A New Local Restaurant IOS App - or "Take a Spin, and Discover Great Local Food"

 Do you like to discover good local places rather than the chains that benefit already from visible marketing campaigns?  If you want to spend some of your dining experiences in smaller local places that offer varied and interesting menus, try Spotluck, a cool new hyper local IOS and Android App.

Background

Spotluck, with its ties to local independent restaurants, so far is local to the DMV (but going as far northwest as Frederick, MD and southwest as Leesburg, VA).  Spotluck combines discounts from local restaurants with an elegant iPhone app that has a great interface and visual appeal.  

The creators of the app call it a “gamified” approach to preferred pricing, where you spin a wheel to discover restaurants with discounts ranging from 10-25% depending on the particular time you’re headed out to dine.  And like many social apps, it has points and bonus spins to keep interest.  

This app works best when you are planning to go out to eat but don’t have a particular place in mind.  And it incentivizes weeknight dining and other low traffic times when it’s very difficult for the smaller local restaurants to sustain themselves.  I’ve even seen a “Weather Bonus” offering more discounts when less intrepid diners shy away from going out.  And a memorable @spotluck tweet, https://twitter.com/spotluck/status/617328129304956928 shows their ‘google like’ approach to the last July 4th Holiday!  

Spotluck is much easier and more fun to use than the standard social discount apps.  For me, one of the compelling features is that once you eat at a restaurant after locking in a discount, you can send a nonpublic review and feedback directly to the restaurant.

Just last month, Spotluck got some great local news attention,

How to Use Spotluck

Download the app from the IOS app store or the Google Play Store

First, when you open the app, you’ll want to register a free account. 

You’ll then receive a request for location services; to use this hyper local app, you’ll want to allow Location Services "While Using the App".

Once you register, you’ll see a map with the Hubs.  Hubs are the areas where potluck now operates in the Metro DC and surrounding area (several neighborhoods in DC,  Maryland and VA).  

Zoom in to view the hubs (background green)

and from the map you can hit "Spin" to get things going.  The wheel spins around a la “Wheel of Fortune.”  Depending on the day, date and time of day, restaurants with discounts ranging from 10% to 25% will circle until finally one restaurant appears in the center.

If you choose that restaurant, the new center message is “Lock-In Discount” - with an icon of the restaurant and description of it, plus other buttons that show location map, menu, and even pictures from the restaurant.  

Now you won't be able to "Lock-In Discount" until you arrive at the restaurant (remember the location awareness folks.....).

But back to the Hub views, I like to start the fun by changing from map view to to list view.  Way cool, the user can scroll along the bottom to change from one hub to another, and the app quickly redraws to show the list of restaurants in each.

Most impressive, this view graphically illustrates the app's focus on hyper local independent restaurants: just watch the screen redrawing and the different restaurant names on one after another after another!  

 

Once you're in the neighborhood you want, see the "Spin" Wheel at the bottom.  

When you touch Spin from the List view, a different and fun animation commences.  Check it out!

And remember to check out map, menu, and even pictures from the selected restaurant via buttons along the top of the selection page.    

When you arrive at the restaurant, press the center button, then just show the open app to your waiter, they’ll confirm the discount, and that’s it!  As always for these type of discounts you’ll then see a tip engine with reminder to tip before the discount.  But best as I mentioned, do take advantage of the chance to rate and provide feedback that will go directly to the restaurant owner.

Conclusion

Spotluck is the trending but still unusual combination of foodie and local community.  In May 2015,  Spotluck helped sponsor a local Silver Spring restaurant crawl in a neighborhood of varied independent shops and restaurants.  Their energy and enthusiasm contributed greatly to the event.

Spotluck sponsoring local Silver Spring, MD
restaurant crawl May 2015 

Oh, also remember that endlessly social, referring your friends to the app generates a promo code you can share via Twitter, Facebook, Email or text to generate bonus spins. And @spotluck is very active on social media.

Enjoy Spotluck and supporting your local independent restaurants!