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shesawriter39049 · 4 years ago

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|UNWRAP ME| M|

Pairing : Jimin X Reader (Ft a lil Tae)

“There’s a bow on my panties because my ass is a present!”

About- Honestly, you were just trying to prep gift bags for your company’s holiday party! But Jimins stressed, and needs a little brain reset sooo….I guess we’re prepping gift bags later!

Or- The company has quite a few deadlines to hit before you guys close for the holiday! Jimin’s in charge of talent and everybody’s fucking up…but in your line of work it’s a domino affect! So if his crew falls behind ultimately everybody’s behind! Hints Jimin’s stress and frustration....

WC: Sneak peek (1k)

WARNINGS: (FULL THING): Teasing, light edging, dirty talk, top/bottom OC, top/power bottom Jimin, hand restraints, unprotected sex, over stimulation, fingering (F receiving), biting/marking kink, VERY light degration kink (he playfully calls her a “little bitch/slut” once) light come play, light spanking

FINAL NOTE: This is a stand alone smut drabble within my OT7 poly universe called “7 DEEP”. Short AU SUMMARY: Your husband Namjoon and yourself run a successful Adult Film Entertainment Company called “Onyx” with your 5 best friends from college who you also happen to be in an open relationship with! P.S. If you’re new here Kookie joins the party a little later….

*Pierced Jimin/Red haired “Dope” Era Jimin meets 2020 Jimin!?

*Also it should go without being said but Jimin, IS Westernized, he’s from LA in this ffs!

*In true Rocki fashion I decided to do holidy prompts late af & did not finish in time for the main Holiday but w/e! Note, there is some backstory here bc this was set to be the 1st of 3 holiday prompts!** ___________________________________________________

Sunday, December 14TH, 4PM

“Alright, so you wanna hear some bullshit?!”

K, well that’s apparently Jimin, musing around a mouth full of fries! I love how no one even bothers to knock, give notice they just show the fuck up! Whenever...

Cute.

I swear it sounds like your running a damn liquor store because there’s an obnoxious amount of bells and mistletoe hanging above the door almost acting as a doorbell at this point. Just casually Fa-la-laing together, echoing throughout your entire apartment every damn time the door opens! Honestly, your slowly regretting giving Jin and Tae free reign with decorations because that shits annoying as all hell!

Gaze still focused on your original task, not even looking in his direction “Don’t trip over the-“ There's a loud thud, followed by an obscene groan, accompanied by an even louder “Fuckkk!” Which solidified he did in fact trip over the ....

“....Box with Jin’s other Christmas tree in it ...” The words kinda died off your tongue at this point because well, clearly the warning did not fare well! “If anything’s broken I’m totally snitching just so we’re clear” Sassing over a half empty glass of spiked eggnog.

Now that you’ve finally looked at him, you find yourself hiding a smirk behind your cocktail as well! The boy is fine, you’d give him that! Looking like a model off duty, in his low cut white v, neck hidden beneath a distressed leather jacket! Topping off the look with a pair of chunky combats and disrespectfully tight dark wash denim jeans! I swear they damn near looked painted on, aviators resting on the bridge of his nose! Gucci backpack slung over his shoulder, Starbucks in one hand, and some brown bag full of grease in the other! Jimin recently went back red, looking dangerously close to the same 18 year old you met, at UCLA almost years ago now! Just a boujier version, it’s like this Jimin’s from Calabasas instead of the Bay! Though your down for both options if we’re being real!

Not that Jimin’s not equally as good of company as well, you were honestly just expecting Tae! The two of you were starting to put together the gift bags for next week's holiday party! Hints the hot ass mess all over the floor of your living room, it’s a disgusting pile of shopping bags and boxes! Everything from Amazon to Saks Fifth, at this point you aren’t even sure where the fuck your floor starts or ends! One thing you do know for damn sure is Hobi’s going to have an aneurysm If he sees it! Sooo, hopefully Tae shows up sooner than later...

It’s become a tradition, or at least since the companies been profitable enough to do so! First off, you’re love language has always been a combination of “Gifts” and “Acts of service, so shit like this is essentially second nature!

However, quality time has slowly slipped its way into the mix over the past couple of years as well! Especially considering it’s almost a luxury for the seven of you at this point but you try not to complain! I mean Namjoon and yourself just did an interview last week for Forbes 30 under 30 for fucks sake! But anyway, like I was originally saying this little party is your way of trying to give your staff a combination of all 3 said love languages!

Above everything else you all work your asses off well, aware this is far from a 9-5, yet they give you their best constantly! Yeah, it was built on the backs of you and your boys but it wouldn’t be were it is now without everyone else! So, with that being said the schedule is as follows!

1.Bust ass and hit all of your year end deadlines by December 22nd.

2.The holiday party is on the 23rd...

3. Thennnnnn....after that the companies closed until the 2nd of January!

Well kinda, if we’re being real the 7 of you never fully stop working, but you damn sure plan to try! I guess it’s the beauty and the curse of having damn near everything accessible on your phone! I swear this morning Joon was washing your back whilst you read him the latest profit/loss update from Jin soooo......that’s that!

Everyone else however....off duty with pay!

Which brings us back to the original task at hand before Jimin showed up,prepping the gift bags that get handed out at said holiday party! The invite list is pretty exclusive honestly,outside of your staff, and there plus one, the other guests are typically the immediate crew/ talent used throughout the year on various productions! Oh, there’s also special little packages mailed out to a couple of the company's sponsors as well! So all together were looking at at least 100 gift bags give or take! Of course at this stage you guys go all out but that’s not what it’s about! It’s legitimately the thought that counts!

Little gestures like this just remind people that you care,that they’re on your mind even if they aren’t currently doing you a favor! That’s what sets Onyx apart, all the little things you do without even thinking about it! Coffee, donuts, catering on set for long shoots,or even the little kits Jimin brings with him to set for the models! Fully stocked with soothing cream, heating pads, the full nine! It’s actually sad how much of a rarity it is in your line of work!

Obviously, it goes without saying that those types of gestures aren’t feasible for everyone....However there’s companies worth more than you that do amples less!

But anyway back to Jimin and Tae! As I mentioned when the door originally opened you were expecting a mop of silver locks as opposed to red! Baby boy ran out to pick up the custom gift bags from this Indie vendor in WeHo. Hint’s why you were expecting Tae instead, now, why Jimins here I have no damn idea! Clearly we’re about to find out and apparently it’s “Some Bullshit!”

Honestly outside of checking his OOTD you didn't truly look at him. Far too busy propped on top of your oversized dining room table sorting through a manusery of “Thank you” cards!

Eyes flicking to the left ever so slightly as you hear him shuffle closer “I-yeah sure what bullsh-wait are you eating my DoorDash?!”

It’s the way you constantly have to remind yourself that jail will not be like Orange is in the new black! Because I swear you damn near chucked this martini glass at that fire engine red dome of his!

Jimin just shrugs, a little nonchalant and unenthusiastic, almost as if he’s inconvenienced actually...

“Mmm, depends on perspective” He deadass just stuffed two more fires in his mouth! You're literally going to strangle him! It’s borderline painful how hard your jaw tick, eyes narrowed in his direction!

Brows arched so damn high your gonna end up needing Botox from the permanent crease embedding within your skin. “Perspect-your literally eating-“

Holding a solitary finger in your direction “Tae just text me and said look at your phone and text him back...with like, a million pouty faces. Also, different note, who changed the decorations I placed on the mantle?! “

Jimin’s hand is now resting on his hip, legitimately angry about these damn decorations! I think his neck even did a couple rolls in the process, and I’m willing to bet,before he leaves they will be swapped out again!

A frustrated groan attempts to leave your throat though it goes unacknowledged as your lacking any ounce or bite! Far too fond of both of your boys to truly be agitated at the moment! Actually that’s a lie, you high key wanna punch Jimin but it’s fine ....

“That, would be Jin, he said they clashed with the table decor” Pointing to all of the gold, and maroon colored decorations donning the marble coffee table “So, if your pissed go curse him out because I could give less than a damn! Now where the fuck is my phoneeee”

Hopping off the table causing your oversized UCLA Alum hoodie to hike over your ass. Said ass is covered or barely covered considering your cheeky, red, ruffle little panties are in fact assless! A cute little bow perched right on top of your tailbone, as if to direct the eye where to go….

Jimin is now choking on stolen fires and yeah there’s a smirk on your face as you grab your phone!

Mmmmhmmmm...and to think, maybe if he wasn’t being such a brat you’d let him unwrap one of his gifts a little early!

“Baby now he’s calling meeee” Anddddd he’s whining, wiggling his phone like it’s on fire! Ya know, moments like these in fact remind you that Tae and Jimin are the youngest!

“Oh for fucks sake!” Huffing in his direction snatching the phone and bag of Five Guys away in the process!

“Yes baby?” It’s actually terrifying how quickly your tone, and entire demeanor just switched! Somewhat reminiscent to how you’d see a mom scold one child then baby talk another all in the same breath!

Jimin without a doubt noticed too, lip jutting out in a pout and no matter how many times you roll your eyes you still find yourself leaning forward kissing it right off! He moans into it and you Instantly taste the tangy seasoning from your fries, especially once he tries to swipe his tongue past the seam of your lips. The feeling of that tiny piece of metal playing in his mouth almost distracted you, but alas...the notion immediately reminds you why you were irked to begin with! Without even thinking you lean back into nipping at his bottom lip, though...this is Jimin we’re dealing with here! So whatever you thought you’d achieve is now dead, because a needy little whine just rustled in the back of his throat

Speaking of love languages,there’s another called “Physical Touch” which has the words Jimin Park written all over it. So with that being said you really should’ve already been prepared for whatever’s about to unfold.

It’s subconscious at this point, head dropping down to the crook of your neck, nosing up a vein like a neglected puppy! Squeezing your waist hard enough to damn near engrave his thumb print in against your hip bones! Well, clearly he doesn’t want you going anywhere anytime soon!

So what do you do instead? Place the bag of food on the bar, hold the phone in one hand and bring the other up to play in his freshly dyed locks! I swear this man is a second away from purring so maybe he’s not a puppy after all. Suddenly his ring clanned fingers trickle down your spine heading south, flexing his palm to squeeze down around the swell of your ass! Shifting you forward so your chest to chest...

So, here you are trying to cater to both of your boys at once...lord help you!

