EZTABLE

EZTABLE (Chinese: 簡單桌; pinyin: Jiǎndānzhuō) is an online restaurant reservation platform, and the largest of its kind in Asia. Founded in Taipei, Taiwan, in Apr. 2008,[1] its mission is to create the world's largest dining program. Similar to OpenTable (an American public company) in the U.S.,[2] EZTABLE allows its users to search, reserve, and prepay online. Reservations are free and can be made online via personal computer, tablet computer and smartphone.[3][4] When users book online through EZTABLE, they have access to competitive pricing at the top restaurants in Asia.

EZTABLE
簡單桌
IndustryInternet
FoundedApril 2008 (2008-04)
FounderAlex Chen, Brooky Yen, Jerry Yen, Peter Hsieh
HeadquartersTaipei, Taiwan
Area served
Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia
ProductsOnline restaurant reservations, CRM, E-commerce
Websitewww.eztable.com

Since its founding, EZTABLE has expanded to over 10,000 restaurants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. The platform now has more than 2 million members and more than 600,000 monthly active users. Over 10 million diners have booked reservations using its platform.[5]

History

EZTABLE was co-founded by Alex Chen, Brooky Yen, Jerry Yen, and Peter Hsieh in April 2008. OpenTable, the online restaurant reservation company in the U.S., inspired the four. They found that consumers in Asia still made reservations via telephone, and decided to start their own online restaurant reservation business in Taiwan.[6]

In Aug. 2008, the website began operations serving a limited selection of restaurants. EZTABLE focused on O2O (Online-to-Offline) strategies,[7] aiming to attract users online and direct them to physical stores in the offline realm. EZTABLE opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Taipei’s Nankang Software Park in March 2016.[8] In the store, customers can make reservations, learn about the company’s two apps, and scan QR codes for EZTABLE gift cards.

In 2012, AppWorks,[9] a famous accelerator in Asia, and Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm founded by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen and his son Matthew Christensen, invested US$1.5 million in EZTABLE.[10]

In January 2015, the company disclosed that it had raised a US$5 million funding round led by MediaTek, with participation from UMC, food conglomerate I-Mei, AppWorks and Rose Park Advisors.[11][12]

In 2016, Japanese hotel and restaurant reservation company Ikyu invested US$8.8 million in EZTABLE, and the companies hope to promote tourism between their two countries.[13]

Year Event
2008*323 Technology Inc. was founded
*EZTABLE was launched
*First five-star hotel partner: Sheraton Taipei Hotel [14]
2009*Entered Innovation Incubator Center, JinWen University of Science & Technology
*Received Service Innovation Project subsidy from Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.
*Website reached more than 50,000 members and was introduced in CommonWealth magazine.
2010*Joined appWorks Ventures and got investment
*Provided online cake ordering service with Sheraton Taipei Hotel[15]
2011*Got NeoStar - Internet Entrepreneur Awards from Business Next magazine
*Got IDEAS Show - Internet IDES of Far Easton Telecommunication Co., Ltd. Awards from Institute for Information Industry
*Entered China Market
*Launched the first iPhone application with Subcontractor
2012*Owns over 70% market share of five-star hotels
*Generating more than 1,000,000 reservation counts per year
*Started e-commerce: Share Shopping – selling e-vouchers[10]
*Rose Park Advisors invested US$1.5 million in EZTABLE.[10]
*Sina Weibo invited EZTABLE to be their partner in Taiwan market
*CEO, Alex Chen was invited to be one of HPAIR ASIA 2012 CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
2014* Provided giftcard & point exchange services with CTBC bank, ESUN bank and HUA NAI bank.[16][17][18]
* Winner of Tech in Asia’s Startup Arena at StartupAsia Tokyo 2014[19]
2015* Raised a US$5 million funding round led by MediaTek, UMC, I-Mei, AppWorks and Rose Park Advisors.[20][21]
* Overseas expansion to Thailand,[22] Hong Kong and Indonesia.
* Participated in Citigroup Asia Pacific’s Citi Mobile Challenge and was awarded Best Mobile Loyalty Solution [23]
2016* Opened first brick-and-mortar store in Taipei, Taiwan [8]
* Website and App seated over 10 million diners[5]
* Japanese reservation company Ikyu invested USD$8.8 million in EZTABLE [13]
* Changed slogan to “Moments, Booked”

Services

EZTABLE allows users to search for restaurants based on time, date, location and cuisine. To book a table through EZTABLE’s user-friendly platform, customers complete a two-part process consisting of reservation and prepayment for the meal. Reserving and prepaying through EZTABLE ensures that customers enjoy a business class experience at their restaurant of choice. Users can book restaurants online through the company’s website and on its two applications available for iOS and Android. The service also provides restaurant owners with e-commerce services, including reservation management, table management, and marketing analysis.

See also

References

  1. "2011 破殼而出 三二三網路科技" (PDF). 創業創新育成雙月刊 (in Chinese). 經濟部中小企業. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  2. "Alex Chen, EZTABLE: Where good food meets hi-tech". in2up. May 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  3. "易訂網EZTABLE──訂到賺錢好位置". Digital Age Magazine (in Chinese). Oct 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  4. "Feature Friday: An Interview with Taiwan's Rockstar Start-up EZTABLE". techorange. May 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  5. EZTABLE Homepage http://www.eztable.com/. Retrieved 28 July 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "我不要百萬年薪,我要宅經濟!". Cheers Magazine (in Chinese). 2009. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  7. "訂位小動作,闖出2000萬營收". 30 Magazine (in Chinese). Feb 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  8. "線上服務結合實體店面體驗,EZTABLE 實體門市南港正式開幕". Tech Orange. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  9. "Taipei-Based Accelerator AppWorks Launches $50M Startup Fund". Catherine Shu. Techcrunch. 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  10. 致昕, 劉 (6 Feb 2012). "破壞式創新大師來台投資小網站". Business Weekly (in Chinese). Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  11. Horwitz, Josh (January 15, 2015). "Taiwan's EZTable closes $5M funding round from MediaTek and UMC". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  12. "一個餐廳訂位網 如何讓聯發科看上". CNA. 2015-01-16. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  13. Chou, Christine (May 26, 2016). "EZTABLE reservation service joins with Japan's Ikyu in a new alliance". The China Post. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  14. "七年級菜鳥說動五星級飯店合作". Business Weekly (in Chinese). September 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  15. "易訂網隨時提供網路餐廳訂位服務". Economic Daily News (in Chinese). March 2009. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  16. "中信&EZTABLE推電子禮票券平台" (in Chinese). China Times. 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  17. "台新卡攜手EZTABLE 消費更便利" (in Chinese). 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  18. "王品/EZTABLE消費 享10%現金回饋" (in Chinese). 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  19. "EZTABLE wins Tech in Asia's Startup Arena at #StartupAsia Tokyo 2014". Tech in Asia. 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  20. "Taiwan's EZTABLE closes $5M funding round from MediaTek and UMC". Tech in Asia. 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  21. "一個餐廳訂位網 如何讓聯發科看上" (in Chinese). 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  22. "EZTABLE offers fine dining with a click on a smartphone". Bangkok Post. 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  23. "花旗集團公佈亞太區Citi Mobile Challenge優勝作品". PR Newswire. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
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