Restaurant Eating Without the Wait

The restaurant industry was one of the most affected by the pandemic. In light of this, Mexican entrepreneur Kelvin Perera Arteaga made it his mission to create a digital platform to help restaurants do better business. Perera created Esent, an app that allows users to make reservations, order and pay for food before even arriving in the restaurant, reports MiBolsillo.

Perera explains that the app allows the restaurant industry to transform beyond delivery services. “Over the years, all industries have adapted to optimize waiting periods to provide a better service. However, the restaurant industry has never looked toward that approach and that is precisely what we want to change with Esent,” he said to El Sol de México. The app presents itself as the safest way to go out to eat as all dishes are ready by the time consumers arrive to the restaurant, reducing potential exposure to COVID-19, reported Forbes Mexico. Exposure is also reduced through less interaction between employees and customers, as well as not having to touch payment terminals and menus.

This app is also beneficial for the restaurant as it allows the latter to receive more customers thanks to faster table rotation. “If you are restricted to use 10 of your 20 tables only, they are normally available every hour. With the app, customers stay 20 or 25 minutes in a restaurant so you can seat up to two or three times the amount of usual customers.” The app is also good for restaurant owners as it does not charge restaurants a commission to access the platform unlike other apps in the market, which normally charge a fee of around 30 percent. Parera argues that he understand restaurants make a profit of 40 percent in most dishes, sometimes even less, so he wanted Esent to be a win-win for everyone, reported MundoTech. In this case, customers only have to pay a 10 percent fee for their order.

Parepa claims that Esent is easy to use: one only needs to go to the website, create an account, choose a restaurant, make their order, pay and then head to the restaurant, where the food will be ready and freshly made. Up to 10 different customers can pick food and beverages with each paying separately in the same order.