Nigeria has joined the league of countries where online search for best places to wine and dine have been made easy with the launch of Tomachy, a restaurant search and discovery web platform, incorporating mobile app, currently listing information for over 20, 000 restaurants, bars, and nightclubs across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
This development was made known by Charles Odibo, co-founder and CEO, and Segun Bright, co-founder, Tomachy, in a media briefing in Lagos, recently.
According to the founders, Tomachy will be used by consumers all over the country to discover, rate and review restaurants, as well as create a personal network of foodies for trusted recommendations. Odibo said: “Tomachy is established to ensure that we make finding local restaurants as easy as possible, and we shall intently focus on driving restaurant transactions”. He said in addition to restaurant search and discovery, Tomachy will expand its services to include online ordering and table reservations thereby creating additional offerings to connect restaurant businesses and customers in ways that will revolutionise the restaurant industry in the country.
The founders informed that Tomachy will also roll out end-to-end technology for a comprehensive enterprise management system for restaurants, including small local spots or exclusive fine dining restaurants. This will be tools that will enable them to drive their businesses to greater success by capturing new customers regularly, and ensuring that regulars keep coming back Tomachy’s features include photos and scanned menus because the founders believe these are as important as reviews to a customer’s decision-making process about where to eat. Reviews and ratings on Tomachy will be provided by users.
Co-founder, Odibo, anticipates a huge following because Nigeria is home to lots of people who are passionate about food but look forward to great places to wine and dine. Odibo also stated that the platform will introduce a diversified marketing model which will enable restaurants and cafes to regularly reach out to, connect with, and engage their customers and prospects in a manner as has never been done.
Explaining why Tomachy was created, Mr. Odibo said that the internet has become part of our everyday lives offering non-stop access to different information easier and faster and that people constantly go online to search and research for different options before making decisions.
According to him, the food and leisure industry is not an exception to this trend, which is why Tomachy has arrived to ensure that restaurants and cafes are more visible digitally to be able to promote their services and goods online. He also said Tomachy platform offers different opportunities for restaurants to reach wider audiences, promoting their business in more effective and efficient ways.
“When a restaurant or café is visible online, on a growing platform like Tomachy that is location-based, searchers in your location will find you faster from a pack of similar businesses within your neighbourhood, thereby making choice easier for the searcher, and increasing a restaurant’s foot-falls”, Odibo said.
He also informed that being present on Tomachy opens communication lines between restaurants and customers or prospects because not only do searchers know about restaurants, but restaurants can equally reach out to and engage with all who have searched them or reviewed their business on Tomachy, adding that customers of restaurants and cafes are also at liberty to list their favourite locations, with photos, if they are not already listed on Tomachy.
