Touted as a turnkey solution for gastronomy, visuEats — a new dining experience software — aims to cut the technology spend of participating restaurants while increasing top-line growth.

Speaking in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Sophronia McKenzie, CEO of visuEats, said the application was created upon noticing a gap in the market and has been in conceptualisation mode since 2018. She funded it from private capital with investment to date currently estimated at US$250,000.

The platform is one of the products offered by visuEats Imagery Solutions Inc, an innovative software company also founded and operated by Mckenzie.

“Our mobile technology has two key persons as the focus: the diner and the restaurant owner. It’s a complete end-to-end customer experience, starting with the scanning of the QR code, the visual flair of food and videography, to the moment the meal comes to table. Through this personal digital experience, diners will be more inclined to increase their spend,” she said, noting that the visuEats app was designed with visual stimulation in mind around the respective menu items, offering customers prior knowledge of the meals being sold at respective restaurants.

“For the restaurant owner, an expected reduction in the food photography cost and an overall increase in sales by approximately 30 per cent, based on global survey findings, will also help their businesses to benefit from increased growth. The launch of the visuEats app should, therefore, elevate the customer dining experience at any of the over 30 restaurants that have already signed up to be a part of the platform,” she added.

“Our research highlighted the costly expense related to food photography. That data was taken into consideration from inception, and photography for each restaurant was included as part of the package for a monthly subscription fee,” she further noted.

Utilising the software as a service (SaaS) technology to facilitate reservations, online ordering, delivery, among other services associated with the dining experience, the visuEats platform comes equipped with a fully maintained web and mobile application that provides a fully integrated visual digital menu. With just a few clicks, diners are offered the option to easily browse menus, create and customise orders, add special instructions, book reservations and pay for their meals from mobile devices.

Ahead of an official launch held at the AC Hotel in Kingston last Friday, Mckenzie further told Sunday Finance of some of the plans going forward, which will include the onboarding of more participants and the transition to other parishes outside the Corporate Area. She cited Voda Lounge, Cellar 8, Seafood 876, and Ultra lounge among the number of restaurants already on the platform.

“The goal is to get as many full-service restaurants operating locally on to the platform. After the launch our goal is to close out March with at least 50 to 60 restaurants utlising the service. Our overall target by year end is to, however, have 369 restaurants on the platform across markets locally and overseas,” she stated.

Providing details of the overseas expansion plan, McKenzie shared, “We now have one restaurant on the platform from Cayman and we have another that has approached us in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Therefore, after our local roll-out and onboarding as many restaurants here, we will be launching in South Florida during the last quarter of this year.”

“Within the next five years, the projection is to earn about US$30 million in revenues and then to go public, with listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange being the preferred choice,” she stated.

In moving to capitalise on the growth of Jamaica’s gastronomy market, the developer believes that the added use of technology will likewise strengthen the country’s competitive advantage in the international market.

“We have noticed a shift in the gastronomy scene and a greater call for convenience. What sets us apart is the fact that what we are offering is not readily available in Jamaica. So this app is the perfect solution to personalise and cater to each unique customer experience. With the app being a global one, the aim is also for it to become a travel companion helping customers to interact with the menus of restaurants worldwide ,” said Tanesha Westcarr, chief business development officer of visuEats.

“In keeping with our estimated revenue target, it is the belief that once the app continues to develop we definitely hope to see the business exceeding projections. We are already on track based on current estimates,” Westcarr said.