The company is initially targeting this feature as a way to verify the COVID-19 vaccination status of visitors. Since more and more places are now mandating COVID-19 vaccination, guests will require to show the vaccination proof (in accordance with local ordinances and mandates) to the staff during their first visit to a restaurant. The staff will verify the proof and then tag the guest as verified for the vaccination. Now, whenever that person visits that restaurant or any other restaurant within the same group, they will no longer need to show the vaccination proof. Simply showing a valid ID will clear their entry. OpenTable says it will not store vaccination card data but only tag customers as verified for meeting the entry requirements. This also means you will need to show the vaccination proof again if you visit a restaurant outside that group. This feature also has other use cases though. Restaurants can similarly tag a diner as verified for other requirements such as the legal drinking age or health conditions.
OpenTable adds a verified tag to make dining out easier
OpenTable recently added the ability to communicate with restaurants before and after making a reservation via messages from within the app. Customers can request the restaurant to modify or cancel their reservations. as well as ask other questions. That was followed by an expansion of its Safety Precautions feature. It let customers see if a restaurant is mandating COVID-19 vaccination. They can also see other safety measures such as seating arrangement, contactless payment options, and more. The company is now further making dining out easier with the new verified tag for entry. According to OpenTable, repeat diner visits have increased 28 percent since last year. This new feature makes things simpler and more convenient for both the restaurant staff and the visitors. This new verification tool will be available to all restaurants using OpenTable later this month. The feature will initially only let the staff tag the diner that made the reservation. However, restaurants will be able to add notes if other visitors in a group also meet the required criteria.
