WEBVTT - Debby Soo Talks Restaurant Week in NYC

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>But we do want to turn now to the world

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<v Speaker 2>of restaurants here, particularly here in New York City. With

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<v Speaker 2>Restaurant Week beginning, a lot of folks now trying to

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<v Speaker 2>scramble to secure reservations at the most popular restaurants, and

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<v Speaker 2>of course one of the websites that benefits most from

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<v Speaker 2>that is Open Table. Please to say that the CEO

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<v Speaker 2>of Open Table joins us right now, Debbie su to

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<v Speaker 2>talk about the trends in eating out. Always a fun

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<v Speaker 2>conversation with you, Debbie, and always nice to get a

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<v Speaker 2>read here whether we're still going out there and spending

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<v Speaker 2>money at some of these restaurants here. Are you seeing

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<v Speaker 2>those trends pulled up?

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<v Speaker 3>Great to be here, Remaine, and thanks for having me back.

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<v Speaker 3>We are still seeing that trend hold up gunning. Demand

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<v Speaker 3>is continuing to hold. June was actually up three percent

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<v Speaker 3>year over year. July is flat. July historically, in a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of cities, is a little bit slower. You're in

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<v Speaker 3>New York City. New York tends to kind of empty

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<v Speaker 3>out in the summer. So I'm always here to encourage

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<v Speaker 3>people to go out and support your local restaurants and die.

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<v Speaker 1>Certainly that's something that people are you know, would like

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<v Speaker 1>to do once they have set aside the budget for

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<v Speaker 1>eating out these days. I'm curious to get your take

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<v Speaker 1>on what we've been reading about lately, which is reservation bots.

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<v Speaker 1>When reservations open up for restaurants, it's automated, it's on

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<v Speaker 1>the website, and then right away they disappear, and then

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<v Speaker 1>they show up at a third party website where they're

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<v Speaker 1>sold at a premium. What does Open Table do to

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<v Speaker 1>prevent bots from flooding the zone?

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<v Speaker 3>The bots issue can be very disruptive to our restaurant partners.

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<v Speaker 3>So at Open Table, we are doing everything we can

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<v Speaker 3>to help restaurants drive and blocking bots are Identifying bots

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<v Speaker 3>is one of those things. We were one of the

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<v Speaker 3>first initial supporters of the Anti Piracy Bill here in

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<v Speaker 3>New York, and that is to basically penalize these third

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<v Speaker 3>party operators who are making a profit on selling these

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<v Speaker 3>these reservations that they've secured through bots. And it's not

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<v Speaker 3>quick for us staurants because you know, you get these

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<v Speaker 3>bots in, they book everything, they're not able to sell everything,

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<v Speaker 3>so in some cases you have last minute no shows,

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<v Speaker 3>which are really really bad for restaurants. Restaurants don't know

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<v Speaker 3>exactly who's coming in because the reservation was booked by X,

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<v Speaker 3>but Y ends up showing up. So it's it's it's

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<v Speaker 3>terribly and the worst part actually is that the restaurants

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<v Speaker 3>are not benefiting from that sale. So right, these third

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<v Speaker 3>party systems or platforms are not sharing in that revenue.

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<v Speaker 3>So's it's not great for restaurants. And we've heard across

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<v Speaker 3>the board, especially in New York City, how disruptive it

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<v Speaker 3>can be to their operations.

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<v Speaker 1>Is one solution, then for people to put down a

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<v Speaker 1>credit card number or pay a deposit essentially when they make.

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<v Speaker 3>That's exactly right, that's exactly right. So at open table

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<v Speaker 3>our restaurants can offer a deposit, they can put on

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<v Speaker 3>a credit card hold, so if the diner ends up

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<v Speaker 3>no showing or canceling last minute, that the credit card

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<v Speaker 3>would get charged.

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<v Speaker 2>So what does when we talk about just that kind

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<v Speaker 2>of this whole process, Debbie. I mean, there's been some

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<v Speaker 2>people that have kind of been discouraged. I mean, whether

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<v Speaker 2>it's an inability to get a reservation or feeling like

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<v Speaker 2>you're just going up against a robot, or even this

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<v Speaker 2>idea of leaving a credit card. Some people bristle at

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<v Speaker 2>that because they feel like if at the last minute

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<v Speaker 2>they need to back out, sometimes they get charged. Is

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<v Speaker 2>there a sense here that diners have gotten a little

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<v Speaker 2>weary with this whole process.

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<v Speaker 3>I do think that's true in this narrative of the

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<v Speaker 3>impossible to get reservation. I just don't think that's actually

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<v Speaker 3>what's happening, although there is a story in this narrative

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<v Speaker 3>out there. In any given city. Let's take New York City,

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<v Speaker 3>there's probably a dozen restaurants where it is really hard

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<v Speaker 3>to get a reservation, right where bought activity is rampant,

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<v Speaker 3>where the restaurant is consistently filled even on Tuesday, Wednesday,

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<v Speaker 3>Thursday nights. But in most cases, there are so many

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<v Speaker 3>amazing restaurants in New York City, A handful of them

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<v Speaker 3>really really hard to get. But everyone else, like you

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<v Speaker 3>can see availability if you change your dining time. So

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<v Speaker 3>if you're a mom of young kids like me, my

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<v Speaker 3>preferred time is five thirty, which I know makes me

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<v Speaker 3>super uncool because most people like dining from seven to nine.

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<v Speaker 3>But I'm happy to take that five to thirty slot.

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<v Speaker 3>At Strange July, you know, or at Oscar to get

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<v Speaker 3>a seat.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you're preaching to the choir. Tabby, I've been I've

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<v Speaker 2>been doing the early Bird special since I.

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<v Speaker 3>Was you know, like that. So yeah, I love that.

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<v Speaker 3>And so what open tables about. We want to be

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<v Speaker 3>about democratizing dining and giving access to all diners. And yes,

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<v Speaker 3>there's a handful of reservations or a handful of restaurants

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<v Speaker 3>that are about roping off access, But for us, we

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<v Speaker 3>want to be opening doors. We want to be having

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<v Speaker 3>our restaurants being discovered by as many diners as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Debbie, very quickly here, what's the pitch you make to

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<v Speaker 1>restaurants to work with you. I'm thinking of Dent Typhoon,

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<v Speaker 1>the Taiwanese restaurant which just opened in Manhattan after years

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<v Speaker 1>of lots of fans in the New York area urging

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<v Speaker 1>for one, and they're using their own reservation system rather

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<v Speaker 1>than something like Open Table, and their own reservation system

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<v Speaker 1>leaves something to be desired. What's the single most important

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<v Speaker 1>thing you say to them?

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<v Speaker 3>We lead with product and we lead with listening. So

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<v Speaker 3>what are the needs that ding Typhon specifically needs from

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<v Speaker 3>their table management system? Is it control and guest flow,

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<v Speaker 3>is it right looking for ways to get more guests

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<v Speaker 3>in right, which, in dan Typhone's case, I think is

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<v Speaker 3>true since there's always a line out the door and

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<v Speaker 3>any ging typhone I've ever been to in my life. Okay,

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<v Speaker 3>so we lead with product, What do you need? How

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<v Speaker 3>can we meet those needs and help you run your

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<v Speaker 3>restaurant to the best you know in terms of efficiency

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<v Speaker 3>or productivity, to give you that time, to free up

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<v Speaker 3>your time to offer those amazing hospitality moments that dan

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<v Speaker 3>Typhone definitely offers.

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<v Speaker 1>Debbie, really appreciate your joining us today. Debbie Sue is

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<v Speaker 1>CEO of Open Table