Why Did Squarespace Sell Tock to American Express for $400 Million?

Square Space sold its well-known restaurant reservation system, Tock, to American Express for $400 million.

This shows how important advanced reservation systems are in the hospitality industry.

It is a strategic move by American Express to buy Tock to provide the best dining and lifestyle experience to its cardholders.

This purchase shows how important these reservation systems can be for the restaurant and IT sectors.

In this blog, you can learn more about the deal of Squarespace with American Express. Get custom software solutions and personalized restaurant reservation systems to ensure your business can get ahead of the competitors.

What is the history of Tock?

In 2014, Nick Kokonas, co-owner of Alinea restaurant in Chicago, saw a big problem: no-shows causing lost revenue. He founded Tock to fix this with a pre-paid ticketing model.

Since the customer has to prepay for their meal in Tock, restaurants can maximize their seating capacities and reduce the number of people who don’t show up even after making a reservation.

Tock’s pre-paid model gives a secured revenue stream to the restaurants so they can focus on providing personalized dining experiences according to the customers’ preferences.

Squarespace provides different types of software as a service for website building and hosting so that users can get in-built website templates to change web pages.

In 2021, Squarespace decided to purchase Tock, so that small businesses in the hospitality industry can create their online presence. It integrated advanced features like flexible pricing and better customer relationship management (CRM) tools into Tock. Expensive restaurants to small fast food joints can use Tock’s flexibility and scalability.

Now American Express purchased Tock from Squarespace so the users and restaurant owners expect this restaurant reservation system will have some new additional functionalities.

How Our Team Learned About This Deal?

We are a leading web development company that specializes in custom software solutions. Our developers constantly monitor the latest industry trends as well as developments to stay ahead of the competitors. We learned about this deal of Tock sold to American Express through various news sources, professional networks, and our market analysis.

Our team did a thorough analysis of the deal to understand how this move can affect the technical development of the hospitality industry as the importance of restaurant reservation systems is increasing.

What are the details of the Deal?

American Express’s $400 million purchase of Tock is a big deal in the tech and hospitality industry. This deal will be done in the combination of cash and shares.

It shows how valuable advanced reservation systems are for improving customer experiences and restaurant operations.

Squarespace decided to sell Tock because it is trying to focus on its online marketing tools, e-commerce, and website development.

Now Squarespace can utilize the money it made through Tock and implement the best market resources to secure its position as software as a service provider in the market.

American Express has a history in the hospitality industry and the purchase of Tock is made to provide the best experiences to its cardholders. It will be looking to use Tock’s reservation and customer relationship management (CRM) functionalities to provide personalized services for the cardholders.

In the leadership of American Express, everyone is hoping that Tock will grow and will have features to improve operations and customers’ user experience. American Express’s reward programs can be integrated with the restaurants so they can have useful information about the customers.

How the Selling of Tock will improve restaurant operations?

Restaurants can now better manage bookings, simplify operations, and provide top-notch dining experiences because American Express bought Tock. Restaurants can benefit in the following ways:

1. Better Customer Experience:

• With American Express’s resources, Tock can now offer restaurants the best tools for booking management, personalized customer service, and real-time availability.

2. Priority Reservations:

• Now the restaurants can provide exclusive access to American Express cardholders to make reservations on priority to get a premium dining experience through the Tock reservation system.

3. Reduced No-Shows and Increased Revenue:

• Tock’s pre-paid model reduces the number of no-shows by collecting payments in advance for bookings. So restaurants can use the tables more efficiently to increase their profitability.

4. Advanced CRM Capabilities:

• Tock is a restaurant reservation software that comes with customer relationship management (CRM) functionality. So that restaurants can collect customers’ information to provide customized deals and meals based on their past preferences.

5. Better Data Analytics:

• Tock’s data analytics give insights about way customers’ behavior. The restaurants can change menus based on this data. It is an online restaurant reservation system that allows restaurants to maintain their responsiveness to handle market trends and performance indicators.

6. Scalable Solutions:

• It is an amazing restaurant reservation booking system built to scale up its functionalities according to the changing requirements of the restaurants.

How The Market Will be Affected by Tock’s Purchase?

This purchase shows how important technology is for improving customer experiences in the hospitality industry. With American Express’s support, Tock is likely to set new standards for online restaurant reservations.

As the restaurant owner you may think about using Tock restaurant reservation software because it minimizes no-show rates and has the best customer support. Restaurant booking software like Resy, Eat App, OpenTable, and Yelp Reservations are also working on their products to provide healthy competition to the Tock reservation system.

However, the purchase of Tock by American Express gives it a competitive edge because it can utilize American Express’s resources. With the help of American Express, Tock is going to be the game changer in the online restaurant reservations industry.

How We Can Help to Build an Online Restaurant Reservation System?

At Seven Square, we create custom restaurant reservation systems like Tock. Our solutions help improve customer experiences and streamline operations, keeping your restaurant competitive. Explore how we can help you to maximize the benefits of the restaurant reservation system:

• Custom-Built Solutions: We understand that each restaurant has unique requirements and our skilled development team creates a personalized online restaurant reservation system. If you need a custom solution POS system or CRM functionalities in the existing system then don’t worry we have got you covered.
• Smooth Integration: Our services for smooth integration ensure that your new system will work perfectly with your current infrastructure. We have a team of web developers who take care of every part of the integration process from personnel training to data transfer so that your business doesn’t face any downtime.
• Better Customer Experience: Our main goal is to provide user-friendly interfaces that can improve the client experience. If your customers are making reservations over the phone, through a mobile app, or online it doesn’t matter because our solutions are made to ease the process for them.
• Ongoing Support and Maintenance: We provide thorough maintenance and support services to make sure that your reservation system keeps working at its best. Our developers are dedicated to ensuring that your system always stays relevant and dependable.
• Security: The protection of your customers’ data is our top priority. Robust security protocols are included in our systems to secure private data so that you can rely on your reservation system to protect your information and your visitors’ privacy.

Do you want to improve your business with a custom reservation system?

You can increase your restaurant’s efficiency and customer satisfaction with a customized reservation system. We have a team of experts who create solutions according to your unique requirements and offer services like smooth third-party library integration with advanced analytics.

Let’s talk and collaborate to build your system with our technical expertise