Stop paying fees on
guests you earned.
OpenTable charges per-cover fees for guests who find your restaurant naturally. Bzz is a flat-rate system that helps you grow checks by showing menu items to guests while they wait.
Waiting Area
Get a buzzer and track your place in line from your phone.
Book a table for a future date and skip the wait entirely.
Instant confirmation · Email reminder
Per-Cover Fees vs. Waitlist ROI
OpenTable's model is a monthly subscription plus a per-cover fee on top — and that fee lands on every seated guest, including the walk-ins and the regulars who booked straight through your own website. On restaurant margins, a euro or two a head adds up to real money by the end of the month, and none of it does anything to earn you more while a party is stood at the door waiting for a table.
Bzz comes at it from the other side. It's a flat monthly price with no per-cover fee, and the wait itself becomes a place to sell: while a party watches their table status on their phone, that same screen can show them tonight's cocktail, the specials board, or a private-events link — so the time they'd otherwise spend getting impatient nudges the check up instead.
OpenTable Shortfalls
- Cover Fees: Paying per-head fees for walk-ins or customers who booked directly through your website can become expensive.
- Unused Wait Time: OpenTable sends basic text messages when tables are ready. This leaves guest attention unused during waits that average 30 to 60 minutes.
- Marketplace Lock-in: OpenTable prioritizes its own customer network, which can lead to your regular guests being marketed to other venues.
Bzz Benefits
- In-Wait Storefront: Guests watch their place in line on a branded mobile page where you can feature high-margin drink specials, menus, and promotions.
- Average Check Growth: Promote appetizers, merchandise, or upcoming events before guests are seated, turning the waitlist into a profit center.
- Flat-Rate Pricing: Flat packages with unlimited covers. Keep the revenue your restaurant generates without success fees.
Your guest opens Bzz and is primed for an upsell - in under 30 seconds.
No app downloads. No hardware. Just scan, wait, and buy - all inside the browser your customers already have.
Scan & Check In
Guests scan a QR code at the door to enter their name, party size, and seating area preference instantly.
Real-Time Tracker
The guest sees exactly where they are in line and their live estimated wait time, removing arrival anxiety.
In-Wait Marketing
While they wait, target them with highly profitable appetizer specials, drink promotions, or flash menu deals.
Web Buzzer Alert
Trigger an instant browser notification and a strong device vibration the second their table is ready.
Give accurate wait times, every time.
Bzz tracks your historical data and current capacity to allow you to give guests a reliable wait estimate every time, reducing walk-aways.
No apps to download. No hardware to buy.
Guests check their status in real-time via their phone's browser. No fiddly, easily-lost pager systems.
Turn Idle Wait Times into High-Margin Revenue.
Your customers are already staring at their phones while they wait. Bzz puts your specials, loyalty offers, and promotions right in front of them — turning dead wait time into your highest-margin sales channel.
Comparison
| Feature | Bzz | OpenTable |
|---|---|---|
| App-Free Guest Experience | Yes (Runs instantly in mobile browser via QR/NFC) | ❌ No (Promotes OpenTable consumer app download) |
| In-Wait Marketing & Banners | Yes (Custom drink, appetizer, and retail promotions) | ❌ No (Static notification page) |
| Pre-Seating Ordering/Links | Yes (Direct links to order/upsell flows) | ❌ No |
| Real-Time Wait Forecasting | Yes (Calculated dynamically using historical queue stats) | Limited (Manual rules or static estimates) |
| Interactive Floor Plan Editor | Yes (Full layout editor with status tracking) | Yes |
| Table Status Tracking | Yes (Available, Seated, Cleaning statuses) | Yes |
| Two-Way Guest Chat | Yes (Live in-app chat with read receipts) | ❌ No (One-way SMS/email alerts only) |
| Offers Matched to the Guest | Yes (Group guests into personas & auto-serve tailored promos) | ❌ No (One-size-fits-all guest messaging) |
| Shareable Spot Access | Yes (Guests share a live status link with their whole party) | ❌ No |
| No Phone Number Required | Yes (No phone, no app account — zero PII stored) | ❌ No (Requires phone number / guest account) |
| Web Buzzer Notifications | Yes (Instant browser alerts & vibrations — no SMS fees) | SMS only |
| POS Stack Independence | Yes (Works alongside any POS system) | Limited (Requires specific terminal integrations) |
| Pricing Structure | Flat-rate concurrent slots (Zero per-cover fees) | High monthly subscription + per-cover commission fees |