New App Settles Old Question: Where To Eat?
by Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new dining app is changing how people choose restaurants.
Spotluck, which just launched this month is Philadelphia, works like a roulette wheel.
Co-founder Cherian Thomas says in each neighborhood, or hub, users spin a wheel to determine what restaurant will land them their greatest discount; and he says they use so-called Smart technology to encourage folks to dine out more during slow times.
"Not only do the incentives change based on day and time, but it also changes based on weather," he said.
Thomas says the goal is to solve the age-old problem.
"It is really difficult to figure out where to eat when you're in all these great neighborhoods in Philadelphia," he said.
But it doesn't only choose your restaurant; the application also gives you ideas of where else you can go.
"You do get one spin, so lets say I spin Rittenhouse and I land on Smiths. Well, I'll get my largest incentive to go to Smiths; but I can go to anywhere else in the neighborhood for 10% just for supporting local," explained Thomas.
"Locking in" using the GPS on your phone lets the app know whether you've actually dined at the restaurant, which is important because "you cannot review a restaurant on Spotluck unless you were actually there," said Thomas.
Thomas says Spotluck has taken off, they're on track to hit 25,000 spins this month.
