Publication:Economic
Times Ahmedabad; Date:Aug 28, 2007; Section:Gujarat
Reloaded;
Page
Number:3
Satisfying hunger
at click of mouse
Kamran
Sulaimani, Ahmedabad
WEEKEND worries of eating out will now be taken care
of. Once the things get clicking, you will not have
to wait outside a restaurant for your turn. The call
centre will let you know whether a table is available
or not. More than 6 lakh people eat out on weekends
in over 1,500 restaurants in Ahmedabad.
Besides, you will also be able to choose the restaurant
at a click of your mouse button. Websites such as
EatingOut.co.in, petpooja.com and
onyomo.com cater to the needs of the people who look
forward for new restaurants with good ambiance on
their weekends. These websites also act as a guide
to people who are new to the city. It provides information
about the food and the locations. There are more than
1,500 restaurants spread across Ahmedabad alone. Finding
each and every detail about the food they serve is
difficult to get. The entrepreneurs are looking at
this untapped market. In the process, they are also
making life easier for the people who want to check
out new restaurants every weekend.
Eatingout.co.in is a website developed by
two alumni Anish Jhaveri and Samir Shah from
SVNIT Surat. The business model is simple. These websites
attract traffic and earn from the advertising revenues.
“We
provide end-users with maximum detail. It will have
the minute details about the restaurant including
name, address, contact no, email, website, cuisine
served, service type, average budget per person, ambiance,
home delivery, banquet, various facilities such as
TV, AC and WiFi etc,” says Jhaveri, co-founder
of the website. Grand Bhagwati has recently signed
an ad agreement for six months on the website. “In
the first phase, more than 350 top restaurants have
registered with us. We are in the process
of registering more as data collection is still going
on. In the third phase we will be covering most roadside
eatery groups such as Manek Chowk, Law Garden and
IIM road,” says Jhaveri.
Another
website called petpooja.com is about to be launched.
Once operational, the website will inform users about
the nearby restaurants and provide the facility of
ordering food online. The company has started tying
up with the restaurants to provide the menu, rates
and phone numbers of the restaurants online. These
websites target people who frequently visit new restaurants.
The
response has been encouraging. “In August
alone, more than 1,700 visitors have visited the website
totalling to more than 2,800 visits, since the time
it was launched on August 13, 2007,” says Jhaveri.
Soon they will make the facility available on your
GPRS enabled phone. “We will be adding
features such as a WAP site for mobile users so they
can access it one the move. For those who don’t
have a GPRS-enabled cell phone will be required to
search with the help of SMS.
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