OpenTable offers free service to get restaurants mobile

The company is getting its restaurant base caught up with its mobile diner base

Last quarter, OpenTable announced that it now works with over 18,000 restaurants in North America, and it has seated over 28 million diners.  Of those diners, nearly one-third (28%) booked their reservation from a mobile device, but only 10% of the restaurants using OpenTable have websites optimized for mobile devices.

To help its restaurant base catch up with its diner base, OpenTable announced Tuesday that it is offering a free service that will allow restaurateurs to optimize their websites for mobile devices.  The service, powered by OpenTable partner DudaMobile, is free for any OpenTable customers who claim their site by February 1, 2013, after which it will cost $100.

"Our goal is to make it easier for restaurants to reap the benefits from the shift toward mobile by removing the friction associated with creating and hosting mobile-friendly sites,” said OpenTable CEO Matt Roberts, in a statement.

DudaMobile is a Web-to-mobile platform that converts a desktop website into a mobile optimized site for SMBs.  DudaMobile currently hosts over two million mobile websites on its platform.  The service that it’s offering through OpenTable will make it easier for diners to check out locations, browse menus, get contact info, and, of course, book a table.

Since OpenTable went mobile in 2008, it has reserved seats for more than 30 million diners who booked their reservations via a mobile device, representing more than $1 billion in revenue for restaurants.  Its mobile user base is only going rise as more smartphones penetrate the cell phone market.  Currently, some 100 million people in the U.S. own smartphones—or about 45% of the adult U.S. population.

With service in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the UK, OpenTable works with over 25,000 restaurants worldwide and seated over 30 million diners last quarter.  The company drew in revenues of $39.6 million in Q2, representing a 15% increase over last year.  Net income was $5.7 million.

Last month, the company announced its new partnership with Foursquare, which will make it easier to find and book restaurants on-the-go.  Additionally, OpenTable also announced its 15 millionth review, at  which point it revealed a few fun factoids, including the most popular words used in reviews (scrumptious, anniversary, and fondue), the metro areas that get the most reviews (New York, Bay Area, Washington DC, and Chicago), as well as the top reviewed restaurants.

OpenTable plans to release its third quarter earnings report on November 1. 

Image source: opentable.com