How to Build A Restaurant Reservation App Like OpenTable?

Have you reserved a table for dining via OpenTable? What was your experience with it? Did you like it?

Relax! We are not here to get any reviews for OpenTable. Instead, we’ll tell you what makes OpenTable so popular and how you can build an app similar to it.

Do you think that restaurants are struggling to find the right platform that can help them improve their table reservation index? If yes, then why can’t you help them? With a detailed guide and idea to build an app like OpenTable, you can be the one to provide a platform for restaurants to help their customers book a table.

Yes, many apps already exist for this scenario. Make your app stand out from the competitors with a simple process to create an app like OpenTable.

What Does the Market Say About Restaurant Reservation Apps?

Have you ever thought of developing an app like OpenTable? If yes, then you might be wondering about the current market and its key stats. To understand how to build an app like OpenTable, it is essential to identify what is going on in the market. As it can help you to stand out in the changing market.

Do you know, the market size of the full-service restaurant industry worldwide was estimated at 1.5 trillion U.S dollars in 2022? The figure was forecast to grow by 1.8 trillion U.S dollars by 2030.

Make an app like OpenTable by learning about the current changes in market stats. It can assist you in learning about the market and also about the existing reservation apps.

Amazed, right? The United States market size is also expected to reach 324.90 billion USD by 2024.

Here we have provided it all.

• The above statistics provide information related to the share of restaurant reservations made by customers in the United States in 2019 and 2023, by day.
• The highest share of restaurant reservations has been made between 6 pm and 7 pm. Also, no reservation table has been booked at midnight between 11 PM-12 AM.
• Moreover, the U.S. restaurant market size is expected to reach 554.12 billion USD by 2029.
• Based on the reports of Statista, it has been projected that the revenue within the online food delivery market has been forecasted to reach US$1.22 trillion by 2024.
• Forbes reveals that 52% of reservations were booked less than a day before the desired dining time.
• Here the stats provide wide information related to the preferred method for table booking adopted within the restaurants of the UK.
• Here, it can be stated that telephone bookings dropped between 2015 and 2019 from 58% to 20%. The online booking method preference has shifted to online with 45% of respondents believing the method is better than telephone booking.

So, what are you thinking about? Do the stats encourage you to make an app like OpenTable? Yes, right! With a large number of online reservations for restaurants, don’t you think an app would be best?

What if you develop one? It will help you to generate a wide business with handsome revenue.

What Makes OpenTable So Popular?

If you want to have an app, then you might be thinking of the features that these popular apps contain to enhance the user experience. Hire mobile app developers as they can assist you in providing a detailed guide and process to make an app like OpenTable.

To develop a restaurant reservation app like OpenTable, you should note the features that they use in their app. Here you go.

• Simple Registration

Do you think the complexity of the app makes the app so popular? No, it’s not. Instead, the simplicity of the app assists the user in opening the app again and again.

One of the interactive features that the app has is its registration features. An individual can simply register with the app using their email address and contact information to ensure authentication within the app. Other than this, the registration can be done by using Google and Facebook accounts.

• An Attractive Search Box

OpenTable provides its users with a search box through which they can easily look for what they want from the app. The visitor on the platform should be able to find the top restaurants among thousands.

Also, they should be able to begin their search immediately. OpenTable is built to fetch details right from the homepage. This provides the user leverage to select the menu, business hours, ratings, and seat availability along with the price filters.

• Making a Reservation

The steps needed to make a reservation are simple on OpenTable. An individual can book a table in just 2-4 minutes if they are clear about which table they need to book.

The user of an app can select the time slot within the reservation chart and can easily complete their reservation procedure. Within the pop-up form, the user is requested to fill in some basic information, including contact information, name, and whether the user is visiting the restaurant for the first time etc.

• Options for Private Dining

Here, the app user can simply search for private dining within the app, which enables the user to find a restaurant that provides private dining space to customers. Moreover, within the app, the user is able to add filters including event size, privacy, pricing of the food, and desired cuisine.

You can also provide a private dining option in your restaurant reservation app that can assist you in targeting all kinds of customers, along with restaurants from diversified regions.