“No, of course I wasn’t ignoring you, I was just busy-yes Tae. You wanna put what in a what,Now?”

~~~~~

Hiii, as I mentioned above this was kinda last minute, I wrote out prompts on the 21st, then adult life kicked in. I actually had my own little office Christmas party to plan (Nothing on this scale obviously because well, we know the way the real world is rn) However because of that I couldn’t truly work on this until the 24th. However it’s been a long time since I wrote/wanted to write so I opted to just post it anyway! Hopefully the full thing will be up by the 28th at the latest.

I have also attached the overall masterlist for this AU!

7 DEEP

#jimin #jimin smut #jimin x reader #jimin x you #park jimin #park jimin smut #park jimin x reader #bts #bts smut #bts x reader #bts au #kpop #kpop smut #bts poly #bts poly au

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jjonassevilla · 5 years ago

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Customers Still Need You: Here’s How to Start Your Online Business Quickly

A lot of small business owners are feeling immense pressure right now. With everyone at home to help curb the current global pandemic, many retailers with brick and mortar locations are experiencing a steep decline in foot traffic (and some are even temporarily closing up shop). Florists, restaurants, breweries, hair salons—right now, all sorts of people are researching how to move their business online where possible.

But while getting into the ecommerce game may sound complicated or even a little bit intimidating, it’s actually never been easier or more profitable to sell your products online. Customers are actively looking for ways to support local businesses like yours during this period (and there are a whole lot of tools to help you reach ‘em). Some reports even say that ecommerce sales may double amid the COVID-19 pandemic and that we may be entering a transition to life online.

So while it can be tempting to close up shop and work on your quarantine jigsaw puzzle skills for the unforeseeable future, there are things you can do today to keep your revenue up during lockdown. In this post, we’ll cover how you can adapt your business model for online shoppers (without necessarily having to open an entire online shop) and make your first sales with a quick online promotion via landing page.

The Good News: You Might Not Need to Build a Whole Online Store

An example of an online store. Putting a hefty one of these together can be somewhat overwhelming.

When most people think about starting an online business, they think about creating an entire digital storefront. This means category pages, product pages, filters, search bars, branding, a professional photoshoot—the works. (It’s stressing me out just thinking about it.) But before you get in touch with your web dev buddy from college, take a moment to reflect on whether you really need all of this.

If you have a lot of product lines or items to sell generally, a classic online store is a terrific option for you (I’d recommend a good ol’ Shopify store for this). But for some shops with fewer product lines or inventory (or if you’re just looking to test the waters with your first online promotion), you might be able to get an offer out to your customers much faster with an ecommerce landing page outfitted with a form for processing simpler orders.

Online Stores vs. Ecommerce Landing Pages

An ecommerce landing page example from Trade Coffee. Click to see the whole thing.

Unlike a full online store, an ecommerce landing page is just a single, standalone page that focuses on getting visitors to make a purchase. There are no distractions for visitors (like pesky menu bars or links to other pages) and everything on the page is there for one purpose and one purpose only—to help make the sale.

You can use a landing page to get a really focused offer out quickly to your customers. The easiest way to do this is to set up a simple order form on your page and then charge customers in-person on delivery or pick-up. They’re fast to create with a drag-and-drop builder and you can easily customize your landing page to look just like the rest of your brand and website.

Heads up: if you want customers to be able to complete a transaction directly on your landing page, you’re still going to need a Shopify store or a similar ecommerce platform. Check out this post in the Unbounce Community on how to add a Shopify button to your landing page. It’s doable—but it does require a bit of a workaround.

So how do you know if you need an online store or a landing page? Here are a few of the key differences…

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Online StoresEcommerce Landing PagesAllow visitors to browse between many different productsTypically focus on a single offer, or a small selection of productsAre essentially the website for your businessAre often standalone and separate from your website (though they can live on your website’s same URL)Include category pages, search bars, product pages, navigation links, etc.Eliminate all distractions and keep the focus on making a saleFeature a “Cart” system and a “Checkout” processCan feature an order form (to charge customers in-person) or be integrated with an online shop (like Shopify) to include a “Cart” and “Checkout”Often require custom code and a content management system (CMS)Quick to create yourself (without coding) using a drag-and-drop builder

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of an online shop and just want something simple so you can start getting orders faster—that’s when a landing page can make sense.

Here’s how you can get started this afternoon:

Step 1) Find the Right Offer for Your Online Business

To start, you’ll need to figure out which of your products or services make the most sense to offer online. This might be simple or complicated depending on the nature of your business. If you’re a clothing shop, for example, it’d be easy enough to set up a landing page for a popular sweatshirt you have in stock. But other business models might find it a bit trickier to adapt…

Let’s look at a few real-world examples of small businesses that are pivoting and offering different products or services right now:

Breweries – Got a best-selling brew? Many breweries are now offering beer delivery or pick-up services for their customers. You can easily set up an order form on a landing page similar to what Yellow Dog has done here and charge customers at the door. (BTW, I love their disclaimer: “It really is just like getting a pizza delivered but beer.”)

Hair Salons – Hair salons and hairdressers are using landing pages to sell specialty shampoos, conditioners, sprays, and gels customers can use at home. You could even set up a landing page to sell gift cards for future appointments similar to how Tony Shamas has done on their site.

Florists – Flower shops like Flower Factory are offering a “Launch Bouquet” to promote their new online ordering. There are lots of opportunities to create landing pages for other specialty bouquets and gift packages that you can deliver right to the doors of your customers. (Mother’s Day is just around the corner and paired with the right social ad, this could be a great first offer!)

Restaurants – Promote the fact that your restaurant is still open for takeout and delivery orders by setting up a landing page similar to what Meet on Main has done here. You can promote the landing page to customers using Instagram ads, and have it click-through to a menu order form or a delivery service website like Doordash or Uber Eats.

Consider what your customers would want to purchase from you online, and how you will deliver on any orders they place via your landing page form or cart. To get the best results, you may want to bundle a few of your best-selling products together or take advantage of upcoming holidays with promotions that you only need one page to pull off.

Doesn’t seem realistic for your business to offer anything right now? You may want to build a lead-generation landing page to collect customer email addresses instead. You can use the page to let folks know that you’re temporarily closed and ask them to enter their email address to get updates. This way, you’ll have a list of interested customers to reach out to when things get back to normal (or anytime you have a promotion or sale you want them to know about).

Step 2) Set Up Your Promotion on a Landing Page

Next, let’s walk through the process of setting up a landing page. For this example, let’s say we’ve decided to create a sales landing page for a local flower shop. Rather than have customers come into the store we want them to be able to order a bouquet online.

With Unbounce, this is fairly straightforward. You can get started fast with one of our 100+ high-converting templates and customize the design using the drag-and-drop builder. No web developers, no graphic designers, no custom code—anyone can build a page using Unbounce. (Even someone like me, who a girlfriend once politely described as being “artistically challenged.”)

For our flower shop example, here’s a landing page I whipped up in about 20 minutes using the Produkto Template…

An ecommerce landing page example I built quickly in Unbounce. Click to see the whole thing.

It’s simple, but it definitely gets the job done. And you can easily put together a landing page just like this for your business. Just make sure to include these important elements:

Your Branding – Showing customers familiar branding can help make your landing page feel more connected to the rest of your business. Try using the same logos, colors, and photos that you’re currently using on the rest of your website for this standalone page.

Real Photographs – A landing page without images seems a lil’ bit sketchy. Add photos from your business to show customers that you’re the real deal. Don’t have any photos? No worries—Unbounce gives you free access to 1,000,000+ stunning, professional-quality images on Unsplash directly inside the landing page builder. (Which means you won’t have to search for hours all over the internet for a non-cheesy stock photo.)

Customer Reviews – Clear, authentic social proof is always a landing page best practice. Online shoppers want to know that they can trust you, and that other people have had a good experience with your brand. Written or video testimonials on your landing page are a great way to close more sales.

“Buy Now” Buttons – If you want people to be able to order directly from your landing page, you’ll need to set up a Shopify account and add a “Buy Now” button to your page. Otherwise, you’ll need to have your buttons click-through to an order form.

A Mobile Version – With more people than ever using smartphones, you’ve got to make sure your landing page looks good on both desktop and mobile. In Unbounce, you can do this in just a few clicks.

No Distractions – Online shoppers get easily distracted. (And the internet is a very distracting place.) Keep your landing page focused on a limited number of offers (or ideally—just one), and you’ll have a higher chance of success. Take out anything unnecessary–including links to other pages on your website, social media, or related products.

For more tips on how to design a high-converting landing page, check out our 11 landing page best practices.

Once you’ve finished building, you’ll want to connect your landing page to your domain (so it matches your URL address). This can sound intimidating if you’re like me and don’t know the difference between a CNAME and a DNS—but really, the whole process usually takes less than 15 minutes. (Plus, our team has created some easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to help make it easy for you.)

After that, all you have to do is hit “Publish” in Unbounce to bring your landing page offer online.

Step 3) Share Your Landing Page with Customers

The final step is to share your landing page with customers. There are a few ways you can do this…

Social Media Posts – A lot of small businesses are finding social media platforms useful for communicating with customers during COVID-19. You can announce to customers that you’re still open for business and post a link to your landing page on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Instagram.

Link from Your Website – Set up a link to your landing page on your website homepage using a custom graphic, text on the page, or an Unbounce popup or sticky bar that gets visitors’ attention.

Emails – If you already have a list of customer email addresses, you can send out a link to your landing page.

Online Ads – To attract more people to your landing page, you can set up PPC ads (on Google) or social ads (on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin) that target your ideal audience.

The more you share your landing page, the higher chance of success you’ll have. Try experimenting with all of the methods above to see what works best for your business.

We’re Here to Help You Get Started

I know that this is a tough time for a lot of business owners, and you might still be wrapping your head around everything that’s going on right now. That’s completely normal. This is far from a “business as usual” moment, and you’ll need to decide what makes the most sense for your unique situation.

If you’d like to get started with building your first landing page, the Unbounce team is here to help. We can answer any questions you have about setting up your offer, and—if you’re in mission-critical services at this time, specifically healthcare, education, nonprofit, or government—we’d like to give you our essential plan for free.

In the meantime, you can find some inspiration and see what other brands are creating by checking out 27 jaw-dropping landing page examples in The Ultimate Ecommerce Landing Page Lookbook.

from Marketing https://unbounce.com/campaign-strategy/how-to-start-online-business-quickly/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#SEO

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paynxt360 · 2 years ago

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Community gift cards continue to boost local businesses globally

Community gift cards have always been successful in supporting local small businesses, at the same time providing financial aid to the residents of the town or the city. Importantly, these programs continue to remain very popular as they keep boosting local economies while keeping local dollars local. For instance,

In October 2022, a new community gift card program was introduced by Lake Forest, California, to revive local businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19. Under this gift card program, Lake Forest residents will be able to buy a community gift card, at the same time, get another gift card of the same amount completely for free.

The community gift card program was structured to benefit restaurants, hospitality, and other local businesses, and the gift cards under this program can only be redeemed in any Lake Forest business. The residents who sign up for the program will be able to purchase a gift card worth US$25, US$50 or US$100 online and receive a second digital card free of cost. Notably, the city council allocated around US$575,000 for the program, and the program's marketing was put under the assistance of the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce. However, the resident of the city will be able to access this gift card only during the holidays.

Similarly, in October 2022, the city council approved the Colleyville Christmas Gift Card program to provide every household in Colleyville, Texas with a US$35 gift card that can be spent at any participating restaurant or retail outlet in the city. Notably, the city allocated US$480,000 for this gift card program, which is considered part of the city's economic development strategy, thereby helping to boost several businesses in the city.

In August 2022, The Berg Gift Card, a community gift card program of The City of Newberg, Oregon, was introduced to support several small businesses which faced tremendous hardship during the pandemic. Berg Gift Card program, specifically, is a partnership between the Newberg Chamber of Commerce and the Newberg Downtown Coalition and is considered a part of economic investment by the city.

