On Tuesday, Yelp is introducing new features that will serve as a way for businesses to easily communicate health and safety information as part of their reopening efforts. It’s also launching updates to Yelp Waitlist, an online waitlist management system, to ensure a smoother transition back to dine-in service.
According to Yelp data, we’ve seen more than 143,000 total business closures between March 1st and June 10. As businesses are expected to reopen across the country, it will be critical for consumers to hear directly from the business if they’re open, what services they’re offering during the pandemic and what their health & safety protocols will be.
To address this need, today, consumers will be able to find a new COVID-19 section on business pages across all categories, which will include:
Personalized message from the business: A way for consumers to hear directly from the business about if they’re open and how they’re operating during the pandemic.
Updated Services: Businesses can now share if they offer dine-in service, in-person visits or virtual service offerings. This will also help better surface if a business is offering takeout, delivery and curbside pickup.
Health & Safety Measures: Businesses can tell consumers if they are enforcing social distancing, sanitizing between customers, mandating staff wear masks and/or gloves, providing hand sanitizer or contactless payment, and more.
For restaurants, Yelp is also launching new Yelp Waitlist features, including:
- QR code to join the waitlist: This new touchless solution provides consumers with an easy way to join the waitlist for a restaurant when they arrive.
- Manual Wait Controls: Lets restaurants manually adjust wait time estimates during unexpected circumstances so diners have more accurate wait time expectations.
- Capacity Monitor: Allows a host to set their maximum seating capacity and will alert them if they are approaching 90 percent or have exceeded capacity.
Yelp’s ”Curbside Pickup” attribute is now a search filter as well and the company launched COVID-19 relevant Yelp Collections in select metros on the iOS app.
