Yelp Acquires SeatMe, an Online Restaurant Reservation System
Posted on July 18, 2013
Yelp announced today that it is acquiring SeatMe an online restaurant reservation system. The Verge reports that the acquisition price was $12.7 million. Yelp says it will use SeatMe to provide online restaurant reservations directly through Yelp.
Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement, "I am excited to welcome SeatMe's employees and customers to Yelp. SeatMe has developed a truly compelling product for restaurants and bars of any size. With approximately one million U.S. businesses listed on Yelp in the restaurant and nightlife categories, we believe SeatMe will add online reservation capabilities to a broader market while complementing our existing partnerships. Additionally, SeatMe provides us with yet another way to close the loop between local businesses and consumers."
SeatMe competes directly with restaurant reservations leader OpenTable. It helps restaurants manage reservation and also enables them to offer an online reservation through Facebook. Restaurants can also use the SeatMe iPad app to manage tables. TechCrunch reports that the service can even notify customers when their table is ready.
Update: Yelp says in a July 2016 post that SeatMe has now become Yelp Reservations.