Similarly, in October 2022, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, announced to launch Ballymena Gift Card to support local businesses during the Christmas holidays. Under this new local gift card, several businesses such as retail, hospitality, leisure and many more businesses, independent business or national brand, will be benefitted from the program. Only businesses must sign up for this program to accept these gift cards as payment options.

Since Ballymena is one of the famous shopping destinations, this gift card will attract a significant number of regional customers. Notably, this gift card, post-launch, can be accessed by the residents both online and offline. Though the digital version will be available online, the physical version will be available at the town's shopping centers. As more than 70% of the town's businesses are independent, Ballymena Gift Card will provide more shopping choices for the residents.

This gift card program is mainly driven mainly by Ballymena Business Improvement District (BID) and is assisted by the Department for Communities and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. It was observed that around 40% of the online gift cards were purchased outside of the area, and this clearly states that the gift card program will not only lock the money in the town but also bring new money from outside.

On the other hand, several companies are also partnering up with local governments to distribute community gift cards in the United States. To do so, DoorDash, an American food ordering and delivery platform partnered with 18 mayors in September 2022 to curb food insecurity in the country. Under its Project Dash program, the firm will provide data to the cities on the food requirement and deliver food to households with lower or no food access.

Notably, DoorDash will provide around US$1 million in Community Credits gift cards to these cities, together with data on food needs. Furthermore, DoorDash will also provide meals for charity through this Project Dash, which is a social impact program of the platform to overcome common barriers to food access.

In June 2022, a Connecticut-based start-up company, Giverrang, launched around 300 community gift card programs specific to each city or town in Georgia. These gift card programs are dedicated to supporting local businesses and cannot be spent in top retail chains such as McDonald's or Walmart. Since big retail chains already have the benefit of large resources, these gift cards are aimed particularly at supporting independent businesses.

One can access Giverrang's community gift cards online through each town or city card web page. Those who will buy these gift cards can also ship them to any friend or family member or even go and deliver them in person.

Yiftee, Inc., a provider of community e-gift cards, announced the introduction of the "Order Desk" capability in its business to restrict money locally. Now, in addition to online sales, Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Associations, Main Streets etc., will be able to sell their branded community e-gift cards to walk-in buyers as well as at public events. This new functionality will act as an add-on for the existing customers of the platform and will allow the recipients only to shop from local shops and restaurants.

With the rise in digitization, more organizations are opting for e-gift cards, and Yiftee's easy-to-use platform for custom community e-gift cards saw strong demand. Currently, around 15,000 businesses in more than 425 cities of the United States use their digital gift card platform either in the form of community gift cards or as single-brand gift cards. Moreover, newer communities are joining Yiftee's platform as it provides the recipients with wider choices of where to spend them. Consequently, PayNXT360 anticipates this new additional "Order Desk" feature will boost community e-gift card sales over the country's four to eight quarters.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the global gift card market, click here.

#giftcard prepaidcard payments bnpl india marketresearch paynxt360

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serinemolecule · 7 years ago

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How to credit card

Using a credit card is like paying with cash, except you also get free money and other benefits.

"But Serine, there's no such thing as a free lunch! [1] Where does the money come from?"

I'm glad you asked. When you buy something with cash, the seller gets 100% of what you pay. When you use a credit card, the seller gets around 97% of what you pay, and the credit card company gets the other 3%. [2] The credit card company is of course very willing to give you money and other benefits if you let them have that 3%. [3]

Sellers are willing to give up 3% because handling credit cards is so much easier than cash. You don't have to count change, and you have a computer record of who paid how much, so it's easy to figure out who's lying when the customer said they paid. Not to mention it eliminates the problem of cashiers stealing money by pocketing customers' money [4]. Also not to mention the store wants the customer to be happy (happy customers spend more) (customers hate having to pay a fee to use a credit card).

Anyway, in the general case, credit cards are basically always a good thing, and you should basically always use them. [5] So I’m going to teach you how to pick one!

When not to credit card

If you are irresponsible with money, and are afraid you will spend more money than you have, you should not use a credit card. If you have good reasons not to want a bank account, you probably don’t want a credit card for similar reasons.

Never carry a balance on a credit card (pay off less than the total amount you owe every month), it piles up and ruins your life. You should spend money on getting things you want, not on paying off interest.

“Forgetting to pay” is never a concern. All modern credit cards have an auto-pay feature to take money from a bank account. As long as you don’t spend more money than is in your bank account, you don’t have to worry about accidentally going into debt.

What benefits you get from using credit cards

Most credit cards will give you 1%-2% cash back (for each dollar you spend, you get a certain percentage back in free money).

Basically all credit cards give you the ability to chargeback. This means that if some business steals your money (charges you more than you owe, etc) and you can prove it, you can call the credit card company and tell them to take your money back. Note that this is a last resort (only to be used after you contact the business and they don't give you your money back), and will generally result in the business completely cutting off contact with you (for instance, if you chargeback Steam, you'll lose access to all your Steam games etc).

Credit cards also act as a short-term loan. If you ever need a payday loan, a credit card will give you significantly less interest than an actual payday loan. You never want a credit card as a long-term loan (the rates are horrible), but they actually give you close to the best possible rate for a loan of a few days. Just remember that debt is evil and never to fall into it.

Other benefits vary wildly and are specific to the card, but common benefits include various forms of insurance (car insurance on any rental car you rent with the credit card, warranty on anything you buy, etc).

Which card to get

It's actually really easy to choose a credit card. If you're in the US, here is Serine's One-Step Guide:

Do you spend more than $2500 per year in travel (hotels, flights, Ubers, etc) and restaurants, and do you have the free time to screw around with flyer miles?

• No ➡ Get the Citi DoubleCash

• Yes ➡ Get the Chase Sapphire Reserve

In some extremely obscure situations, you might want other cards, but I'll cover those after I cover these two cards.

The Citi DoubleCash

The Citi DoubleCash has no yearly fee, and gives you 2% cash back, effectively. This makes it better in every way than most other cards.

Some cards give 1% cash back and a rotating 5% category. They will give you a headache trying to optimize them and you will still get less money back compared to the Citi DoubleCash, in the end.

Some cards give you points that you can spend using a complicated procedure, which will be worth approximately 2% if you can spend them perfectly. Just use the Citi DoubleCash, and skip the complicated procedure.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $550 yearly fee, and gives a huge number of benefits that are totally worth it if you spend a decent amount of money. Also it looks really cool because it's metal and black. [6]

It comes with $300 of travel credit per year, which you can blow through in, like, a single flight, or like a few days of hotel, or like a normal amount of Ubering (anyone who's even considering this card should have no problem spending that much). So the yearly fee is effectively $250.

It gives you 3 points per dollar on travel and restaurants, and 1 point per dollar on anything else. "Points" can and should be converted to frequent flyer miles, at which point they're worth 2-4 cents each if you put them towards international flights, especially international first-class flights.

It also comes with a pile of side-benefits, like free Priority Pass membership (gives access to a bunch of airport lounges), free TSA Global Entry (lets you basically skip airport security and customs), free DoorDash DashPass, free Lyft Pink, and a lot of other exclusive discounts.

Assuming you spend enough and you're willing to spend the effort optimizing flyer miles, it basically pays for itself and the other benefits are free. If you don’t want to optimize flyer miles, the other redemption options are worth 1¢/point or less, and you’d be better off with the Citi DoubleCash.

Honorable Mention: The AmEx Platinum

I know I didn’t mention the AmEx Platinum at all, but if you have lots of money and want the best benefits on a card (or you take a lot of flights), the AmEx Platinum is probably the card for you.

The AmEx Platinum costs $550 per year, and is a luxury card pretty similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Its biggest advantage is that it has much better airport lounge coverage in the US.

Priority Pass (which comes with both the Chase and the AmEx) gives you lounge access for most international flights, but the AmEx Platinum also gives you lounge access for US domestic flights.

It gives 5 points/dollar for airfare and AmEx Travel hotel purchases, and 1 point/dollar for other purchases, and its points can also be turned into flyer miles.

Other advantages include Gold membership status at Hilton, Marriott, Starwood, and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Mostly this means usually-free late-checkout, and, like, free bottled water sometimes.

Instead of the $300 travel credit, though, the Platinum has a $200 airline fee credit (abusable to buy gift cards) and a $200 Uber credit (spread out across 12 months, so hard to maximize unless you use Uber all the time). It’s harder to max these out, but if you do, it’s effectively $150/year.

Overall, the main reason you’d actually want the Platinum over the Sapphire Reserve is if you fly a lot in the US and really want the additional airport lounges.

Extremely obscure situations

So the most common one is: If you have a ton of free time and spend a decent amount of money, you might be interested in churning. I don't really want anything to do with churning so you're going to have to learn how to do it from someone else (google it, I guess).

If you travel internationally, be aware that the Citi DoubleCash has a foreign transaction fee. It's still worth it (2%, which is still less than the fee you'll be charged by most money exchangers – Wells Fargo takes like 5%), but it's also not very hard to just get a credit card that doesn't have that fee. The Amazon Prime card and the Costco credit card are good options (these two are pretty good cards to have in general, honestly; they have no yearly fee and a few specific uses, just don't use them as your main card because they don't have the 2% base rate the DoubleCash has).

If you have a lot of very specific foreign transactions you need to make that isn’t just taking vacations internationally, the Capital One Quicksilver has 1.5% cash back and no foreign transaction cost (the Amazon and Costco cards are better for travel).

That's it

I haven't actually taught you how to spend money wisely (maybe that'll be a different post), but at least you can get more value out of the money you do spend now.

There aren’t links to any of these credit cards because I don’t want to get accused of earning money through affiliate links or something. You can find all of them on Google.

[1] In a way, there's no such thing as a free lunch, but in a way, there totally is. Like, think about breathing (but not too hard – I don't want you to start manually breathing – ...I'm sorry). There are some minor trade-offs (you have to use energy) and situations where you shouldn't (do not breathe while underwater unless you have special equipment) but overall, it's basically always correct to choose "breathing" over "not breathing".

[2] The 3%ish is split kind of complicatedly, in terms of who gets what. The credit card company definitely gets most of it, though.

[3] And also to get your late payment fees and interest and stuff, but honestly, credit card rewards come out of the processing fee.

[4] It's easiest for cashiers to steal money if you're selling something hard to track, like french fries. A cashier can give a customer some french fries, pocket the customer's money, and the store owner would never know. This is why a lot of fast food places say "free food if we don't give you a receipt". The receipt makes sure the cashier gives the store owner the money.

[5] Some stores don't accept credit cards. These are very very rare in the US, and mostly restricted to, like, certain vending machines, and tiny stores that hate the 3% transaction fee. Also, a lot of service workers prefer you to tip in cash, because that makes tax evasion easier (it's up to you whether you consider this a good thing or a bad thing).

[6] People who’ve seen mine have totally thought it’s "the black card" because it’s black and metallic (it's not, it’s a lot easier to get than the actual AmEx Centurion).

#how to money #credit cards

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joemoshe · 3 years ago

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Top Crypto Credit Cards In The Cryptocurrency World

Innovation is rapidly developing, and the world is quickly going advanced. The digital currency space is a progress also, guaranteeing that recent fads and items are on the bang of the business. One frenzy that is acquiring notoriety among digital currency aficionados is crypto Visas.

Tracking down the best crypto credit is difficult, you need to investigate and dissect basic factors that might bring you heartbreaking results later. Realize the prizes structure, digital currency choices, installment strategies, trade alternatives, estimating, and expenses.

Cryptographic forms of money are turning out to be increasingly significant and crypto cards are turning out to be more possible. A cryptographic money Visa works actually like the customary Mastercard, counting out that the assets and prizes are advanced monetary standards.

Digital currency charge cards are back by popular worldwide monetary administrations enterprises like Visa and Mastercard. Actually like the typical Visa, you will actually want to get adaptable credit compensations by spending digital forms of money.

BlockFi Bitcoin Visa Credit Card

BlockFi Mastercard intends to be the very first crypto acquiring Mastercard in the crypto space, giving gives very liberal awards for clients. The crypto Visa procures about a 1.5% compensation on all buys made through the card.