• Customized Recommendations

In the app, a user can find customized recommendations based on the searches they made in the app. The platform utilizes personalized features that assist its users in finding restaurants that align with their tastes and preferences of the user. OpenTable also provides recommendations based on their past dining experiences. This feature is developed to connect with the user personally and to win their trust. It also helps the restaurant reservation business to widen its customer base.

• Preference for Seat

Irrespective of the customers who walk into the restaurants without pre-booking, people with advanced bookings are considered a priority. Thus, OpenTable provides the users with assistance to book a table with an option of prior seat preference. Have you ever faced an issue with finding a table at your favorite restaurant on weekends? It’s a struggle, right? Hence, OpenTable provides seat preference options to its customers along with a timeslot.

• Reward System

An app that pays back its customers becomes the first preference of the new users. OpenTable is one among them. The app provides its users with an advantage to earn and get rewards on every booking. Similarly, to build an app like OpenTable, you can provide your users with reward points, which retain the interest of the customers in the business. Offering bonus points to the clients each time provides their users with subsequent points that can be further redeemed for gift cards.

Should You Develop a Restaurant Reservation App?

The answer to this question lies in the reasons why a restaurant reservation app should be built. You must be wondering whether you can have an app with all the features of OpenTable. You can invest in app development and make your dream app after identifying the features you need to make one.

Before that, let’s learn why a restaurant will need an app that you want to deliver.

1. Predictable Seat Arrangement

Have you kept waiting at a restaurant to have a seat? Yes, how much did you get frustrated due to waiting? Now, think about the customers who keep waiting in a queue for long intervals.

A reservation system at the restaurant not only helps the customers but also the restaurants in optimizing restaurant seating layouts. This reduces wait times to help to prevent overbooking and ensures a simple booking experience.

2. Reduce Clutter

A managed restaurant reservation app is a boon for restaurants, as it helps reduce clutter. Modern reservation systems can be arranged and managed from anywhere and at any time.

Thus it provides feasibility to the restaurant owner to manage the customers and their bookings easily from a remote location. It means that the hosts can manage the seating arrangement of the customers without any notebook or pen.

3. Provides Better Market Analytics

Effective reservation apps provide restaurants with effective insights related to the market and a peek into what the customers want from them. The apps also provide restaurants to help them understand popular dining times, repeat customer rates, and average time spent per table.

With great market analytics, the data can be useful for informing restaurants about the current market demand. It also assists the customers in making marketing strategies to assist the restaurants in order to meet the customers’ demands successfully.

4. Enhancing Restaurant Revenue

A restaurant reservation app is used for managing the reservation table. This results in maximizing table turnover by reducing no-shows. Also, some apps offer premium features to customers, along with partnerships enabling restaurants to upsell or cross-sell to their customers.

Before building an app like OpenTable, restaurants struggled to build revenue from empty tables. With this app, restaurants can schedule table bookings by targeting the right customers.

5. Enhanced Customer Experience

With an app that ensures restaurants have a managed seating arrangement. It also helps to improve the customer experience, as with less waiting time, your customers can develop trust in the services of the restaurants.

It improves convenience and personalization, along with customer feedback as well as reviews after their dining experience. To create a restaurant reservation app like OpenTable, you should ensure that it increases and builds customers’ trust in the restaurant.

Now, it’s time to learn why customers will need your app.

• Convenience: It is a key that allows customers to book a table anytime and anywhere. If you are going to develop an app, make sure your customers feel convenient to reach you.
• Access to information: The reservation apps provide the customers with important information related to restaurants including menus, reviews, and contact details.
• Priority seating: By making a reservation, customers can secure a guaranteed table at their preferred date and time, even during busy periods. Create a Restaurant Reservation App Like OpenTable that prioritizes seating for its customers.
• Customization and flexibility: Multiple apps allow the customers to specify their preferences including seating location, special occasions as well as dietary requirements.
• Special offers and rewards: There are multiple reservation apps that offer exclusive deals to customers on their bookings. You can do that with simple steps.

With the provided information, you might have an idea about the demands and needs of restaurants as well as customers to have an app like OpenTable.

Other than growing demands, the scope of growth in the restaurant reservation market has increased based on market research. Did you know that food delivery app companies also take the help of a food delivery app development company to develop an app?

