Amex cardholders can now get up to $400 in credits to spend at Resy restaurants. | Photo courtesy of American Express
Credit card giant American Express has made inroads into the restaurant industry over the past several years, acquiring the reservation platforms Resy and Tock as well as middleware provider Rooam.
The idea was not only to offer Amex cardholders more perks via the Resy and Tock restaurant networks, but also to help restaurants themselves—many of them also American Express clients—grow their businesses.
So far, the strategy is working on both fronts, according to Pablo Rivero, CEO of Resy and Tock and head of Amex’s Global Dining division.
On the Resy side, the company has seen an immediate response from a new dining credit for cardholders.
Launched last year for Gold and Delta SkyMiles Reserve members and in September for Platinum card members, the credit gives diners $100 to $400, depending on the card, to spend when they make a reservation at a Resy restaurant and pay with their Amex card.
In the three weeks after it launched in September, the company saw a 36% increase in reservations from Platinum card members. Their spending also jumped by 1.6x during that time, and there was a 5x increase in the daily average number of Platinum members linking their cards to their Resy accounts.
The Platinum card is the company’s most premium card, with an annual fee of $895.
Rivero said the dining credit checks a couple of boxes for American Express. It gives members an attractive benefit, adding to the value they get in exchange for their fee.
But it also gives these high-rolling consumers an incentive to dine out at a time when inflation and economic malaise are taking a bite out of restaurant spending.
“We do know that the restaurant industry is going through some challenging times,” Rivero said. “And so can we create a benefit that would serve two purposes: Benefit the current member in an area that they love a lot, and also benefit the restaurant?”
The credit is fully funded by American Express, so restaurants reap the full revenue of those visits. And, notably, it is applicable across the entire Resy network of more than 10,000 restaurants. So far, 95% of those restaurants have had a customer redeem a Resy Credit.
Rivero said the credit also gives customers the freedom to spend more when they dine, which is good for restaurants. And it is spread out in quarterly installments to encourage more visits.
The demand generated by the credit has helped drive restaurant sign-ups for Resy. “We’ve acquired a significant number of restaurants this year. The interest since the Resy Credit launch, it just continues to accelerate that,” Rivero said.
It comes as more reservations platforms, credit card providers and other services look to team up to provide more perks for customers and generate more business.
Resy rival OpenTable, for instance, offers exclusive reservations for some Visa cardholders, and it has also partnered with Uber to power reservations within Uber Eats.
Behind the scenes, Amex’s acquisition of Rooam is also starting to bear fruit for restaurant operators.
The tech company, known as a middleware provider, helps connect Resy and Tock to other software services.
Amex had been working with Rooam prior to the acquisition to help integrate Resy with different POS systems. Earlier this month, it announced two more Rooam-enabled integrations: A pair of customer relationship management (CRM) systems, Fishbowl and Loyalist.
Restaurants that use Resy and one of those two CRMs can now connect the two platforms to make it easier to leverage their customer data.
For instance, Resy guestbook data such as visit history, frequency and food preferences will flow directly into Fishbowl or Loyalist. From there, the restaurant can use those programs to create marketing campaigns for different audiences.
“Many restaurants don’t have somebody that can spend a lot of time thinking through, dissecting, who is my VIP, and should I send them an email about a special that I’m running next week?” Rivero said. “They are focused on hospitality, so those integrations drive that.”
The integration can also help operators provide better service for in-restaurant customers, as their preferences and other information from Resy will all be visible within their Fishbowl or Loyalist account.
Why those two CRMs specifically? Rivero said Fishbowl is popular among Resy users, while Loyalist is newer but growing quickly and has a good overlap with its customer base as well.
American Express plans to do more integrations as it looks to build a more connective ecosystem for its restaurants.
Just a few months ago, in fact, it announced a partnership with Toast that will inject Resy and Tock guestbook data into the POS interface at thousands of restaurants, enabling more personalized service.
“I do consider ourselves a tech company,” Rivero said. “We’re building an ecosystem of technology that the restaurant can seamlessly use and really focus on what they do best, which is the hospitality on the floor.”
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