Food Marketing Evolves with Technology

Success does leave clues.  Digital marketing and digital loyalty companies within the food space have created a platform that gets results according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. It is at the intersection of the consumer, food company, and that technology is elevating the opportunity for growth that drives top line sales and bottom-line profits today in the food space.

So, when Seated acquired VenueBook, which will allow it too book events at restaurants and collect rewards they leveraged both the power of the consumer and the restaurant relationship while empowering incremental brand familiarly for Seated according to Johnson.  Remember that the NPD Group found: Digital restaurant ordering by adults 65 and older increases 428% year-over-year in June, 2020.  That help drive technology relevance and adoption forward by at minimum three years according to Johnson.

 The acquisition marks a move into the private events business for Seated, a reservation platform that offers rewards for users. During the pandemic, Seated, added pickup and delivery capabilities with a new service called Seated at Home, and under the newly created Seated Events arm, guests will be able to get rewards by booking private events as well. The pandemic will not last forever and birthday parties, graduations, Easter Dinners, and Sunday Brunch will be back in full demand.

So, considering that consumers can redeem the rewards for gift cards to brands such as Amazon and Starbucks it makes sense that is platform will continue to expand in new areas with consumer adoption following along according to Johnson.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer yet another way for restaurants to maximize their profitability. With Seated Events, Seated at Home, and Seated, restaurants can drive demand to their three primary sources of revenue in a single, easy to use rewards platform,” said Bo Peabody, executive chairman and co-founder of Seated, in a statement.

The acquisition also expands Seated’s geographic footprint into the New York tri-state area, Denver, the Bay Area and Washington, D.C. It currently operates in New York City, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta.

Seated raised $30 million to acquire VenueBook.  The $30 million in funding was led by venture capital firm Insight Partners, with other contributions from Craft Ventures, Greycroft and Rho Capital Partners. The company said it would use the money to build out its platform and improve new products.

Do you need to expand you brands invitation? Are you looking a customer ahead? Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.