This can provide you with an answer to the question of developing a restaurant reservation app like OpenTable.

How to Build a Restaurant Reservation App?

Now that you have all the stats and an answer to your question about why you should develop an app like OpenTable, let’s discuss how to build it.

The ultimate guide to building an app like OpenTable can assist you in drafting an app with simple steps. Let’s start with the guide.

Step 1: Perform Market Research With Competitive Analysis

Market research is the first step to building a restaurant reservation app. For this, you need to perform a thorough analysis of the market, to know much about what the actual condition of the market is. It can help you to take your time and dig deeper to learn and know everything about how to build an app.

With competitor analysis, you can identify the current strategies your competitors use to retain customers. You can also apply personalized problem-solving techniques to adopt efficient market research.

Step 2: Decide on the App Features and Functionalities

List all the core features that your app can offer, including restaurant research, user profiles, reservation booking, reviews, and ratings. Identify with the competitor analysis, what can be the unique selling point that you can offer to your targeted customers, irrespective of the available competition?

Moreover, define the list of what customers want with your app. Here you can prioritize the features that are important for performing the initial launch. Build a restaurant-finding app like OpenTable after evaluating the app features that you want to add.

Step 3: Develop a Wireframe

Now it’s time to develop a wireframe for your app. This can assist you in deciding on a whole framework to design your app. Creating a mobile app wireframe can develop an idea of how your restaurant reservation app will appear.

With the assistance of the wireframe, your app designers can define a blueprint before developing an actual app for you. You can’t develop a restaurant reservation app like OpenTable without contacting the app developers.

Step 4: UI/UX Design Idea

For implementing an idea successfully, the key is to visualize the idea about how it will appear in the near future. UI/UX design can assist you in identifying the front end of your app. To deliver the designs, it is crucial to follow architecture, visual design, prototype building, and more.

It can assist you in designing an app based on customers’ demands. A good UI/UX helps businesses build consumer confidence and also makes them use the application effectively.

Step 5: Select the Appropriate Tech Stack

The next step is to select the right tech for your app design. Here, you need to select the backend infrastructure for the app that comprises servers, APIs, databases, and cloud services.

Develop APIs for handling user authentication, reservation booking, reviews, and notifications etc. A Mobile app development company knows how to deal with it.

The above table represents the type of tech stack that can be used for developing an app for a restaurant reservation.

Here, it is important to implement robust security measures to protect user data and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. You can check with the mobile app tech stack guide to know more.

Step 6: Integration and Testing

In this step, the app developer should be able to integrate the entire tech stack and UI/UX design. Ensure seamless communication as well as functionality through performing integration. With testing of the app, you can identify what are the functional errors that the app faces.

Performing effective testing in recognizing and fixing bugs, identifying usability issues, and performance bottlenecks is evident. Mobile app testing can be useful for gathering feedback and for making necessary improvements.

Step 7: Platform Deployment and Launch of the App

This is the phase for the final launch of the app. Here, your app is prepared to launch on the platforms, including the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. You can also develop compelling app descriptions along with promotional materials to attract users.

Decide the platform compatibility here and need to fix all the compatibility issues if they exist. Understand your target users and then launch the app accordingly. Moreover, you also need to know the compatibility of your app, hire iOS app developers, and know the details.

Step 8: Support and Maintenance

App support and maintenance is a never-ending process. You need to be aware of the current market statistics and the recent trends to update your app based on the current technological framework. Provide ongoing support to address user inquiries and technical issues, along with feedback.

Do release regular updates along with enhancements based on user feedback, technological advancements, and market trends. Make the app agile to update it based on regular technological advancements.

What Can be the Right Monetization Model for Your App?

As you know, the steps to build a restaurant reservation app similar to OpenTable, you require the right monetization strategy to understand how it will help you create revenue. App monetization is an essential platform that assists you in knowing the effective strategies to adopt for earning money through your app.

Want to know some monetization strategies that can assist you in earning more through your app? You can find your solution here.

• Subscription-Based Models

You can make money through your app with the help of subscription-based models. Adding pro features to the app, including waitlist management and floor plan management, can result in enhancing your revenue and growth.

