Livebookings Launches Freebookings, a Free Online Restaurant Reservation System

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Livebookings, Europe’s leading online restaurant reservation service provider, today announced the US launch of Freebookings, a free online restaurant reservation service. With Freebookings, the company offers restaurants the first completely free and web-based reservation service to enable online reservation capabilities on their website and Facebook page.

“As we enter the busy holiday season, Freebookings provides restaurants with a next-generation platform to improve their customers’ reservation experience and increase sales by turning website visitors into diners.”

Freebookings requires no contract, charges no fees and no additional equipment or hardware purchases are necessary to use the service.

Restaurants can access Freebookings’ reservation platform via www.freebookings.com, which gives them access to an online control panel that enables viewing and management of online reservations, 24 hours a day without the major expense of equipment or staffing. This web-based system can be accessed through a computer, smartphone or tablet computer, enabling restaurants to receive the most up-to-date booking information, view their customer database, and control reservation availability in real time.

Unlike other reservation systems, Freebookings does not require patrons to register to use their service. Instead, consumers simply visit a restaurant’s website or Facebook page to make a real-time, instantly confirmed reservation, shortening the reservation booking time without drastically changing the consumer experience.

With the creation of Freebookings, Christopher Persson, Livebookings President of US Operations, hopes to increase the company’s US presence with the offering of a free solution for online reservations.

“In today’s competitive restaurant market, it is becoming increasingly important for independent restaurateurs to respond to customer demand for reserving a table online or via a mobile device,” says Persson. “As we enter the busy holiday season, Freebookings provides restaurants with a next-generation platform to improve their customers’ reservation experience and increase sales by turning website visitors into diners.”

Positive feedback for Freebookings has been almost immediate with restaurants that participated in initial beta testing of the program. “In a very short time I was able to incorporate the service into my websites and Facebook pages,” says Alvaro Rojas, owner of Milk & Honey Tapas in Santa Barbara, California. “Freebookings yielded a reservation off of my site in less than 24 hours and it continues working flawlessly. I couldn't be happier with the ease of use of Freebookings.”

The launch of Freebookings follows the news that parent company, Livebookings, seated a record 2.8 million diners in Q3 2011, up 58% organically year over year.

Restaurants that would like access to premium services such as table management, advanced analytics, email and mobile marketing, and the ability to control their own flash sales or accept reservations from the Livebookings’ Partner Network, can upgrade to the Livebookings platform at any time.

Sign up for the new platform can be completed online at www.freebookings.com with the entire process taking less than five minutes to complete before a restaurant can begin taking online reservations. For more information on Freebookings or to enroll your restaurant, visit www.freebookings.com.

About Livebookings

Headquartered in London, with offices across Europe and the USA and customers in 23 countries, Livebookings is the largest real-time reservations and online marketing services provider in Europe, focused on making restaurants more profitable and dining out more pleasurable. The company was recently chosen as one of Red Herring's Top 100 European technology companies.

For more information visit: www.livebookings.us.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50066144&lang=en