Online bookings have become an integral part of our daily routines. And, we simply use the internet to book many things starting from groceries to air tickets. Likewise, to make it easy and simple to book restaurants online, San Francisco-based hospitality online marketplace Airbnb has recently joined hands with the Dutch online restaurant booking startup Formitable.
Founded in 2017 by Raymond Wilders, Formitable has its headquarters in Amsterdam. It can be said that the startup has hit a huge partnership to let customers book restaurants from its homepage. For every booking made online, Airbnb will pay a commission to the startup.
Meanwhile, Airbnb will also start an international campaign to promote the online restaurant booking feature. The use of the booking engine is reportedly all set to take off soon. Airbnb has already added a restaurant booking section to the homepage of its website and app. The Americans can use the API of Airbnb that was introduced last year with Milan van de Goor and Cyril Mestrom.
Regarding this collaboration, Wilders reportedly said, “They deliberately choose to work together with an API-based company and not to buy.” That works faster. “The DNAs of both companies are very close together.”
Formitable — How it works?
Formitable makes it easy and simple to book restaurants day and night. Guests will get a confirmation once the booking is done. And, they can cancel or modify the reservation with ease as they are provided with a clear overview. The restaurants can choose the time that is to be given for guests to cancel or modify their booking.
Reduction of no-shows
Airbnb has worked on this online restaurant booking capability for a year, now and with the collaboration with the Dutch startup, the company aims to deliver a system for the online booking directly at the restaurants. Further, they can also make deposits in order to cut down on the number of no-shows. The restaurants can decide the amount and set a specific refund period. The payments can be made using iDeal, PayPal or credit cards.
Formitable, also lets restaurant owners set tables, table combinations and likely head positions. Also, they can determine the order in which they want the tables to be occupied. The Dutch startup lets them frame a plan automatically. Guests can get to know where they will sit to avoid problems in the reservation.
Raised €280,000 recently
Back in October 2017, Formitable raised €280,000 for the reservation system that is meant to reduce the no-shows in restaurants after online bookings. This new system differs from the others deployed in the market with tickets.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
01
From telecom veteran to Dutch Startup Visa success: The Jignesh Dave story