The prizes are changed over into Bitcoin inside your BlockFi account each month. Notwithstanding, BlockFi Bitcoin Rewards Visa Signature Card is exclusively for Bitcoin, so in case you're keen on the card, yet not with Bitcoin, it is most certainly not intended for you.

BlockFi Bitcoin Visa Card works very much like a cashback card that is consequently used to purchase Bitcoin every month. You won't get Bitcoin remunerates quickly, keeping you from perhaps making large buys when is exchanging at a complimenting rate. Changing over the award, you get to some other type of digital money straightforwardly is additionally not permitted.

Blockfi Bitcoin Reward highlights

Beside the 1.5% compensation on all buys, BlockFi Visas likewise set forward an early on remuneration pace of about 3.5% on all buys made inside the initial 90 days of card participation. Just as 2% Bitcoin back each card commemoration for each $50,000 of yearly spent.

To claim BlockFi Bitcoin Visa, you need to pay an exchange charge of $295 every year, except they have taken out it so there's not any more yearly expense for utilizing the card, neither there is an unfamiliar exchange charge.

BlockFi merchants who own their charge cards can likewise acquire up to 0.25% of their exchanging volume back to the maximal measure of $500 BTC consistently. BlockFi cardholders who hold stablecoin resources in BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) can likewise secure an additional a 2% on top of the stablecoin yearly rate yield.

BlockFi charge card is quite good for its proprietors. Envision, when you purchase things in reality, you will actually want to get Bitcoin in your BlockFi account. What's more, that Bitcoin develops interest as time goes on the off chance that you hold it spot on there.

Being one of the first crypto Visas doesn't make BlockFi Bitcoin Rewards Visas the best among the rest. It is deficient as far as extra classifications just as choices for constant prizes.

It offers very great advantages to Bitcoin darlings, yet on the off chance that you would prefer not to restrict yourself exclusively to Bitcoin digital money, you should give a shot other crypto charge cards.

Pursue Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

With regards to Mastercard benefits, Chase Sapphire Preferred won't ever be rearward in accordance with its wonderful 100,000 focuses join reward. Albeit this is the card's enticing advantage, it's most likely not alone.

Pursue Sapphire Preferred is truly outstanding among numerous decisions for successive voyagers. It gives incredible advantages and prize projects for both non-travel and travel-center utilization.

More than the sign-up reward and different advantages, Chase Sapphire's Visa's advantage revolves around reclaiming and procuring focuses. A Sapphire Preferred cardholder will get one Chase Ultimate Reward point (esteemed at one penny) for each dollar spent.

As per the General Manager of Chase Sapphire, the Sapphire favored Mastercard gives 3X focuses on eating at eateries just as on qualified food takeout and conveyance. There are 2X focuses from airfare to lodgings to trains, rideshares, taxis, cost spans, and much more.

The focuses you will procure are redeemable for gift vouchers, buys at Amazon or Apple Ultimate Rewards Store, cashback, yet awesome and genuinely ideal arrangement to exchange your focuses is to utilize it to go free of charge by moving them to the movement accomplices of Chase.

Other than the prizes program, you could get advantages like $50 yearly Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, $60 back on qualified Peloton advanced, DoorDash's membership administration, trip wiping out/interference protection, 120 days of procurement insurance, and there is no expense for unfamiliar exchanges.

With Chase Sapphire Preferred, an individual could get repayment of about $10,000 per individual in the non-refundable travel costs if the outing was suspended because of serious climate conditions, disorder, and other covered conditions.

On the off chance that cardholders get a movement delay for more than 12 hours, or then again if the defer requests holders to remain for the time being, Sapphire Preferred holders are covered more than $500 per ticket for fundamental costs like inn stay and dinners.

On the off chance that the baggage is deferred for over six hours, cardholders are qualified to repay around $100 each day for five days to compensate for the expense of new dress and toiletries.

In the event that the cardholder is voyaging and utilizes Chase Sapphire Preferred, they get protection inclusion for burglary and impact in the United States and abroad. Nonetheless, the Sapphire Preferred cardholder should decay the protection inclusion of the rental organization.

Pursue Sapphire Preferred Visa is most certainly an absolute necessity have for individuals who love voyaging.

Pursue Credit Card site access

Pursue Sapphire Preferred likewise allows admittance to My Chase Plan, empowering cardholders to separate for regularly scheduled payment acquisition of more than $100. There's no requirement for you to pay interest for My Chase Plan buys, yet there's a proper month to month charge.

Most charge card suppliers require extraordinary credit to fit the bill to apply, and Sapphire Preferred isn't an exemption. Pursue necessities FICO ratings going from 870 to 850, just as a cycle to know whether you are qualified for the card or not.

On the off chance that you haven't assembled a decent FICO rating to fit the bill for Sapphire Preferred, you could pursue a card with a lower credit necessity to fabricate your credit.

The $95 yearly expense isn't anything to the greatest advantages you will get.

Which is the Best Credit Card to Pick?

As a matter of fact, there is nothing of the sort as "awesome" Mastercard, there is just the "right" card for every individual. This implies that the best charge card fluctuates relying upon your circumstance.

There is Citi Double Cash Back card that will give you cashback on all buys, American Express Blue Cash Preferred that is best for family-accommodating buys like food, there is additionally a Mastercard for understudies like Discover It Student Cash Back, and Credit One Bank Platinum Visa for individuals with terrible credit.

Best Card for Poor Credit

To pick the best Visa, you ought to think about your monetary objectives, ways of managing money, and where you will utilize the Mastercard all in all. The best Mastercard is really emotional and is considerably founded on your needs.

Suppose a successive voyager may praise the Chase Sapphire Preferred as the "best Visa" on account of the few travel advantages it offers. However, in case the voyager's need change to digital money contributing, the BlockFi Mastercard may the "best" card.

Toward the day's end, the best charge card is the one that acquires you remunerates you can really use on normal premise, assisting you with hitting your life, travel, or monetary objectives.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #creditcard #credit card #crypto credit cards #BlockFi Bitcoin Visa #Pursue Credit Card

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Restaurants Fought for Covid Survival, With Some Tech Helpers The past year has crushed independent restaurants across the country and brought a reality to their doors: Many were unprepared for a digital world. Unlike other small retailers, restaurateurs could keep the tech low, with basic websites and maybe Instagram accounts with tantalizing, well-lit photos of their food. For the past decade, Krystle Mobayeni had been trying to convince them that they needed more. Ms. Mobayeni, a first-generation Iranian-American, started her company, BentoBox, in 2013 as a side job. She wanted to use her graphic design skills to help restaurants build more robust websites with e-commerce abilities. But it was a hard sell. For many, she said, her services were a “nice to have,” not a necessity. Until 2020. The pandemic sent chefs and owners flocking to BentoBox, as they suddenly needed to add to-go ordering, delivery scheduling, gift card sales and more to their websites. Before the pandemic the company, based in New York City, had about 4,800 clients, including the high-profile Manhattan restaurant Gramercy Tavern; today it has more than 7,000 restaurants onboard and recently received a $28.8 million investment led by Goldman Sachs. “I feel like our company was built for this moment,” Ms. Mobayeni said. The moment opened a well of opportunity for companies like BentoBox that are determined to help restaurants survive. Dozens of companies have either started or scaled up sharply as they found their services in urgent demand. Meanwhile, investors and venture capitalists have been sourcing deals in the “restaurant tech” sector — particularly seeking companies that bring the big chains’ advantages to independent restaurants. “A lot of what’s happening is reminiscent of what we’ve seen in the broader retail sector in the past decade,” said R.J. Hottovy, a restaurant industry analyst and an investor at Aaron Allen & Associates. “Covid accelerated the transformation quite a bit. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to redefine the experience.” Part of what Ms. Mobayeni offers restaurants is a one-stop shop and the ability to own their customer data. Many restaurants rely on third-party vendors, such as DoorDash or UberEats, to handle delivery. But those companies charge significant fees and retain customers’ data because the transactions go through their websites. That’s not such a big deal when delivery is 20 percent of a restaurant’s income stream, but it’s a game-changer when delivery becomes 100 percent of income — and you can’t contact any of your customers. “Restaurants realized they had to think of themselves as larger businesses and brands,” said Camilla Marcus, co-founder of TechTable, which connects the hospitality and tech industries. “You have to expand into other things: e-commerce, delivery, products. You have to think outside the four walls.” Helping restaurants deepen relationships with customers is where Sam Bernstein saw an opportunity. Before the pandemic he ran a tech start-up that connected students to housing, similar to Airbnb; when universities sent students home last spring, his revenue fell to zero. He went to his board of directors and offered to return what investment was left and close down. Instead the board suggested he regroup with a smaller team and new vision. “It was an existential crisis, as you can imagine,” he said. Mr. Bernstein laid off all but 10 employees and took them for a brainstorming retreat. They considered dozens of business models, looking for the right problem to solve. The more they discussed options, the more the members of the team realized they were all interested in food and hospitality and wanted to help restaurants. They hit upon the idea for a site that would allow customers to “subscribe” to their favorite restaurants. The new firm, Table22, would help chefs develop and market subscriptions for monthly meal kits and wine clubs, for example, and then manage the sales, recurring billing, scheduling, data analytics and more. In exchange, Table22 takes a percentage of each transaction. Table22, which is based in New York, went live with its first restaurant in May. Since then, it has grown to more than 150 restaurants in 50 cities. Late last year, the company received about $7 million from investors, who include David Barber, owner of Blue Hill farm and restaurants. Shelby Allison signed up her Chicago bar, Lost Lake, for the service on a cold email from Table22. She was hesitant at first, planning to listen just long enough to learn how to create a cocktail subscription service herself. “We get lots and lots of calls from these tech companies trying to help — or prey upon — us struggling businesses,” she said. Today in Business Updated April 16, 2021, 1:30 p.m. ET But she was impressed by the low service fee and the fact that Table22 shared customer data. She started the service in October, hoping for 30 sign-ups; 100 people joined. Ms. Allison now has 300 subscribers and five employees working on the make-at-home cocktail boxes. “This will 100 percent stay in the future,” she said. “I love this program. I thought it might cannibalize my to-go business, but it hasn’t at all.” Ping Ho considered signing up with Table22 to host the wine and meat clubs she offers at her Detroit restaurant and butcher shop, Marrow, and wine bar, the Royce. She decided against it, however, because her existing subscription platform, Zoho, gave her the essential tools. “It’s a bit more work, but there’s more agency,” she said. But because her website was mostly informational, she realized she did need help offering online ordering and a delivery system for the butcher shop. So Ms. Ho turned to Mercato, which enables e-commerce for independent grocers. In a bit of fortuitous timing, she had signed up a month before the pandemic struck. When stay-at-home orders were issued, she was able to quickly begin offering grocery items, such as milk and eggs, in addition to meats. Her sales jumped “tremendously” she said, although they have flattened out in recent months. Still, Ms. Ho intends to maintain the service. Mercato began in 2015, but 2020 was its year. In February 2020, the service had 400 stores across 20 states; it quickly ramped up to more than 1,000 stores in 45 states. It continues to grow and has added some big-name clients, including the Ferry Building Marketplace on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, with dozens of merchants. “We’re trying to give independent grocers a sustainable competitive advantage,” said Bobby Brannigan, founder and chief executive of the company, which is based in San Diego. It’s a mission that he has been training for all his life. Mr. Brannigan’s family owns a grocery store in the Dyker Heights area of Brooklyn, where he started working when he was 8, stocking shelves and delivering groceries. “It’s ironic that I’m back to doing what I was doing as a kid in Brooklyn,” he said. Last March and April, Mercato brought on hundreds of new grocers each week — clients that weren’t used to having online orders or weren’t used to the sudden volume of orders. Some stores that were accustomed to 10 orders in a day were flooded with hundreds, Mr. Brannigan said. Thankfully, his dad already had him build tools into the system that would allow grocers to limit the pace of orders and schedule them. Mr. Brannigan is also adding more data analytics to help his clients better understand what their customers want. They can now see what was bought and what customers searched for. “You’re amassing a valuable treasure chest of data that lets you sell the products they want today and that they want tomorrow,” he said. Of course, not all solutions are tech-centric; sometimes, it’s just a grass-roots community of chefs helping chefs. Alison Cayne, for example, has been giving free advice to chefs looking to create packaged goods, like her line of Haven’s Kitchen sauces. Having that extra revenue stream was critical when she shuttered her Manhattan restaurant and cooking school last spring, and she wants others to have the same options. “This is all very much from my perspective, not the supercapitalized, venture capital-backed, cool-kids business,” she said. “I just want to help them take a brick-and-mortar business and develop a product and build a brand that makes sense and is sustainable.” In Detroit, the grocer Raphael Wright and the chefs Ederique Goudia and Jermond Booze developed a “diabolical plan,” as Mr. Wright called it, to offer a weekly meal kit cooked by Black chefs during Black History Month. “Black food businesses are hurting in the city, so we thought, what if we created this meal box in a way that celebrates Black food and Black contributions to American cuisine?” Mr. Wright said. They named the project Taste the Diaspora Detroit and brought together Black chefs and farmers to create the weekly dishes — like gumbo z’herbes and black-eyed pea masala. The three organized all of the e-commerce and scheduling, which allowed chefs to participate even if they weren’t tech-savvy, and created the packaging and inserts that told the history of the meal. They topped it off with a paired Spotify playlist. “Being a part of this project woke everyone up and made them think they have a little hope they can push through,” Mr. Wright said. They hope to reprise the service for Juneteenth and are currently talking to funders to support the effort. Source link Orbem News #Covid #Fought #Helpers #Restaurants #Survival #Tech

