BW Hotelier spoke to one of the founders, Ankit Mehrotra, to know more about the expansion plan.

DINEOUT, Índia's largest dining out platform founded in 2012 by Ankit Mehrotra, Vivek Kapoor, Nikhil Bakshi and Sahil Jain was acquired by TimesCity, part of Times Internet Limited (TIL) in 2014. The venture has grown by leaps and bounds since then.

The company currently offers multiple B2B and B2C products. It offers table reservation across 11 cities and plans to launch in nine more cities by the end of this calendar year. BW Hotelier spoke to one of the founders, Ankit Mehrotra, to know more about the expansion plan. 

Brief us about the new developments in Dineout?

It's exciting times at Dineout. We recently hosted our 3rd and largest yet edition of The Great Indian Restaurant Festival that brought over 6,000 restaurants on a single platform to offer a flat 50 percent discount to our users throughout February and served more than 2.5 million diners. We are investing heavily in Dineout Pay, our Restaurant Bill Payment Feature this year. Currently, Dineout Pay is live at more than 10,000 restaurants across 11 Indian cities.

In how many cities the app is present and which cities are targeted next?

We are live in 11 Indian cities and plan to launch 9 more this year.

How many restaurants are currently in the Dineout list?

We have 35,000+ restaurant partners listed on our platform. Table reservations are live at more than 8,000 restaurants and bill payments are enabled at more than 10,000 restaurants across India.

What are the new offerings Dineout is coming up with for its diners?

Over the next 3 months, we will host some of the most exciting promotions during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) & Cricket World Cup under Predict & Win, where our users will be able to predict match results and win Dineout Earnings.

What are the recent trends you are witnessing among the diners?

Indians are eating out more than ever before with urbanisation, rising income levels and the rise in the number of nuclear families. Over the last 5 years, the average table size has reduced from 5 to 3, suggesting that eating out is now as much of a viable option for intimate networking and work-related meetings as recreation.

The rise of speciality cuisine suggests diners are increasingly open to experimenting with regional cuisines when they eat out with friends & family. The BBQ at table format is also picking up across the country with several restaurants coming up in this category.