In Singapore, or rather, in most metropolitan parts of the world, hanging out with colleagues and friends usually revolves around watching movies and dining out.

In fact, the movie and dining culture is so popular that it can be considered our national past-time.

Enter year 2016 – gone are the days where people would ring up their favourite restaurants to make reservations. Rather, the best way to make dining reservations now are online, either through third-party reservation services or the restaurant’s booking services itself. Some places even go to the extent of not posting their numbers on their websites!

This reality stayed true to me until I struck smartphone app gold recently.

Rather than sticking to my usual habit of booking dining reservations through Chope, I figured I had enough data left to search for a dining reservation application, in the hopes of finding one that could give me good deals.

While browsing the app store, I discovered Eatigo- Reservation With Discount and Offpeak – Food Discovery, Dining Discounts and Privileges.

Admittedly, the presence of the word ‘discount’ enticed me, and I immediately downloaded them.

What The Apps Promise

Eatigo and Offpeak are essentially dining reservation apps that offer customers up to 50% off their bills when they dine during off-peak hours at selected restaurants. Eating at a restaurant never seemed easier on the pocket.

Users simply reserve through the applications and the discounts will be automatically applied to their food bills – no credit card frills whatsoever.

My Impression Of The Apps

I’ve been using Eatigo for a week and I’ve been feeling better about myself as a consumer. Just like how conventional watches have transformed into smart watches, I found myself transforming into a smarter consumer.

Besides, it acts as a great decision-maker when you and your friends are arguing over what to eat nearby.

I mean, we can all agree that the cheaper, the better, right?

Moreover, restaurant owners can rejoice in the presence of an application that specifically seeks to increase consumer traffic at the most unpopular dining hours, at little to no cost.

Apart from that, endorsed restaurants are also provided with a marketing platform where consumers looking for deals are bound to spot.

I recall craving desperately for a steaming hot plate of Japanese curry rice on one of those miserable, rainy days. A quick search on Eatigo revealed that my favourite Japanese curry chain, Coco Ichibanya, was listed on the app.

Subsequently, I just had to reserve the selected timing of my choice and the reservation and the discount was seamlessly settled into my dining experience and bill.

I am quite glad that I chanced upon the app, with the exception of some shameless instances where I would drag my dinner time later just to dine at off-peak hours at the cheap. Whoops.

However, I realised that there seemed to be a lack of participating restaurants after spending sometime on the app. Due to this, I found myself eating at places I would have never ate at, and on rarer occasions, eventually spending more on food that I previously would.

The Final Verdict

Ultimately, love it or hate it, what’s there to lose? With living costs shooting through the roof, it’s essential for consumers like us to chase value, and not price.

Applications such as Eatigo and Offpeak reiterates the importance of making smart technologies and allowing them to flourish in both the consumer and producer economies.

These applications are here to stay and I can’t wait for more consumer-oriented apps to hit the market.

Featured Image Credit: YourSingapore.com