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easyfoodnetwork · 5 years ago

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Your Reservation Has Been Cancelled

How apps like OpenTable, Tock, and Resy are pivoting to keep themselves — and restaurants — afloat in a world without bookings

Gregory and Daisy Ryan opened Bell’s, a 35-seat French bistro in Los Alamos, California, in 2018. The pair had worked in restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin before returning to Daisy’s hometown. The couple had several choices when it came to online reservation booking platforms and ultimately went with Tock, a system that they say worked so well, the restaurant didn’t even need a phone. “I didn’t want to have people sitting at the bar and listen to me explain something that someone can find on the internet,” says Gregory Ryan. “I didn’t want that to ruin someone’s experience.” During a typical dinner service pre-COVID-19, about 80 percent of guests had reservations.

Because of its location, in a small town near California’s central coast wine country, Bell’s wasn’t beholden to the early occupancy reduction mandates, and later closures, that happened so quickly in major cities like New York and San Francisco in response to the spread of COVID-19. “It wasn’t until the second week of March that we knew something was on its way — but we didn’t know what it looked like yet,” Gregory Ryan says. He tried to figure out a way to use Tock to accommodate takeout instead of reservations and events in an effort to stay open. Plus, the restaurant didn’t ever offer takeout before. “Not because we think we’re too good for it, or anything,” he says. “Because we only have two [chefs] on the line.”

But before he could figure out a technical solution on his own, he says, Tock contacted him offering a new online ordering system he could implement quickly. When he first considered takeout, Gregory Ryan says, “I was like, ‘Oh, shit, am I going to have to get a phone?’ My staff was like, ‘No, absolutely not.’” Today, Bell’s remains phone-free.

“We opened a restaurant for certain reasons,” he says. He didn’t ever expect takeout to be his business’s lifeline.

Since the spread of COVID-19 began forcing restaurants across the country to cease dining room operations, there’s been much talk about its effect on both individual restaurants and the industry as a whole. But what about the industries that support it? Reservation services like Tock, OpenTable, Yelp, and Resy are big business, and make their money by charging restaurants to use the software. Diners use them to book available tables, and restaurants also use them to manage their dining rooms’ floor plan and record notes about customers. It’s how the host knows where to seat you when you show up for your 8 p.m. booking.

Plans vary, but a restaurant can expect to pay at least several hundred dollars per month for a basic plan that includes both reservations and table management. Prices go up from there depending on additional features like custom messaging, ticketed events, or, in OpenTable’s case, the number of people it brings in the door. OpenTable collects a per-diner commission fee on each reservation it facilitates, and busy restaurants can expect a monthly bill that easily stretches into thousands of dollars.

Of all the brands, OpenTable is the largest reservations service in the U.S. In mid-March, as the national rollout of dining restrictions was just beginning, the company released year-over-year data that showed a 45 percent diner reduction in Seattle, 40 percent in San Francisco, 30 percent in New York, and 25 percent in London, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Ten days later, on March 23, every market listed on OpenTable’s COVID-19-inspired state of the industry dashboard showed a 95 to 100 percent reduction in bookings. That is: There were essentially zero reservations booked at the nearly 60,000 restaurants the company supports worldwide.

In response to the slowdown, OpenTable and its competitors have been forced to pivot as quickly as the restaurants they serve. All fairly quickly suspended most fees they charge restaurants to use their software. They’ve also proactively begun making changes to their apps and website to reflect the realities of the restaurant business today, offering both temporary and permanent solutions for restaurants that saw their operations upended overnight.

OpenTable added a grocery feature, allowing shoppers to reserve a shopping time slot at a store the same way they’d book a seating time at a restaurant. According to Andrea Johnston, OpenTable’s chief operating officer, the idea came from an OpenTable advisory board member — a restaurateur himself — who noticed that many restaurants were operating as small grocers to stay open. So far, in OpenTable’s hometown of San Francisco, just a handful of businesses offer the service, but Johnston says the company is actively onboarding several large regional grocery chains, with more to come. She confirmed that the service is free for all grocery stores and restaurants-turned-grocers, whether or not they’ve worked with OpenTable in the past.

“I hope that the world won’t continue to need a product that supports grocery store reservations.”

Johnston says she’s also encouraging partner restaurants to update their profiles to reflect current operations, including delivery, takeout, gift cards, and fundraisers, which are then displayed in the OpenTable app. The company is waiving gift card fees through June; previously, restaurants paid $25 per month to sell gift cards through the OpenTable system. And at this point more than 1,500 restaurants have added their fundraising efforts to their listings, Johnston says.

OpenTable had already added a delivery category to its app in 2019. Listings are in partnership with companies like Uber Eats and Caviar, which each charge their own fees on top of the booking service. In the last month or so, clicks on delivery options within the app have grown 172 percent.

A reservations app probably isn’t the first stop for a diner looking to support local restaurants right now, and in response, these companies have had to modify their marketing strategies. To diners, OpenTable, Tock, and Resy have all begun sending emails with lists of partner restaurants open for delivery or takeout. To restaurants, they’re sending a steady stream of news, ideas, and tactical information to survive. OpenTable has launched a dedicated restaurant resource center to share news and product information related to the coronavirus pandemic, and hosts a weekly webinar series for restaurants. Resy, too, just announced a new industry-focused podcast in partnership with the Welcome Conference.

“It has been nice to see that for the most part they’ve been doing what they can to support us — obviously knowing that supporting us supports them in the long run,” says Gina Buck, general manager of Concord Hill, a small Brooklyn restaurant that uses OpenTable. The restaurant remains open for takeout, serving food and cocktails seven days per week from noon until 10 p.m.

Speaking from the middle of her new busy workday fielding, packaging, and distributing to-go orders, Buck says she isn’t sure what more reservations services could offer to help. “I think the normal before this has completely died and will never exist again,” she says. “We’re able to stay open. We’re doing okay. It’s just two of us — we can’t afford to bring anyone else in at the moment, but we are getting through this.”

OpenTable competitor Resy has also shifted its strategy to support eating at home. Instead of reservations, diners can order takeout food directly through its app and website. They select a meal option, choose a pickup time, and pay, all through the Resy platform.

Greg Lutes is chef-owner of 3rd Cousin, one of the handful of restaurants in San Francisco that’s currently offering takeout via Resy. “It’s useful, but there’s not much volume in it,” he says, noting that they’ve sold “a few meals” through the platform. He also signed up with Uber Eats and DoorDash for the first time, but says most customers just call orders in to the restaurant directly.

When a customer books a pickup on Resy, it’s communicated to the restaurant the same way a reservation would be: in an app that’s meant for a front-of-house staffer to manage. Lutes was recently surprised by a customer who showed up at the restaurant to pick up a family meal he had only just ordered. Even so, he plans to continue offering takeout through Resy, and isn’t worried about accepting orders from multiple sources. “We need all the revenue we can get,” he says. Resy has also modified the format of the restaurant pages on its website to allow operators to link to outside initiatives, like fundraisers. “It’s so that customers can see all of the preferred ways that their favorite restaurants are asking for support,” says Resy co-founder and CEO Ben Leventhal.

Tock went a step further, building out an entirely new product — in a week.

While all the big booking services have adjusted their functionality to meet the moment, reservations and event ticketing service Tock, used by more than 3,000 restaurants worldwide, went a step further, building out an entirely new product — in a week. Tock To Go launched March 16 for existing and new Tock customers. It allows customers to reserve and purchase restaurant meals for pickup or delivery and charges the restaurant a fee of 3 percent per order. (Tock has waived its regular monthly fees.) “We cannot operate without doing that,” says Nick Kokonas, Tock’s co-founder and CEO, who’s also the co-owner of Chicago’s Alinea Group restaurants.

Tock’s To Go system has allowed restaurants to sell completely new, exclusive-to-takeout offerings, something that’s proven useful for the kind of fine dining and higher-end establishments that Tock has become known for. In New York, Dan Barber’s Blue Hill restaurants are offering takeaway boxes of various goods at both the Manhattan and Tarrytown locations. Customers can select from a variety of options, including stews and purees, garden vegetables, grass-fed beef, dry-aged pheasant, bread, and even a sommelier-selected bottle of wine to accompany a diner’s selections.

In San Francisco, Tosca Cafe recently reopened under new ownership in the midst of the pandemic by selling family-style dinners — shrimp alfredo, spaghetti alla Norma — to go on Tock, and in LA, sister restaurants Bestia and Bavel are both offering weekly changing menus that have sold out within days of being listed on Tock. Proceeds go to maintain employee health care, and chef-owner Ori Menashe says if demand remains high, he may even be able to re-hire some staff to keep up.

Kokonas says that Tock currently supports close to 400 restaurants offering takeout across the U.S., Europe, and Australia, with another 650 in some stage of onboarding. One month in, the company already processes nearly $1 million in to-go sales per day. On one weekday earlier this month, restaurants on the platform sold 11,700 orders for nearly 40,000 meals.

“Tock is not just a booking system,” says Kokonas, “it’s a sales engine ... and it links and leverages, meaningfully and transparently, to the largest networks — search and social media.”

At Bell’s, Gregory Ryan uses social channels to promote the restaurant’s current offerings on Tock To Go, including kits for making the restaurant’s popular egg salad sandwich at home, and other a la carte offerings, like CSA-style produce boxes. Ryan likes that Tock’s system of pre-ordering gives restaurant staff some idea of what to expect each day. It also helps him know how much of which ingredients and supplies to purchase.

“That’s why takeout is always tough, because you’re never really sure when something’s going to come,” he says. “But if you’re able to wake up in the morning and know, ‘We have seven takeout orders, six chicken dinners tonight, and an egg salad,’ you’re at least working toward something. As those continue to populate [throughout the day] you’re a little bit better able to handle the information.”

He’s also happy that it’s allowed him to continue to keep 11 of his employees on payroll, though he says everyone has taken “a little bit of a haircut” on their paychecks. (Ryan and his wife stopped paying themselves completely.)

Still, even with new measures in place, not all booking platforms are pivoting as gracefully. So far, Yelp is the only major reservations provider to announce a reduction in staff, laying off or furloughing 2,100 of its approximately 6,000 employees. OpenTable’s Johnston says for them, anything related to a layoff would be “an absolute last resort.” At Tock, Kokonas says he will be hiring soon. “We never really stopped,” he says. “The only tricky part to bringing on new employees is training... We will figure that out.”

As they work to support restaurants, executives at reservations companies are asking the same questions as chefs and restaurateurs: How long will this last? Will anyone even want to come and sit down for a meal in a few weeks? “Restaurants are going to reopen at some point with occupancy restrictions, extra and important safety measures, and lower demand,” says Kokonas. “Yet — and this is very important — the fixed costs of rent and utilities remain the same, and the business model was built with high demand in mind.”

Leventhal indicates that Resy would likely continue to support its expanded initiatives in the future, but stops short of confirming any product changes. “This is without a doubt a reset moment for the industry,” he says. “Evolution, innovation, and creativity are going to be crucial for restaurants, and the tech platforms that support them, to survive in a post-COVID world.”

Tock To Go is now a permanent part of Tock’s functionality moving forward, built directly into the product’s dashboard. It’s an acknowledgement that the industry isn’t going to go back to “normal” anytime soon, and much about the future of the industry is unknown. “Will there be a market for $35 takeout meals in 2022? Who knows?” says Kokonas.

For OpenTable, Johnston says the company will continue to offer new options as long as restaurants need them. “I hope that the world won’t continue to need a product that supports grocery store reservations,” she says, “but we will keep it free and available as long as necessary.”

Disclosure: Resy’s Ben Leventhal was one of the co-founders of Eater, but is no longer involved in its operations.

Kristen Hawley writes about restaurant operations, technology, and the future of the business from San Francisco. She’s the founder of Expedite, a restaurant technology newsletter that’s existed, in some form, for the last seven years.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2VrjjGv https://ift.tt/34TS7Dq

How apps like OpenTable, Tock, and Resy are pivoting to keep themselves — and restaurants — afloat in a world without bookings

“We opened a restaurant for certain reasons,” he says. He didn’t ever expect takeout to be his business’s lifeline.

“I hope that the world won’t continue to need a product that supports grocery store reservations.”

Tock went a step further, building out an entirely new product — in a week.

“Tock is not just a booking system,” says Kokonas, “it’s a sales engine ... and it links and leverages, meaningfully and transparently, to the largest networks — search and social media.”