Moreover, you can also provide premium features to the restaurants by charging them for their premium features. These premium features might provide the restaurants with enhanced visibility in the search results, promotional tools, and priority customer support.

• Sponsorship and Advertisement

To enhance the listing of the app, you can use advertisements as a strategy to earn revenue. However, you need to note that excess advertising within the app can impact the user’s ability to navigate. Thus, you should be aware of the advertisement strategy adopted by the brand.

Here, you can ask the restaurants to promote them through advertisements, banner ads, and sponsored listings. It can result in increasing the revenue of both the restaurants and your app.

• Charge Reservation Fee

Charge the customers a reservation fee for every table they book through your app. You can also offer premium packages to the customers and any add-on service, including priority seating, and special request handling for a fee.

Create an app like OpenTable that includes charges for providing reservation guarantees, exclusive services, value-added services, and protection against security and fraud to the customers.

• Provide Partnerships And Affiliates

Form partnerships with businesses working in the hospitality sector, including hotels, event organizers, and travel agencies, to cross-promote services or to offer bundled packages. Also, you can earn referral fees along with commissions for driving traffic and bookings to partner businesses through the app.

With affiliate marketing, the promotion of the partner restaurants is simple. After performing partnering with restaurants, hotels, as well as other dining-related businesses, the app services can be promoted.

• Increasing Booking Frequency

Provide the restaurant with a premium feature to enhance the booking frequency of the app. You can assist restaurants in promoting their brand by placing their rank at the top of the customer preference list. Build a restaurant booking app like OpenTable by identifying the change in booking frequency through a reservation app in the market.

This can create awareness among the customers about the brand and can also help your app earn extra revenue. As a restaurant reservation app, you can make suggestions for your linked restaurant to enhance their customer base and charge extra for the same.

• Data Monetization

Connecting the app with the targeted audience offers you a large database. After analyzing this data, you can provide insights into the restaurants related to customer behavior and their most preferred restaurant or slot timings.

Using the customer’s data responsibly, you can also create customized marketing campaigns for your connected restaurants. With customized marketing campaigns, you can charge your customers extra fees.

How Much Does it Cost to Build an App Like OpenTable?

Till now, you have studied the current stats of developing a reservation app, the key features that make the reservation app so popular, the reason behind developing an app, its process, and the monetization model.

Now, it’s time to study the cost of building a Restaurant Reservation App like OpenTable. In this section, you will find the estimated cost and its expected time. Mobile app development cost are easy to fetch with the right team. Build a restaurant app like OpenTable by identifying the cost it will incur, making a proper budget, and following it.

Do you think it will take a high cost to create a Restaurant Reservation App like OpenTable? No, it will just take an amount of $15,000-$70,000. Want to know more about it? Go through the table below.

Based on the mentioned table, an estimated cost to develop an app like OpenTable is given. However, the cost of building an app can vary from the perception of different factors, including features, platforms, geographical location, along with any additional services required.

App maintenance is an ongoing process, thus, the approximate timing to develop an app like OpenTable can be 12 weeks.

Why Choose Nimble AppGenie to Build a Restaurant Reservation App?

Do you think that creating an app like OpenTable is a feasible amount? It is. Are you confused about how to initiate the app development? No need to panic.

Creating an app with all the required features and market analysis is a simple and easy task until you don’t have the right team to build your app.

Nimble AppGenie is a Restaurant app development company that can assist you in building a Restaurant booking app like OpenTable. All you need to do is contact us.

We have already done it before and are happy to serve you.

Hey! What are you thinking of? Don’t you want an app that says it’s all about your dream restaurant reservation app?

Contact us now!

Conclusion

Before we end, let’s conclude what we have already stated.

The growing demand for restaurant table reservations has created a golden opportunity for you to have your business in this field. Yes, you should develop your own app like OpenTable. You can establish your app in the growing demand of restaurants to have an effective table management system.

Moreover, you can have a private dining option, along with providing rewards to your app users with every booking. This will help you to promote the app effectively. The right process to create an app is sufficient to create an app.

Other than this, some of the strategies that you can adopt to earn revenue can be data monetization, providing subsequent partnerships, and more. Finally, yes, it’s feasible to build a restaurant reservation system like OpenTable.

FAQ

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.