Today Livebookings announces a 100% yearly rise in online reservations for its casual dining restaurant group customers, as many of the industry’s biggest names go beyond just attracting walk-in diners and focus on building a customer database.

Livebookings is also now working with over 1,000 restaurants from some of the UK’s major casual dining restaurant groups, such as:

  • Strada
  • Bella Italia
  • Café Rouge
  • Zizzi
  • Prezzo
  • ASK
  • Piccolino
  • The Restaurant Bar and Grill

As a result, the global online marketing and reservations service provider for the restaurant industry expects its reservations for restaurant groups in 2010 to top 2.3 million.

This change in strategy for those who had primarily attracted walk-ins, means they can secure advanced reservations either through their own website or partner sites such as lastminute.com, Yell.com and 118 118. Taking online reservations also allows them to capture customer data and create tailored special offers that attract guests to book during quieter times and shoulder periods.

“We’ve felt for a long time that many restaurant groups were missing out by not taking online reservations, so it’s great to have some of the industry’s leading names working with us,” said Olivia FitzGerald, UK & Ireland General Manager for Livebookings. “We have seen our customers use this functionality to fill empty seats and to improve profitability, so we look forward to working with many more groups and independents to achieve the same.”

Gabriela Seir, Digital Marketing Manager Tragus Group, which operates venues including Strada, Bella Italia and Café Rouge, says: “Whilst the last few years have seen a real boom in casual dining, we’re always looking at ways of improving our customer experience in-restaurant and online. The integration of Livebookings has enabled our customers to make table reservations with ease on a 24-7 basis. Furthermore, Livebookings has helped us to add to our existing customer database, which is invaluable for any restaurant group.”

Livebookings now works with 50% of the restaurant groups selected in Restaurant Magazine’s R200 list, a rise of 18% from 2009, demonstrating the continuing trend for casual dining groups taking online reservations.

About Livebookings

Livebookings is an award-winning company built for restaurateurs by restaurateurs. Headquartered in London, with offices in Hamburg, Stockholm, Madrid and New York and customers in 23 countries, we are the leading global online marketing and reservations service for restaurants.

Livebookings enables real-time, online reservations on restaurant websites and helps restaurants to access customers that would otherwise be difficult to reach through a global network of partners including American Express, Yell.com, Qype, lastminute.com, Salir.com, Ticketmaster and Eniro.se.

In 2009, Livebookings delivered over 4 million diners to restaurants worldwide including Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Tantris, East, Grill and Aquavit.

For more information, visit www.livebookings.com or connect with us on Twitter.com/LivebookingsUSA