Of all the industries hit by the COVID-19 pandemic this past month, South Africa’s hospitality industry has taken one of the biggest blows.

SA’s leading reservations management software company, Dineplan, has stepped in with an initiative to help generate much-needed cash flow during the stifling lockdown period.

Restaurants, and any other businesses, can use the FREE 'Voucher Plan' platform officially released last week, which allows consumers to show their support by purchasing vouchers now to use at a later stage.

Dineplan Director Greg Whitfield said at a time when revenue is zero, every little bit helps.

‘When the government announced the lockdown measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw first-hand the effect it had on our business, our restaurant clients, and the staff at those restaurants.

‘We wanted to use our expertise and resources to help our restaurant clients in any way that we could and decided a voucher platform would be the most effective solution to help our restaurants, and other small businesses, generate cash flow during the shutdown to hopefully survive and help pay their staff and their families during this time.

‘You can easily buy a voucher at your favourite restaurant for your anniversary dinner in two months’ time or buy next month's morning coffees at your local coffee shop.

‘Many businesses are adding a little something extra to incentivise consumers to buy their vouchers, so when they use their voucher, it's worth more than what they paid.

‘We all need to work together and help each other to get through this difficult time as best we can, and consumers can make a difference by supporting their favourite restaurants, cafés and small businesses in this way.

’Whitfield added the system is flexible enough to help businesses outside the hospitality industry as well.

‘Any businesses that would like to make use of our voucher platform are welcome to do so.

‘We built it with restaurants and cafés in mind, but it is perfectly suitable for any other businesses such as hair or nail salons, fitness studios, retail shops, spa's, golf courses, hotels etc.

‘If you know of any business that could benefit from selling vouchers, please let them know about our free platform.’  

 

How it works

1. Dineplan provides the business with a voucher link to easily add to their business website and social media pages.
2. When a consumer follows this link, it will open a webpage specific to the business, with a list of voucher options chosen by the business for the consumer to choose from.
3. The consumer is then redirected to a payment portal where they can make an EFT payment.
4. The restaurant is immediately notified once payment for the voucher has been received, and the consumer automatically receives their paid-for voucher via email.
5. All vouchers are valid for three years from date of purchase as stipulated in the Consumer Protection Act.

Go to https://www.voucherplan.co.za/ to view Voucher Plan.  

 

About Dineplan
Dineplan founders Martin Rose and Greg Whitfield started the reservation software company in Cape Town in 2011, developing back-end software for restaurants to use as their electronic reservation book.

This would later enable instant bookings for diners via the Dineplan booking widget on restaurant clients’ websites.

In 2018, the company launched the now award-winning Dineplan App that enables diners to make instant or request bookings at restaurants from their mobile phones.