Disclosure: Resy’s Ben Leventhal was one of the co-founders of Eater, but is no longer involved in its operations.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2VrjjGv via Blogger https://ift.tt/34VEbc1

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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tsgalexandriavirginia · 5 years ago

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Support Your Local Businesses in Alexandria - They Need You Now More Than Ever

At The Scout Guide, it’s our mission to support small, locally owned business. We dedicate ourselves daily to discovering, sharing and supporting the talented individuals who make up our community. Now more than ever, we need to ban together to support these business owners, even if we are doing it from home.

Small businesses are the heart of this community and even though we may not be able to visit them physically, there are many ways that we can do our part to help while safely social distancing. If you love your community and would like to help, here are some ideas listed below. Any support you can give is much appreciated and will not go unnoticed.

Ways You Can Help:

-Buy A Giftcard From A Local Shop For A Gift Or For Future Use

-Purchase Something On Instagram or by Calling Their Stores

-Order Takeout From Your Favorite Restaurants

-Take A Virtual Fitness Class

-Share Your Favorite Small Business On Social Media

-Reach Out And Tell Them You Are Thinking About Them

Restaurants - You can still enjoy most of your favorite restaurants by ordering takeout! Find some great options below.

Cedar Knoll: Call For Takeout 703-780-3665 Menu

Stomping Ground: Order Carry Out Online

Grateful Kitchen: Buy a Giftcard

Eco Caters: Order Meals For Delivery Take 10% off with code: "SOCIAL10" and will donate a meal (#mealmatch) for those in need Aslin Brewery: Order beer or a family style dinner online

Lost Boy Cider: Order Cider Online and Pick Up

Toastique: Order Carry Out Online

Chop Shop: Order Online or Purchase a Gift Card

Urbano 116: Order Carry Out Online

People's Drug: Order Carry Out Online

Hummingbird: Order Carry Out Online or Buy A Gift Card

St. Elmo's Cafe: Buy A Gift Card

Dairy God Mother: Open for Carry Out-noon to 8pm; order at front door

Holy Cow: Order Online - Curbside Pickup Available

Los Tios: Call for Carry Out 703-299-9290, 10% off pick up and free delivery and a free dessert

Del Ray Cafe: Purchase over the phone 703-717-9151

Lena's Pizza: Buy A Gift Card

Cafe Pizziolo: Buy A Gift Card

Chadwicks: Order A Gift Card or Dinner To Go

Bagel Uprising: Order Online Pickup In Store

Evening Star: Buy A Gift Card or Order On Doordash

The Rub Chicken & Beer: Order Online Pickup in Store - Free TP with Order!

Junction: Order Delivery Via UberEats Purchase over the phone (703) 436-0025

Del Ray Beer Garden: Buy A Gift Card

Hops N Shine: Buy A Gift Card

Cheestique: Purchase an $100 Gift Card, receive $10 bonus Gift Card

Taquiera Poblano: Online Order for Curbside pickup 11am-8pm or call 703-548-8226 to order - margaritas to-go!

Live Oak Restaurant: Buy A Gift Card

Del Ray Pizza: Order Online or Call (703) 549-2999 for Carry Out from 4:30-9:00pm Landini Brothers: Buy Gift Cards

Mia's: Buy Gift Card

Virtue: Buy Gift Card

Momo Sushi: Call For Carry Out 703. 299. 9092

Firehook Bakery: Order and Have Bread Delivered

Sweet Fire Donna’s: Email For GC order [email protected]

Tequila & Tacos: Email For GC order [email protected]

Pork Barrel: Email For GC order [email protected]

Sushi Bar Del Ray: Email For GC order [email protected]

Retail - Update your spring wardrobe from the comfort of your couch. Most of these stores are offering curbside pick-up and delivery! You can also purchase a gift card for future shopping use!

Bishop Boutique: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside, Buy A Gift Card

Kiskadee: Purchase on the Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside

Tsalt: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside

The Hive/Shoe Hive: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside

Boxwood: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside, Gift Card

AR Workshop: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside, Gift Card

Patina Polished Living: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Pick Up Curbside

Periwinkle: Buy Online, over Phone or on IG and Pick Up Curbside, Gift Card

Tulusa: Shop Online

Seyyah: Shop Online

Mystique: Buy Online, Phone or on IG,

LH Calligraphy: Shop Online

ALX & Co: Shop Online and support COVID 19 response fund

Nourish & Refine: Shop Online or Buy A Gift Card

Shes Unique: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside, Gift Card

Tsalt: Buy Online, Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside

Mint Condition: Call To Order or Shop on IG

529 Kids Consign: Call To Order or Shop on IG

Monday's Child: Buy Online, over Phone or on IG, Delivery or Pick Up Curbside, Gift Card

Twist Boutique: Buy A Gift Card

Comfort One Shoes: Shop Online

BellaCara: Call To Order And Pick Up Curbside 703.299.9652

Penny Post: Call To Make An Appointment To Shop 703 888 1515

Red Barn: Call To Make An Appointment To Shop 703 888 1515

The Hour Shop: Buy A Gift Card

Home On Cameron: Email Todd@homeoncameron to order GC

Goldfinch: Buy A Gift Card

Secretly Gifting: Buy A Gift Card

Alma Moda: Shop Online

Wylie Grey: Shop Online

Fitness - Take a virtual class led by one of your favorite local instructors. You can also sign up for virtual memberships to keep sweating with them during quarantine.

Mind the Mat: Buy A Weekly Membership To Stream Live Classes

Xtend Barre: Buy a Class Pack and Stream Live Workouts

Zweet Sport: Buy A Giftcard

Ascend Cycle: Buy A Class Pack and Stream Live Workouts

Scupld: Buy a Class Pack and Stream Virtual Workouts

Orange Theory: Buy A Class Pack and Stream Workouts

Barre 3: Buy A Class Pack and Stream Live Videos

Row House: Buy A Gift Card

Beauty/Wellness - Stay connected with your healthcare professionals because staying healthy is more important than ever.

Sarah Akram Skincare: Book A Virtual Facial or Buy A Gift Card

Salon Dezen: Buy A Gift Card or Order Products

Back To Health: Book An Appointment

Meraki: Book A Future Appointment

Izalias Laser Spa: Book A Future Appointment

Skin DC: Book An Appointment

Dental Bar: Book A Future Appointment

Hazel O Salon: Book An Appointment

Wink Lashes: Book An Appointment

Eleven 11 Studios: Book A Lash Appointment

Cynthia Santana Hair Studio: Book An Appointment

Goodbrows: Book A Service

Sugar House Day Spa: Book A Future Service

Mindful Junkie: Tune In For Virtual Meditation

Cera Wax Studio: Book A Future Appointment Or Shop Retail

Brighten Someone’s Day - We all need a pick me up at this point. Why not send a friend, family member or work colleague a bouquet of flowers. It’s sure to brighten their day.

Helen Olivia: Order Fresh Flowers For Yourself or A Friend

Enchanted Florist: Order Fresh Flowers For Yourself or A Friend

Fabulous Flourish: Order Fresh Flowers

Blueprint Chocolate: Send A Loved One A Gift Box

The Birchmere: Buy tickets in advance for shows in the future

Kilwin's: Order A Gift Card For A Friend Or Send A Giftbox

Meg Biram Art: Buy A Painting For Yourself Or Your Friend

Nicole Seifert Art: Buy A Painting For Yourself Or Your Friend

Home - Don’t Neglect Your Home During This Time. Plan Your Next Remodel, Get Your Landscaping Done or Start Your New Home Search!

Green Blades: Book An Appointment For Landscaping

St. Clair Kitchens: Book An Consultation For A Future Date

Braemar Kitchen & Bath: Book An Consultation For A Future Date

Mark Woods Construction: Book A VIRTUAL Consultation For A Future Date

Patterson Group Real Estate: Start A Conversation Over Email

McEnearney Associates: Start A Conversation Over Email

Kristen Jones - McEnearney: Start A Conversation Over Email

Babs Beckwith: Start A Conversation Over Email

Bernuy Contracting: Fix Things Up Around The House

Cline Rose Interiors: Redesign a Room

Casey Sanford Interior Design: Redesign a Room

Ivy Lane Living: Redesign a Room

Pets - Can’t Forget Our Four Legged Friends!

Head To Tail Dog Spa: Book An Appointment For Grooming

Wholistic Hound Dog Academy: Sign Your Dog Up For Training

Old Town School For Dogs: Call to Order or Sign Your Dog Up For Training

Paw Inclusive: Book A Dog Walking Service

Other Ways To Fill Your Time And Support Local

Passport Auto: Book a Test Drive - They Will Come To You

Franklin Capital Strategy: Get Your Finances In Order

Narratio Vitae: Trace Your Family History

Holden Insurance: Get Your Insurance In Order

Hosted Events: Start Planning A Future Party

Sarah Marcella Creative: Book A Photoshoot

Confetti Teepees: Book a future slumber party or buy a gift card! Now offering bachelorette parties too!

If you have a business you would like to add to the list, please email [email protected] . Stay healthy and safe, friends!

-Your TSG Alexandria Team

#covid19 #Alexandria VA #smallbusiness #supportlocal #local #communitysupport

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tsgtulsaoklahoma · 5 years ago

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Ways to #Supportlocal Right Now

During these tough times it is more important than ever to continue shopping locally and go out of our way to ensure small businesses can weather this storm. We rounded up a few of our favorite ways to support local businesses of all kinds. Help us keep Tulsa flourishing!

Get festive. Adorn has the best Easter decor and springtime accessories to add to your space. They are offering curbside pick-up, facetime shopping, local front porch delivery, and shipping to ensure that you can shop safely.

Stay healthy. Take a break from the Doritos and microwave pizzas and pick up some blends and salads from Ediblend. Your body will thank you! They are now offering curbside pick-up at both locations. Jus order online, specify curbside in the notes, call with your payment info, and they will run out your order to your car. If you need delivery, check them out on DoorDash or GrubHub.

Give yourself something to look forward to. Book a treatment with Emerge Medical & Well Spa to use when this is all over. You’ll never need a massage more!

Spruce up your wardrobe. Our favorite local boutiques, Black Sheep Boutique, J. Cole Shoes, and Threads on Boston, are offering curbside pickup for your shopping experience. Check out their social media accounts and websites to see their latest arrivals. In addition, you can shop online at shopblacksheepboutique.com and jcoleshoes.com without leaving your house.

Treat yourself. We could all use a cupcake or two right about now. Thankfully Laurannae Baking Co is still open so we can grab something sweet. Call ahead at 918.258.5744 to order or utilize their curbside delivery.

Clean up. Let Nook Homes clean your home for you during this crazy time. They are including free disinfecting on all cleaning sessions so you can make sure your home is as safe as possible for your family!

Alcohol. Need I say more? Stop by Ranch Acres Wine and Spirits to pick up everything you ned to stay sane. They are offering curbside pickup if you call 918.747.1171.

Stock up on gifts. Build up that gift closet! Rustic Cuff always has a variety of options that could work for friends and family. Buy a few of your favorites and next time you won’t be frantically searching for the perfect present.

Take an online yoga class. Salt Yoga will be streaming your favorite instructors so you can still be active in your own home. Stay tuned to their Instagram account for more information.

Get outside. You still need some fresh air and vitamin D so you might as well beautify your backyard while you’re at it. Stop by Sanders Nursery to pick up all the plants and flowers you need.

Brighten up your space. Finally buy that piece of art you’ve been wanting. Sara Bost Fisher has lots of cheery options to make your home happier.

Plan for the future. While you probably aren’t traveling right now, you need something to look forward to for when this is all over. Contact SC Travel Design and plan a trip for a better time...maybe 2021!

Complete a home project. We’re planning on painting a room this week that we’ve been putting off. Might as well be productive while we’re trapped inside right? Spectrum Paint can supply everything you need to give your house (or a room) a little facelift!

Dream up a new piece of jewelry. Now’s a good time to go through old jewelry and see what can be recreated into a piece you love. We found a few pieces we’re going to take to Susan Sadler to redesign for us.

Try something new. When was the last time you did a puzzle? Now is your chance! T.A. Lorton has several fun options! Shop at talorton.com and click in-store pickup at checkout. Call the store at 918.743.1600 when you’re close and they’ll run it out to you!

Get organized. Plan the areas of your home that need some spring cleaning. The Hull Space is offering a discount through the end of March. Get $10 off for every organizing hour purchased (4 hour minimum).

Finally order that personalized stationary. The Inviting Place is offering $20 free when you buy a $100 gift card! In addition, they are offering the following discounts: 25% off Print Appeal, 25% off Haute Paper, buy one, get one 50% off on embossed graphics, 25% off Jon Hart, and 20% off Printswell. You can email ([email protected]) or call in (918.488.0525) your order!

Keep the kids entertained. Let Lolly Garden help provide fun, new things for your little ones while they’re home right now. Give them a call, let them know what you’re looking for, and they can run it out to your car!

Shop for Easter baskets. Easter is only a few weeks away. Start stocking up on fun items for your family from a variety of local businesses!

Reach out. Call, email, or text your favorite local businesses! Let them know how much you care about them and ask them what you can do to support them during this time!

Be patient. Please don’t forget about the businesses that do not have the option to stay open or have to temporarily shut their doors during this time. Give them grace, love on them, and utilize their products or services as soon as they are open again.

If you have any additional ideas or information on how to support our community, please let us know at [email protected]. As always, live, love, local.

Xo, Hannah

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years ago

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Students stuck in their dorms are exposing NYU’s sad quarantine meals on TikTok— and demanding the school do better

New York University students who returned to campus this week are forced to quarantine in their dorms as part of the school’s enhanced coronavirus safety protocols. The school is delivering all meals to students — but things haven’t exactly gone smoothly.

Over 2,600 students are not allowed to leave their residence halls for two weeks under a mandate from Governor Andrew Cuomo, and many of them are sharing the less-than-optimal meals they have received so far on TikTok. NYU students appear to have taken over the app — dozens have posted now-viral videos demanding the school improve its quarantine meal plan.

According to the school, students living in dorms are meant to receive three meals each day, which arrive at their dorms in cardboard boxes and paper bags. They were asked to specify any allergies and dietary restrictions ahead of time.

In a video posted to TikTok that now has over 2.6 million views, freshman Madison Veldman showed what she received for breakfast: bottled water, a plain bagel in sealed packaging, a croissant in sealed packaging and grape juice in a plastic container. In another video, freshman Nautica Nolden said she got no breakfast or lunch — all three of her meals were delivered at 6 p.m., including dry cereal, “warm” orange juice, and a now-infamous salad consisting of watermelon and chicken.

Some other food items highlighted in students’ videos include bags of chips, pudding cups, lemons, granola bars, plain chicken, unripe fruit, cheese sticks and bread rolls. Many students requested vegetarian or vegan meals reported receiving meat products, including a “steak and cheese salad” and a “Moroccan spiced chicken bowl.”

