Chope
| File:Chope organisation logo.png | |
| Industry | Hospitality |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 15, 2011 |
| Founder | Arrif Ziaudeen |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
Area served | Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing |
Key people | Arrif Ziaudeen - CEO Dinesh Balasingam - General manager |
| Products | Online restaurant reservations |
| Website | chope.co |
Chope is a real time restaurant-reservation booking platform which connects diners with its partner restaurants. The name “Chope” was inspired by the term “chope” spoken colloquially in Singapore. The means to online reservation include the company’s website, mobile applications, and plug-ins for restaurant websites and Facebook pages.[1] Chope charges restaurants a fixed and per-reservation fees for the use of its table booking system; diners are not charged booking or cancellation fee for reservations made through Chope’s system.[2] In July of 2012, Chope announced its application has been used by 1,000,000 diners.[3]
History of Chope
Founded on 15 June 2011, Chope was inspired by the idea of making the restaurant reservation process simpler.The founder Arrif Ziaudeen felt that making reservations through phone calls was an ‘inefficient process’ that could be streamlined through the availability of online platforms to serve this purpose. Furthermore, placing restaurant reservations through phone calls could normally only be done during operating hours. Chope overcomes this limitation by providing a real-time online service for the process of table reservations. Chope was only able to secure a dozen reservations in its first week.[4] Chope builds on the trends of innovation in technology advances and the evolution of business concepts. At the time of its startup, restaurateurs and café owners had been known to be slow to adapt to technology advancements. However, aided by the rise in 3G and WiFi internet access, this trend had been slowly changing.[5]
With the development of its application and website over a year, Chope was able to serve its one-millionth diner in the week of July 26, 2012. The main bulk of its restaurants were based in Singapore, but at the time of reaching its millionth diner, Chope had expanded into Hong Kong by connecting with 6 restaurants through the launch of Chope.com.hk.[3] Chope subsequently expanded into China, specifically in Shanghai and Beijing, by leveraging on a local English-language online guide, City Weekend. This was a means for Chope to reach out to expatriates and affluent English-speakers in China who made up the bulk of the readership for City Weekend.
Currently, Chope serves Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai but aims to expand further into the cities of Guangzhou and Suzhou[6]
Functions
Chope is a free application that runs on Android and Apple iPhone iOS systems. The application version of Chope can be downloaded from the Apple Inc. App Store (iOS) and Google Play. Upon installation of the application, the first graphic displayed is the location filter. This allows the application end user to select from one of Chope’s 4 operating locations (Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai or Beijing). With the selection of a specific location filter, the application would be configured to include the partnering restaurants in that city. The ‘Search’ component of the application allows end users to place reservations based on ‘Date’, ‘Time’, number of diners, ‘Cuisine’ and ‘Location’. The search results for the available restaurants based on the search queries would display details about the exact location and address of the particular restaurant along with the available time slots available for reservations. Additional details include operating hours, type of services rendered and the average price range of a meal in the restaurant along with the menus offered. Chope offers a personalised review for some of the restaurants under the ‘The Buzz’ and ‘Dishes We Love’ where they provide information about the setting of the restaurant along with recommended dishes.
Acquisitions and Partnerships
On November 24, 2014, the company acquired Appic Technologies, the creator of Ticktok, wholly by shares. Acquisition was made for purpose to enhance its stakeholders’ user experience. Restaurants can monitor queues and reservations efficiently while at the same time benefit from the strong professional network the company has built over the years; diners can make instant reservations, yet are not restricted to wait on spot should they be required to queue.[7]
On September 8, 2014, the company established a partnership with TripAdvisor, the largest travel site in the world. It was an effort to broaden its reach to the world, ensuring that Chope restaurant reservation system is made immediately accessible by travellers from over the world.[8]
Few other partnerships that Chope has established are with the Singapore Press Holdings, Google Now and World Gourmet Summit.
Similar Applications
- Similar company in Singapore: HungryGoWhere
- Similar company in Asia: EZTABLE
- Similar company in Europe: Bookatable
- Similar company in the US: OpenTable
References
- ^ "Chope Group", crunchbase. Retrieved on 8 April 2015.
- ^ Mahtani, Shibani (November 2011). "Chope Adds Personal Touch to Online Booking". Retrieved on 8 April 2015.
- ^ a b Tay, Daniel (August 2014). "Having sat over 10 million diners in Hong Kong, Chope expands to mainland China". Tech in Asia. Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ^ TAE Team (July 2014). "Interview with Ariff Zaiudeen". Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ^ "Four up-and-coming trends in the restaurant business".Tech in Asia. Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ^ Tay, Daniel (August 2014). "Having sat over 10 million diners in Hong Kong, Chope expands to mainland China". Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ^ Tay, Daniel (November 2014). "Chope adds queue monitoring to its restaurant reservation service with acquisition". Retrieved on 8 April 2015
- ^ TAE Team (September 2014). "Chope Partners with TripAdvisor to Bring More Diners to Singapore Restaurants". Retrieved on 8 April 2015