Yelp Acquires Leading Restaurant Waitlist Service Nowait
March 01 2017 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Addition of Nowait Pairs the Nation’s Largest
Consumer Platform for Restaurant Search with the Industry’s Top
Waitlist Service
Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP), the company that connects consumers with
great local businesses, today announced it has acquired Nowait, a
restaurant technology company with the industry’s leading waitlist
system and seating tool. Previously, the company announced a
strategic investment in Nowait and integrated its waitlist
experience into the Yelp app, enabling restaurants to share
real-time seating availability and providing an easy way for hungry
diners to get in line remotely. Nowait is the perfect complement to
booking tables with Yelp Reservations and ordering food for pickup
and delivery through Yelp Eat24.
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nowait was founded in 2010 as
the first mobile network for waitlist restaurants that enables
users to discover real-time seating availability and remotely add
their name to the waitlist. With Nowait integrated into Yelp,
diners can move directly from their restaurant search to getting in
line via the app, all within a few taps. The service also supports
real-time communication between the restaurant and the customer.
Nowait is live at about 4,000 restaurants across the United States
and Canada with the ability to offer waitlist functionality and
front of the house management to casual dining establishments.
According to Statista, 54% of Americans have eaten in a casual
dining restaurant monthly, three times the percentage who have
eaten at fine dining restaurants.
The Nowait system replaces paper lists or handheld buzzers with
a simple experience delivered via smart phone, helping to drive
more business for busy restaurants while meeting the needs of time
strapped diners.
"Yelp already plays a big role in millions of purchase decisions
every day as consumers actively seek out businesses and services
that save them time and money. The full integration of Nowait
allows us to provide real-time seating availability that better
equips diners to make informed decisions," said Jeremy Stoppelman,
Yelp co-founder and chief executive officer. "Nowait has quickly
become an important feature for Yelp users and a valuable addition
to our overall restaurant offerings. With this acquisition, we’ll
make even bigger strides in the restaurant industry by allowing
Yelp users to more quickly move from search and discovery to
transacting at a local business."
"We’ve had a successful partnership and we’re excited to align
fully with Yelp to drive even faster adoption. Together we’ll have
the leading waitlist system in the restaurant industry paired with
the largest engaged consumer base," said Ware Sykes, Nowait’s chief
executive officer.
Acquisition Details
The $40 million acquisition of the entirety of Nowait will be
paid in cash, and includes the partial stake which Yelp acquired
previously. The transaction, which was approved by the boards of
directors of both companies, closed on February 28, 2017 and the
purchase price will be reflected in Yelp's first quarter 2017
financial statements.
About Yelp
Yelp Inc. (http://www.yelp.com) connects people with great local
businesses. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since
then, Yelp has taken root in major metros in more than 30
countries. Approximately 24 million unique devices1 accessed Yelp
via the Yelp app, approximately 73 million unique visitors visited
Yelp via desktop computer2 and approximately 65 million unique
visitors visited Yelp via mobile website3 on a monthly average
basis during the fourth quarter of 2016. By the end of the same
quarter, Yelpers had written approximately 121 million rich, local
reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth
on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and
dentists.
1 Calculated as the number of unique devices accessing the app
on a monthly average basis over a given three-month period,
according to internal Yelp logs.
2 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via desktop computer on a monthly average
basis over a given three-month period.
3 Calculated as the number of “users,” as measured by Google
Analytics, accessing Yelp via the mobile website on a monthly
average basis over a given three-month period.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating
to, among other things, the anticipated benefits of Yelp’s
acquisition of Nowait, Yelp’s strategy, plans, objectives,
expectations and intentions with respect to Nowait, including with
respect to offering Nowait products to Yelp-listed businesses, and
other statements that are not historical facts. These
forward-looking statements are based on Yelp’s current
expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and inherently involve
significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and timing of
events could differ materially from those predicted or implied in
such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and
uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks associated
with the acquisition, such as the risk that the businesses will not
be integrated successfully or that such integration may be more
difficult, time consuming or costly than expected; risks related to
future opportunities and plans for the combined company, including
whether Nowait’s customers will continue to use the service
following the acquisition, whether Yelp will be able to leverage
its large distribution network to increase the customers using the
service and whether the acquisition will drive engagement on Yelp;
risks related to the potential disruption of both businesses in
connection with the transaction; and the competitive and regulatory
environment while Yelp continues to expand and introduce new
products as new laws and regulations related to Internet companies
come into effect. The forward-looking statements in this release do
not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or
divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date
hereof.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301005514/en/
Yelp Inc.Shannon Eispress@yelp.com
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