Many students also say that their meals arrive at arbitrary times. Nolden told CBS News on Friday that the school has repeatedly failed to deliver her breakfast and lunch, so she has resorted to making a lot of her own food.

Nolden also said she, and many other students, ordered dinners through DoorDash, “but that gets to be pricey on our already high tuition.” Several students pointed out that ordering take-out for two weeks is not feasible for low-income students.

Many students said in follow-up videos that they did not want to come off as ungrateful and acknowledged that many Americans are experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic. But given NYU’s infamously exorbitant tuition, students said they felt the school could do more.

“We’re not being ungrateful, it’s just unsustainable,” Veldman said.

Tara Shear, also a freshman, has shared several now-viral videos showing the random assortment of food she’s received, including a stale muffin and spiced watermelon. Shear told CBS News on Friday that ordering delivery from local restaurants is far too expensive for most students in dorms.

“Those of us who are dorming on campus are not the demographic of NYU students who can afford to quarantine off-campus in a hotel,” Shear said. “When NYU told us we would be provided three meals a day free of charge, we assumed we would be getting fed properly, but many of us brought snacks in case we went hungry.”

Shear said she has received many products that contain dairy despite having an allergy — a problem echoed by many students with dairy and gluten intolerances. She added that her dinner one night consisted of a bag of potato chips, two granola bars and a lemon.

“These are not substantial meals,” Shear said. “These are snacks.”

Freshman Ricardo Sheler’s video of his meal, which has over 1.8 million views, shows off his “chicken caesar salad” dinner, which included a bag of chips, an apple and salad dressing — but no salad. Sheler told CBS News on Friday that his dorm manager has now offered to personally deliver complimentary meals to students in his Brooklyn dorm.

Students and New York residents have come together to support those who are most vulnerable, sending them money through Venmo, PayPal and Cashapp and dropping off baked goods at dorms. However, students said they would prefer to hold the school accountable for meals.

NYU responded to the critiques Thursday, saying that it is disappointed in how its food vendor, Chartwells, has managed the process.

“We are aware of the students’ complaints, which are valid,” NYU spokesman John Beckman said in a statement. “This is a never-before-tried operation for us… But it is vital to get it right.”

Beckman said the school is implementing a number of changes, including ensuring meals are delivered earlier in the day, adding staff to handle complaints and to deliver food, dedicating staff to specifically handle meals with dietary specializations, bringing in another food service provider, and authorizing staff to give students money for delivery.

“We recognize that when people are required to quarantine in their rooms by themselves, few things in the day are more important than looking forward to something nice to eat, so this is a particularly regrettable error, and a let-down for our students,” Beckman said.

Some students reported receiving meals Friday morning, but Sheler said he and his roommates had not gotten any food as of 1:20 p.m. “So as of right now all changes are essentially performative and not practical,” he said.

Nolden said she has seen that more students are receiving food on time, but said that they are still not substantial meals, typically consisting of fruit and a snack.

NYU also sent students an apology letter Thursday night, gifting each of them a $100 e-card to order food delivery, which Sheler called a “cushion” that the school is using to buy itself more time. The letter did not address exactly how that system would work, and students said they have not yet received the credit.

“NYU is trying to help us, I suppose,” Shear said. “It just isn’t enough to cover our needs.”

Despite the food situation, many students say the school is handling the return to campus well, and implementing every possible safety measure to allow for a “normal” semester.

“I truly think we are doing insanely well,” Shear said. “I personally was tested for COVID-19 immediately after moving in, and although the wait was long, not one student could be seen without a mask or not social distancing. As a community, we do not want to be sent home.”

Many students said they are hopeful NYU won’t have to send them home early, like many other schools have done, due to its strict policies.

“Despite the food issues, I really appreciate all that NYU is doing for us,” Nolden said. “They really are trying to keep cases down and keep us healthy and in-person. I believe their pre-quarantine and testing measures are above and stricter than a lot of other universities.”

However, students are still hoping the school steps up to improve their quarantine experience.

“If NYU wants to uphold the wide-scale operational integrity of the quarantine and they expect students to make sacrifices in order to ensure campus safety, they have to uphold their end of the deal by making a comfortable quarantine environment that’s conducive to conditions incentivizing compliance on the students’ end,” Sheler said.

“NYU is cracking down on safety, and we do truly feel safe here,” Shear said. “We are just hungry.”

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splurjjblog · 4 years ago

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kuwaiti-kid · 4 years ago

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Here Are the Best Weekend Jobs to Earn Extra Cash

Whether you're trying to be better about your budget or save up for a big purchase, you can leverage your weekends to earn extra money. One of the best ways to make money is to take on a side gig. In this article, you'll find the best weekend jobs that we found to help you earn extra cash.

Some of these jobs allow you to earn money from the comfort of your home. Others are best for working outside the home, and only require that you have access to resources like a smartphone or a reliable car.

Start a Blog

If you love to write and have specific topic knowledge, you could earn money by starting a blog. While there are some overhead and time without making any money when you start a blog, you can build a significant passive income on as little as a few hours per week.

Take the time to learn how bloggers earn money before you start this side hustle. You should begin by having plenty of quality content. That will take a while to create, but once you have it, you can start to attract your target audience. Then, you can continue to create content that your audience loves and, finally, monetize it. There are plenty of monetization tactics, but you can choose to sell products to your audience, earn money from ads, and receive affiliate income. One blog can provide several streams of passive income.

Drive for Uber

If you want to start earning money today, you might want to consider driving for a rideshare company like Lyft or Uber. All you need to get started is a clean record, a car that's in good shape, and a smartphone. Drivers must have a valid driver's license and be at least 18 years old. After you create your profile, you simply wait for it to be approved, then get started driving. While driving for a rideshare company won't make you rich, it will allow you to set your schedule and start earning money quickly.

Deliver Food & Items

If driving people around isn't for you, you can consider delivering food for them instead. Companies like DoorDash and Instacart will allow people to sign up on their apps to deliver food to people in your area. The pay on DoorDash is contingent on the size of the order your customers' purchase. There is a minimum earning per order, and you can also accept tips from the people that you deliver to.

If you don't want to deliver food, you can consider delivering for a company like Amazon with Amazon Flex. Amazon Flex operates in about 50 cities around the country, and users can sign up to deliver items from Amazon warehouses to their owners. While there is a chance that Flex drivers will have to deliver food items from Amazon Fresh or Amazon Restaurants, most of the deliveries on this app are standard packages.

Do Retail Arbitrage

Retail arbitrage is when individuals buy items in retail stores for a lower price than they can sell them online. Then, they sell the items online for a profit. The most popular websites to sell items are Amazon or eBay.

Amazon FBA, or fulfillment by Amazon, is the most common platform to resell items on. Once users have acquired items to resell, the FBA website helps users upload items to Amazon and price them. Then, people send items to Amazon. When an item sells, Amazon fulfills the order.

Before you get started with retail arbitrage, take time to do your research. You should understand the items that you are selling as well as the market you are selling in to.

Freelance Writing

Are you a skilled writer? Freelance writing is a great way to earn money online from your home. Most writers can earn between 10 cents and $1 per word they write. Others choose to price based on how long it takes them to write rather than the amount of content. Earning depends on your industry, time it takes you to create a piece, and how reputable you are as a creator.

You can get started with freelance writing by checking out job postings on websites like Upwork or Freelancer.com. You can also use your network to see what entrepreneurs need content written or reach out to local businesses to offer your services.

Create an Etsy Store

Do you have a craft that you could sell? Perhaps you love making candles or can hand-dye fabrics.

Websites like Etsy provide a platform for people to connect with potential buyers. There is no overhead to use the site. Users upload a description and photos of their products and price them. Then, people can purchase them online. The creators are expected to send the items as soon as possible.

The earning potential here is entirely up to how much you sell your product for, and how attractive it is to buyers. Therefore, be sure to take the time to get great photos of your creations and price them accordingly.

Take Surveys

Survey companies are a middleman between businesses that need research and individuals who want to earn money online. You can get paid up to a few dollars per survey that you take, and each survey takes up to half an hour to finish. While this isn't an opportunity to get rich quick, you could earn money just for giving your opinion.

To get started, research the best sites to take surveys. Then, set aside time each weekend to complete a few of the surveys. Many survey sites will pay you cash, but others allow you to cash out via PayPal or will give you gift cards in exchange for your time and opinions.

Self-Publish

Have you been waiting to finally write your book? If you love to write stories, memoirs, or how-to guides, then you might be able to earn serious cash by self-publishing. If you haven't self-published because you think it's a complicated process, then good news: it's not difficult!

Using the Kindle Direct Publishing platform (KDP), they take care of all the technical aspects of publishing. You simply upload a completed document, add a cover image and description of your book, and Amazon takes care of the rest. Once you have your book listed on Amazon, you can choose to advertise or share your listing with anyone you want. Your book could keep earning passive income for years to come!

Flip Furniture

If you have a keen eye and are willing to do a bit of research, you could make decent money flipping items. For example, if you know a bit about antique furniture, you can keep an eye out on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for free or very cheap items.

Then, you can pick them up, make any minor improvements that you can. Sometimes, it's as easy as cleaning an item. Other times, you might have to replace a part, paint it, or make other improvements. Finally, you can resell the items at a higher price on the same platforms.

You could also use this process to buy and sell (flip) other items. For example, you could flip cars, electronics, or other items.

Bartender

Many people spend time in bars on the weekends. However, only the select few can earn money from being there. Bartending is an excellent job for people who don't mind working odd hours, love the bar culture, and love having conversations with people.

Some bartenders enter the market working in dive bars or local establishments. However, plenty of companies are also hiring part-time bartenders to work special events. That might mean that you can travel a bit, meet diverse people, and work for a well-established company.

Become a Tour Guide

If you love where you're from, you could earn extra cash by showing it off. While many tour companies are looking for people that are passionate about the area, you could also start your tours.

For example, if you live in Chicago, you could post a walking city tour on Airbnb Experiences. Then, set your hours and allow people to sign up for your tours. You might want to add something unique to set your tour apart like stopping by the most Instagrammable spots in Chicago or telling ghost stories about Chicago's past. This will help attract a specific group of people who know what to expect from your tour.

It is up to you to decide how to price your tour. Most city tours cost at least $25, and if you only host tours when you have at least four people signed up, you can guarantee that you earn at least $100 per tour that you lead. If your tours are two hours or less, you can earn well over $50 per hour.

The Bottom Line

As you decide how you'll earn money on the weekends, know that you have several options. You can earn money from your couch by creating a blog or taking surveys, or you could get out and show off your city. The possibilities are limitless!

The post Here Are the Best Weekend Jobs to Earn Extra Cash appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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annaxkeating · 5 years ago

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Customers Still Need You: Here’s How to Start Your Online Business Quickly

The Good News: You Might Not Need to Build a Whole Online Store

An example of an online store. Putting a hefty one of these together can be somewhat overwhelming.

Online Stores vs. Ecommerce Landing Pages

An ecommerce landing page example from Trade Coffee. Click to see the whole thing.

So how do you know if you need an online store or a landing page? Here are a few of the key differences…

table, td, th { border: 1px solid black; } table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; } th { height: 50px; } th, td { padding: 15px; }

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of an online shop and just want something simple so you can start getting orders faster—that’s when a landing page can make sense.

Here’s how you can get started this afternoon:

Step 1) Find the Right Offer for Your Online Business

Let’s look at a few real-world examples of small businesses that are pivoting and offering different products or services right now:

Step 2) Set Up Your Promotion on a Landing Page

For our flower shop example, here’s a landing page I whipped up in about 20 minutes using the Produkto Template…

An ecommerce landing page example I built quickly in Unbounce. Click to see the whole thing.

It’s simple, but it definitely gets the job done. And you can easily put together a landing page just like this for your business. Just make sure to include these important elements:

For more tips on how to design a high-converting landing page, check out our 11 landing page best practices.

