BigDish sets out plan to bring dynamic pricing to UK restaurant Sector

8th August 2018

BigDish sets out plan to bring dynamic pricing to UK restaurant sector: BigDish, the food tech company that operates a yield management platform for restaurants, has provided an update on its UK growth strategy. BigDish completed the 100% acquisition of Pouncer on the day of Admission, 2 August 2018. Prior to the Acquisition, BigDish had been working with Pouncer since January 2018 to redevelop the existing TablePouncer platform and implement the Company’s yield management system. This is currently successfully operating in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

BigDish’s Board sees great potential in TablePouncer. It recorded 126,000 diners in Bournemouth alone in 2017 – up 9% year over year – making it the city’s leading yield management and restaurant discovery platform. The company stated: “For the foreseeable future, BigDish is set to deploy a three-phase development and growth programme to expand its presence within the UK. The first phase of this programme is set to commence in September 2018 and will see a beta launch of the UK BigDish platform in Bath. The second phase of the programme will involve the migration of all existing Bournemouth TablePouncer users and restaurants to BigDish. This is expected to commence in October and is expected to be completed in less than a month. The last phase will be the roll out of the new BigDish platform to a wider UK audience, with primary focus on regional towns and cities where the restaurant app market is less saturated. Yield management is a dynamic pricing strategy that charges different prices at different times for the same products. American Airlines started to use yield management in the 1970s which changed the way airline seats are sold. The hotel industry also has widely adopted yield management. The restaurant industry has typically been a slow adopter of technology and as such yield management has been underutilised. Even the busiest restaurants have empty tables and quieter evenings. BigDish’s application of yield management enables restaurants to offer customers discounts at quieter times to optimise their revenue by bringing in additional customers.” Chief executive Joost Boer added: “I am very pleased that with the Acquisition of Pouncer, BigDish now has an immediate foothold within the UK market. The restaurant sector, traditionally a slow adopter of technology, is ripe for disruption. Following TablePouncer’s migration to BigDish’s business model in January 2018, we have been pleased by the reception from both restaurants and consumers alike. I am also delighted that Patrick Knight, the founder of Pouncer, has agreed to stay on to lead our UK operations. The whole management team looks forward to working with him to utilise the experience BigDish has developed in the Asian market to help roll out TablePouncer’s successful operations across UK regional towns under the BigDish brand. The stage is now set for BigDish to grow within the UK market. Since our IPO, UK and Irish restaurants have reached out to BigDish to get involved with the platform. This confirms that the huge potential we see in the UK is shared by others. This is an exciting time for the Company and I look forward to updating the market with our progress in due course.”