Dive Brief:

• Bookatable by Michelin has integrated with Apple Maps to allow diners to search restaurants and make reservations directly within the navigation app, according to a press release. In the UK, Bookatable provides access to more than 5,000 restaurants. 
• Apple Maps users can look for restaurants near their location, choose a restaurant and see available reservation times within the app prior to booking a reservation by tapping on a reservation button. The app will remember the diner’s name, email address and phone number for future bookings. 
• Michelin purchased Bookatable last year in a move that was described at the time as a big step into digital for the guide and tire specialist. Bookatable by Michelin today encompasses over 20,000 restaurants in Europe and facilitates millions of bookings monthly. 

Dive Insight:

As smartphone users zero in on fewer apps on their screens, various digital services are moving onto those apps to make sure they’re present where their customers are spending the most time. Simultaneously, those bigger apps want to feed their users more and more reasons to stick around instead of exiting to head to a competitors’ offering. Map apps are especially appropriate venues to catch customers for restaurant booking platforms because there’s a good chance diners will be figuring out how to get to a restaurant by using a map app.   

Certainly, Apple Maps isn’t the only map app assimilating a range of services. Waze has incorporated Spotify music streaming and Dunkin’ Donuts ordering into its app. Google Maps partnered with MindBody to enable users to book fitness classes from within its interface. Preceding its affiliation with Bookatable by Michelin, Apple Maps linked with electric vehicle mapping service Moovility to help electric vehicle owners in the UK locate charging stations and assist London residents in finding public bikes within the app. 

Bookatable by Michelin’s integration with Apple Maps has the potential to provide Bookatable reams of valuable insight. In addition to being a platform for diners, Bookatable is a partner to restaurants and could supply them with location data to guide advertising and future openings. By piloting the Apple Maps integration first in the U.K., before stretching out across Europe, Bookatable can get a handle on how customers are using Apple Maps for restaurant reservations and the data that’s most valuable to restaurants to inform any integration expansions.