After that, all you have to do is hit “Publish” in Unbounce to bring your landing page offer online.

Step 3) Share Your Landing Page with Customers

The final step is to share your landing page with customers. There are a few ways you can do this…

Link from Your Website – Set up a link to your landing page on your website homepage using a custom graphic, text on the page, or an Unbounce popup or sticky bar that gets visitors’ attention.

Emails – If you already have a list of customer email addresses, you can send out a link to your landing page.

Online Ads – To attract more people to your landing page, you can set up PPC ads (on Google) or social ads (on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin) that target your ideal audience.

The more you share your landing page, the higher chance of success you’ll have. Try experimenting with all of the methods above to see what works best for your business.

We’re Here to Help You Get Started

In the meantime, you can find some inspiration and see what other brands are creating by checking out 27 jaw-dropping landing page examples in The Ultimate Ecommerce Landing Page Lookbook.

from Digital https://unbounce.com/campaign-strategy/how-to-start-online-business-quickly/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#digital marketing

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easyfoodnetwork · 5 years ago

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How apps like OpenTable, Tock, and Resy are pivoting to keep themselves — and restaurants — afloat in a world without bookings Gregory and Daisy Ryan opened Bell’s, a 35-seat French bistro in Los Alamos, California, in 2018. The pair had worked in restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin before returning to Daisy’s hometown. The couple had several choices when it came to online reservation booking platforms and ultimately went with Tock, a system that they say worked so well, the restaurant didn’t even need a phone. “I didn’t want to have people sitting at the bar and listen to me explain something that someone can find on the internet,” says Gregory Ryan. “I didn’t want that to ruin someone’s experience.” During a typical dinner service pre-COVID-19, about 80 percent of guests had reservations. Because of its location, in a small town near California’s central coast wine country, Bell’s wasn’t beholden to the early occupancy reduction mandates, and later closures, that happened so quickly in major cities like New York and San Francisco in response to the spread of COVID-19. “It wasn’t until the second week of March that we knew something was on its way — but we didn’t know what it looked like yet,” Gregory Ryan says. He tried to figure out a way to use Tock to accommodate takeout instead of reservations and events in an effort to stay open. Plus, the restaurant didn’t ever offer takeout before. “Not because we think we’re too good for it, or anything,” he says. “Because we only have two [chefs] on the line.” But before he could figure out a technical solution on his own, he says, Tock contacted him offering a new online ordering system he could implement quickly. When he first considered takeout, Gregory Ryan says, “I was like, ‘Oh, shit, am I going to have to get a phone?’ My staff was like, ‘No, absolutely not.’” Today, Bell’s remains phone-free. “We opened a restaurant for certain reasons,” he says. He didn’t ever expect takeout to be his business’s lifeline. Since the spread of COVID-19 began forcing restaurants across the country to cease dining room operations, there’s been much talk about its effect on both individual restaurants and the industry as a whole. But what about the industries that support it? Reservation services like Tock, OpenTable, Yelp, and Resy are big business, and make their money by charging restaurants to use the software. Diners use them to book available tables, and restaurants also use them to manage their dining rooms’ floor plan and record notes about customers. It’s how the host knows where to seat you when you show up for your 8 p.m. booking. Plans vary, but a restaurant can expect to pay at least several hundred dollars per month for a basic plan that includes both reservations and table management. Prices go up from there depending on additional features like custom messaging, ticketed events, or, in OpenTable’s case, the number of people it brings in the door. OpenTable collects a per-diner commission fee on each reservation it facilitates, and busy restaurants can expect a monthly bill that easily stretches into thousands of dollars. Of all the brands, OpenTable is the largest reservations service in the U.S. In mid-March, as the national rollout of dining restrictions was just beginning, the company released year-over-year data that showed a 45 percent diner reduction in Seattle, 40 percent in San Francisco, 30 percent in New York, and 25 percent in London, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Ten days later, on March 23, every market listed on OpenTable’s COVID-19-inspired state of the industry dashboard showed a 95 to 100 percent reduction in bookings. That is: There were essentially zero reservations booked at the nearly 60,000 restaurants the company supports worldwide. In response to the slowdown, OpenTable and its competitors have been forced to pivot as quickly as the restaurants they serve. All fairly quickly suspended most fees they charge restaurants to use their software. They’ve also proactively begun making changes to their apps and website to reflect the realities of the restaurant business today, offering both temporary and permanent solutions for restaurants that saw their operations upended overnight. OpenTable added a grocery feature, allowing shoppers to reserve a shopping time slot at a store the same way they’d book a seating time at a restaurant. According to Andrea Johnston, OpenTable’s chief operating officer, the idea came from an OpenTable advisory board member — a restaurateur himself — who noticed that many restaurants were operating as small grocers to stay open. So far, in OpenTable’s hometown of San Francisco, just a handful of businesses offer the service, but Johnston says the company is actively onboarding several large regional grocery chains, with more to come. She confirmed that the service is free for all grocery stores and restaurants-turned-grocers, whether or not they’ve worked with OpenTable in the past. “I hope that the world won’t continue to need a product that supports grocery store reservations.” Johnston says she’s also encouraging partner restaurants to update their profiles to reflect current operations, including delivery, takeout, gift cards, and fundraisers, which are then displayed in the OpenTable app. The company is waiving gift card fees through June; previously, restaurants paid $25 per month to sell gift cards through the OpenTable system. And at this point more than 1,500 restaurants have added their fundraising efforts to their listings, Johnston says. OpenTable had already added a delivery category to its app in 2019. Listings are in partnership with companies like Uber Eats and Caviar, which each charge their own fees on top of the booking service. In the last month or so, clicks on delivery options within the app have grown 172 percent. A reservations app probably isn’t the first stop for a diner looking to support local restaurants right now, and in response, these companies have had to modify their marketing strategies. To diners, OpenTable, Tock, and Resy have all begun sending emails with lists of partner restaurants open for delivery or takeout. To restaurants, they’re sending a steady stream of news, ideas, and tactical information to survive. OpenTable has launched a dedicated restaurant resource center to share news and product information related to the coronavirus pandemic, and hosts a weekly webinar series for restaurants. Resy, too, just announced a new industry-focused podcast in partnership with the Welcome Conference. “It has been nice to see that for the most part they’ve been doing what they can to support us — obviously knowing that supporting us supports them in the long run,” says Gina Buck, general manager of Concord Hill, a small Brooklyn restaurant that uses OpenTable. The restaurant remains open for takeout, serving food and cocktails seven days per week from noon until 10 p.m. Speaking from the middle of her new busy workday fielding, packaging, and distributing to-go orders, Buck says she isn’t sure what more reservations services could offer to help. “I think the normal before this has completely died and will never exist again,” she says. “We’re able to stay open. We’re doing okay. It’s just two of us — we can’t afford to bring anyone else in at the moment, but we are getting through this.” OpenTable competitor Resy has also shifted its strategy to support eating at home. Instead of reservations, diners can order takeout food directly through its app and website. They select a meal option, choose a pickup time, and pay, all through the Resy platform. Greg Lutes is chef-owner of 3rd Cousin, one of the handful of restaurants in San Francisco that’s currently offering takeout via Resy. “It’s useful, but there’s not much volume in it,” he says, noting that they’ve sold “a few meals” through the platform. He also signed up with Uber Eats and DoorDash for the first time, but says most customers just call orders in to the restaurant directly. When a customer books a pickup on Resy, it’s communicated to the restaurant the same way a reservation would be: in an app that’s meant for a front-of-house staffer to manage. Lutes was recently surprised by a customer who showed up at the restaurant to pick up a family meal he had only just ordered. Even so, he plans to continue offering takeout through Resy, and isn’t worried about accepting orders from multiple sources. “We need all the revenue we can get,” he says. Resy has also modified the format of the restaurant pages on its website to allow operators to link to outside initiatives, like fundraisers. “It’s so that customers can see all of the preferred ways that their favorite restaurants are asking for support,” says Resy co-founder and CEO Ben Leventhal. Tock went a step further, building out an entirely new product — in a week. While all the big booking services have adjusted their functionality to meet the moment, reservations and event ticketing service Tock, used by more than 3,000 restaurants worldwide, went a step further, building out an entirely new product — in a week. Tock To Go launched March 16 for existing and new Tock customers. It allows customers to reserve and purchase restaurant meals for pickup or delivery and charges the restaurant a fee of 3 percent per order. (Tock has waived its regular monthly fees.) “We cannot operate without doing that,” says Nick Kokonas, Tock’s co-founder and CEO, who’s also the co-owner of Chicago’s Alinea Group restaurants. Tock’s To Go system has allowed restaurants to sell completely new, exclusive-to-takeout offerings, something that’s proven useful for the kind of fine dining and higher-end establishments that Tock has become known for. In New York, Dan Barber’s Blue Hill restaurants are offering takeaway boxes of various goods at both the Manhattan and Tarrytown locations. Customers can select from a variety of options, including stews and purees, garden vegetables, grass-fed beef, dry-aged pheasant, bread, and even a sommelier-selected bottle of wine to accompany a diner’s selections. In San Francisco, Tosca Cafe recently reopened under new ownership in the midst of the pandemic by selling family-style dinners — shrimp alfredo, spaghetti alla Norma — to go on Tock, and in LA, sister restaurants Bestia and Bavel are both offering weekly changing menus that have sold out within days of being listed on Tock. Proceeds go to maintain employee health care, and chef-owner Ori Menashe says if demand remains high, he may even be able to re-hire some staff to keep up. Kokonas says that Tock currently supports close to 400 restaurants offering takeout across the U.S., Europe, and Australia, with another 650 in some stage of onboarding. One month in, the company already processes nearly $1 million in to-go sales per day. On one weekday earlier this month, restaurants on the platform sold 11,700 orders for nearly 40,000 meals. “Tock is not just a booking system,” says Kokonas, “it’s a sales engine ... and it links and leverages, meaningfully and transparently, to the largest networks — search and social media.” At Bell’s, Gregory Ryan uses social channels to promote the restaurant’s current offerings on Tock To Go, including kits for making the restaurant’s popular egg salad sandwich at home, and other a la carte offerings, like CSA-style produce boxes. Ryan likes that Tock’s system of pre-ordering gives restaurant staff some idea of what to expect each day. It also helps him know how much of which ingredients and supplies to purchase. “That’s why takeout is always tough, because you’re never really sure when something’s going to come,” he says. “But if you’re able to wake up in the morning and know, ‘We have seven takeout orders, six chicken dinners tonight, and an egg salad,’ you’re at least working toward something. As those continue to populate [throughout the day] you’re a little bit better able to handle the information.” He’s also happy that it’s allowed him to continue to keep 11 of his employees on payroll, though he says everyone has taken “a little bit of a haircut” on their paychecks. (Ryan and his wife stopped paying themselves completely.) Still, even with new measures in place, not all booking platforms are pivoting as gracefully. So far, Yelp is the only major reservations provider to announce a reduction in staff, laying off or furloughing 2,100 of its approximately 6,000 employees. OpenTable’s Johnston says for them, anything related to a layoff would be “an absolute last resort.” At Tock, Kokonas says he will be hiring soon. “We never really stopped,” he says. “The only tricky part to bringing on new employees is training... We will figure that out.” As they work to support restaurants, executives at reservations companies are asking the same questions as chefs and restaurateurs: How long will this last? Will anyone even want to come and sit down for a meal in a few weeks? “Restaurants are going to reopen at some point with occupancy restrictions, extra and important safety measures, and lower demand,” says Kokonas. “Yet — and this is very important — the fixed costs of rent and utilities remain the same, and the business model was built with high demand in mind.” Leventhal indicates that Resy would likely continue to support its expanded initiatives in the future, but stops short of confirming any product changes. “This is without a doubt a reset moment for the industry,” he says. “Evolution, innovation, and creativity are going to be crucial for restaurants, and the tech platforms that support them, to survive in a post-COVID world.” Tock To Go is now a permanent part of Tock’s functionality moving forward, built directly into the product’s dashboard. It’s an acknowledgement that the industry isn’t going to go back to “normal” anytime soon, and much about the future of the industry is unknown. “Will there be a market for $35 takeout meals in 2022? Who knows?” says Kokonas. For OpenTable, Johnston says the company will continue to offer new options as long as restaurants need them. “I hope that the world won’t continue to need a product that supports grocery store reservations,” she says, “but we will keep it free and available as long as necessary.” Disclosure: Resy’s Ben Leventhal was one of the co-founders of Eater, but is no longer involved in its operations. Kristen Hawley writes about restaurant operations, technology, and the future of the business from San Francisco. She’s the founder of Expedite, a restaurant technology newsletter that’s existed, in some form, for the last seven years. from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2VrjjGv

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/04/your-reservation-has-been-cancelled.html

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