seeing

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<v Speaker 1>uh pent up demand and people going out. So that

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<v Speaker 1>demand is really help steady, even in places in like

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<v Speaker 1>New York where you just announced, like Goldman has requested

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<v Speaker 1>everyone come back into the office. So New York is

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<v Speaker 1>one of those cities where versus city like San Francisco,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, people are coming back. You're seeing those those

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<v Speaker 1>lunch time shifts starting to fill up, and so the

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<v Speaker 1>city is definitely feeling more alive, and if certainly it

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<v Speaker 1>is very difficult to get a reservation on a Friday night,

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<v Speaker 1>you're also seeing a New York tourist activity and travel

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<v Speaker 1>activity really coming back in a way that we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>seen in the last two years. So all really encouraging

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<v Speaker 1>signs for Manhattan. I swear I actually got an ID

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<v Speaker 1>during this program asking me to grab lunch in the

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<v Speaker 1>fall from UM a listener and a store. So I

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<v Speaker 1>guess the REases lung. Yeah, I'm gonna go. Of course

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna go. What do you, Alex, you know, making

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<v Speaker 1>a reservation. I mean, I'm not making the reservation. Someone

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<v Speaker 1>else can. But in any case, uh W. I am

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<v Speaker 1>interested to situate this conversation in the broader economic landscape

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<v Speaker 1>that we're living in, because all we talk about all

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<v Speaker 1>day and of course this is on Bloomberg, so of

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<v Speaker 1>course we would be talking about it. But we talk

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<v Speaker 1>about inflation, we talk about recession fears, and you are

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<v Speaker 1>seeing this pent up demand, like you say, but how

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<v Speaker 1>resilient do you think that is in the face of

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<v Speaker 1>some of those big issues that we talk about. As

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned, We're certainly in a challenging macro environment, and

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<v Speaker 1>I think we're in unprecedented times here because we've not

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<v Speaker 1>had a recession that's followed, you know, with a two

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<v Speaker 1>year or central pandemic, and so we're seeing that demand

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<v Speaker 1>continue to hold. And I think even once you know,

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<v Speaker 1>people stop revenge eating is what we like to call

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<v Speaker 1>it here, open table with the shape of work and

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<v Speaker 1>return to work and what what that whole thing. I

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<v Speaker 1>think the future of work or how work is is

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<v Speaker 1>different post pandemic. I don't know if we're ever going

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<v Speaker 1>to get back to a world of how it was

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<v Speaker 1>before the pandemic. So we have a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>who work from home or have a hybrid situation where

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<v Speaker 1>now going out to that meal is very much a

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<v Speaker 1>planned event. Like it it's it's a bigger deal. And

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing that in shifts of behavior. Before we had

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of walk ins for our restaurants. Um, we're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing a channel shift for for that, you know, regular

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<v Speaker 1>casual walk in, No people are now booking two or

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<v Speaker 1>three days in advance. Hence, you know the common earlier

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<v Speaker 1>being impossible to to find a reservation, it is because

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<v Speaker 1>everyone's booking, everyone's looking forward to that restaurant at the meal.

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<v Speaker 1>We used to think that bar seating was the most

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<v Speaker 1>unattractive seat at a restaurant. We're seeing bar seat and

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<v Speaker 1>go across like a increase to fold, because that's those

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<v Speaker 1>are now very very desirable seats to sit at a

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<v Speaker 1>restaurant because as you want to be in the fray,

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<v Speaker 1>you want to be around people. And so I think

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<v Speaker 1>it will be really hard to tell what's going to

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<v Speaker 1>happen in this macro environment. But I remain very bullish

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<v Speaker 1>on dining and I think people are going to continue

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<v Speaker 1>to crave going out and they will save pockets of

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<v Speaker 1>you know, their discretionary income for that event. Before we

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<v Speaker 1>let you go, I want to get an update on

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<v Speaker 1>the the Open Table business and how you're competing with

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<v Speaker 1>other platforms like RESI for example. Give us an update there.

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<v Speaker 1>We love competition here at open Table. I think it

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<v Speaker 1>pushes us to be faster and more innovative. We are

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<v Speaker 1>slugging it out with them and other players all the

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<v Speaker 1>time at open Table. We really believe that we are

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<v Speaker 1>a true partner for our restaurants. Uh. We stand by

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<v Speaker 1>our product. We've continued to iterate UM during the pandemic

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<v Speaker 1>and post the pandemic, making sure that we give restaurants

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<v Speaker 1>all of the tools they need to be running their

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<v Speaker 1>businesses productively, efficiently, effectively, especially given this macro environment. We've

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<v Speaker 1>launched features like direct messaging where now you know, hosts

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<v Speaker 1>don't have to just be on their phones s M,

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<v Speaker 1>S NG and confirming or calling. You can do that

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<v Speaker 1>directly through Open Tables products. So we're really looking at

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<v Speaker 1>all the different ways that we can make UM from

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<v Speaker 1>the diner's point of view and from the restaurant's point

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<v Speaker 1>of view a more seamless dining experience. Debbie thirty seconds

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<v Speaker 1>left just how to support restaurants too, given that we're

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<v Speaker 1>on the other side of the pandemic, hopefully it's tough

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<v Speaker 1>times that that this our industry has gone through some

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<v Speaker 1>stuff in the last few years. The best thing you

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<v Speaker 1>can do to support restaurants is to show up. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>No shows continue to be have always been a problem,

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<v Speaker 1>but especially post pandemics, hugely, hugely disruptive to a restaurant's business.

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<v Speaker 1>A few no shows a night can can be the

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<v Speaker 1>difference maker of making a profit a night or not.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're not gonna make it, just cancel and

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<v Speaker 1>tell the restaurants. I've noticed that some restaurants are charging

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<v Speaker 1>for no shows, which I think is a fair policy.

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<v Speaker 1>Debbie Sue se EO at open Table. We'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>have you back and talk more when it comes to

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<v Speaker 1>open table and find dining. She joins us via zoom

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<v Speaker 1>from Stamford, Connecticut. Follow him on Twitter at open table.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg