Listen to this articleAustin, TX based startup BYTE helps users to find great restaurants and locate individual menu items or establishments that cater to special dietary needs. BYTE is restaurant discovery app that helps restaurant owners to engage with customers in a more meaningful way in order to increase visit frequency and sales while improving the dining experience and guest satisfaction. Here is our recent interview with Ramiz Khan from BYTE:
Q: For those who have never heard of it, how would you describe BYTE?
A: BYTE is a mobile feedback driven Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for restaurants that combines reliable customer feedback, digital marketing tools and detailed real-time analytics to give restaurateurs the power to understand and optimize their restaurant. Our customer facing mobile app acts as a hub for users to not only discover new food, but also see it before they eat it, find deals nearby, and collect rewards from their favorite restaurants.
Q: How did the idea behind BYTE come about?
A: Our CEO, Mike Little came up with the concept in 2012:
“I was geeked about my new Android phone, my wife and I went out to dinner one night and I said, “we should find out who has the best chips and salsa in Austin!” I decided I would create a simple Android app that allowed me to take a picture, enter a price, and rate the chips and salsa on an A+ to F scale. My wife and I spent the next six months going out to about 30 restaurants that served chips and salsa.We graded each one, plotted the locations on Google Maps and BAM, there it was, the best chips and salsa in Austin.”
“That’s when it hit me, it would be great if everyone could easily grade their meal and leave it for the next person to see what’s good on the menu. Then I realized this information would also be valuable to restaurant owners and managers, we could create a dashboard to show trending menu items and identify problems before they got out of hand.” Mike Little, said.
Related: Foodini – a 3D Food Printer
Q: What are the biggest benefits for the users? What are your key features?
A: First, we’re a reliable source of information. Every customer has to physically step into a restaurant to leave feedback, share or check-in on BYTE. This way the users and the restaurant know the reviews are actually coming from real customers that have visited the location.
BYTE is the easiest way to discover new food, track loyalty points and redeem specials at your favorite restaurants. Our digital loyalty program rewards customers with points for checking-in, sharing on social media, favoriting a menu item or leaving feedback. Points and up to a series of unlockable prizes at each individual restaurant.
Last, we let you see your food before you eat it. BYTE boasts full item menus with high quality images so customers get a better idea of what they’re going to order.
Related: Travefy – The Easiest Mobile Group Travel Planner!
Q: You’ve recently announced a finalist invitation to the Bon AppeTech conference in San Francisco, tell us something more?
A: Yes! We can’t wait to get out to San Francisco to compete in the next leg of the contest where we get to compete against hundreds of companies for an opportunity to join 33entrepreneurs’ accelerator program.
We’re excited about a few more milestones for our company, we’ve taken steps towards becoming a Sysco, iCare local partner, which will be a big win for our company, and we’re excited to further conversations with them.
Additionally, we’re excited to roll out a BYTE presence in Austin, Texas in the next few months. We are planning events with local restaurants and established Austin foodie events like Trucklandia and Paleo F(x), so keep a look out for BYTE in Austin!
Related: StartUp Twisper – Ultimate Source Of Travel And Lifestyle Recommendations!
Q: How would you convince the reader to start using BYTE?
A: Simple, download it from the app store and use it the next time you’re hungry! Right now we have a regional presence in Austin and Dallas, Texas, but we encourage BYTE users everywhere to ask their favorite local restaurants to check us out.
One of the great things about our technology is that we’ve proven it works for individual restaurants using nothing more than in-restaurant collateral and setting up our digital loyalty program. One of our beta tests yielded 250 grades and 500 customers added to their database in less than three months, compared to just 12 Yelp reviews in over a year. Also, remember that we know those are real customers that have stepped inside the physical location, pretty cool stuff.
Activate Social Media:
