Background
Stockyard is a legendary steakhouse in Brighton, MA, that has been serving guests exceptional food for the past 40 years. Retaining its charm with wood-paneled walls and red vinyl-backed booths, this historical landmark keeps patrons coming back for perfectly charred steaks, raw bar offerings, and one of the best burgers in the city. Nearing a decade of service at Stockyard is front-of-house manager William Selden. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Selden was using OpenTable as their restaurant reservation system, but he knew they needed to find a new solution that could save him time, money, and help streamline operations.
Challenge
For Selden, the biggest frustration with OpenTable was their costly fees. OpenTable charges $1 per seated diner for every guest that books through its website, app, or affiliate partners. If a guest books using the widget on the restaurant’s website, OpenTable charges $0.25 per click. Additionally, OpenTable creates ads on Google that often rank above the restaurant’s own website. If the ad gets a click, the restaurant is charged $0.75 each time. And even if a repeat customer uses any of OpenTable’s ads, widgets, or website to book, OpenTable doesn’t discriminate—the restaurant still gets charged regardless. For Stockyard, these costly fees amounted to $52,000 alone in 2019.
Additionally, when the restaurant was forced to shift to pick-up and delivery during the pandemic, OpenTable was charging an additional 10%-30% on each order. Lastly, Selden had ongoing frustrations with slow response times from OpenTable’s customer service team.
Tock Solution
In April of 2020, Selden made the decision to switch from OpenTable to Tock:
- Tock believes you shouldn’t pay for your own customers or be penalized for your success. Due to Tock’s zero per-cover fees, Stockyard was able to save $45,000 a year, amounting to $135,000 in savings to date.
- Tock’s all-in-one restaurant reservation system allows businesses to easily create and sell an array of experiences that go beyond reservations, from chef’s tables, wine dinners, special events, and more. Using Tock, Stockyard was able to develop and offer new revenue streams: pick-up, delivery, beer and wine to-go, and holiday dinners.
- Tock To Go was utilized during the pandemic to seamlessly transition Stockyard from an in-dining restaurant to a pick-up and delivery operation. Not only did Stockyard process $25,000 per week in takeout alone, the restaurant was able to put that profit toward their bottom line as a result of Tock’s low flat rate of 2-3% per order.
- Additionally, with the ability to access Tock’s dashboard on a computer or mobile device, Stockyard was able to resolve issues quickly and efficiently. Made up of former hospitality veterans, Tock’s best in class hospitality team prides itself on personalized support. Knowing how busy restaurant owners are, Tock has the quickest response times, answering phone calls within 20 seconds. “The Support Team is the best I’ve ever experienced without waiting for a call back or being placed on hold,” said Selden.
Results
- Saved $45,000 a year since switching from OpenTable to Tock’s restaurant reservation system for a total of $135,000 in savings to date
- Year over year covers increased by 20.24%
- Created new revenue streams for their business
