Web development platform Wix.com Ltd. (Nasdaq: WIX) has acquired OpenRest, which provides online ordering and mobile solutions for restaurants. The move supports Wix's strategy of focusing on the online needs of specific industries, while expanding the overall depth of its product suite.
The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed but estimates are that it was for several million dollars. Wix said that the acquisition would not have a material impact on the company's non-GAAP operating results.
With over 55 million users worldwide, Wix lets anyone create a complete online presence, as well as manage additional aspects of their business. OpenRest offers restaurant owners an easy-to-implement, turn-key system enabling online menu and order management, native mobile app development and payment processing.
The OpenRest acquisition is a natural continuation of Wix's verticalization strategy, first seen in the company's August launch of WixHotels. With OpenRest onboard, Wix will now offer restaurant owners a complete online business solution precisely tailored to their needs.
With an estimated 350,000 independent restaurants in the US alone, and the consumer trend of ordering take-out and delivery online and on mobile devices, there is a significant need for restaurants to provide customers with a complete online experience. OpenRest's integration into the Wix platform will enable restaurant owners to take orders directly from their Wix websites and native mobile apps, giving them complete ownership of their customers and reducing reliance on costly phone orders or the use of commission-based marketplaces. Wix and OpenRest plan to launch a complete online business management solution for restaurants during 2015.
Wix Co-Founder and CEO Avishai Avrahami said, "OpenRest perfectly complements our strategy to further enhance the Wix platform with tailored industry-specific solutions. There's no industry more deserving of this focused attention than the restaurant industry. With Wix and OpenRest, restaurateurs will have a technologically advanced and cost effective solution to better manage their business and their customers' experience."
OpenRest Co-Founders Danny Leshem and Yoav Amit, who will both join Wix, said, "We launched OpenRest four years ago with the goal of helping restaurant owners and operators streamline their businesses and tap into the opportunities presented by the internet. By joining a market leader like Wix, we will be able to exceed this goal and take our technology so much further."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 29, 2014
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