登錄
選單
登錄
海擇短評 Haize Comment：
日本餐廳搜尋和預訂服務公司Tabelog與Gurunavi(JP: 2440)，似乎在疫情以來並不順遂。如眾所知，後疫情期各國旅遊與餐飲有很長一段時間異軍突起，未受經濟不景氣遏抑，消費仍然持續飛漲。但Tabelog與Gurunavi卻並非如此，Gurunavi的2024財年(2023.4-2024.3)年報淨損3.6億日元，這結算看起來很差，但是2023財年更差，虧損了22.9億日元，很難想像這是樂天持有14.96%股份、且得到樂天轉移Rakuten Delivery和Rakuten Realtime Takeout的受惠公司；由於Tabelog本身沒IPO，僅能從母公司Kakaku.com(JP: 2341)的合併披露中取得部分數據，但從公告可以知道雖然Kakaku.com在截止2024年3月的財年淨利達161億日元，但旗下的Tabelog在2022 財年至2024財年則連年虧損，僅在2025財年的第一季度(按該公司會計年度為2024年4月1日至2024年6月30日)，Tabelog才首次從去年同期的虧損2.85億日元，轉虧為盈取得淨利1.15億日元。
目前看來，雙方都"終於"發現境外赴日的旅客，應該要成為它們的運營重點。而在獲取境外客的做法，雙強還是有些差異，Tabelog的做法是讓入境旅客可以在官網線上預訂，目前SKU約有35,000家商戶，預訂時需要註冊信用卡，以便在違反商戶的取消政策時收取違約費用，商業模式是輸送客戶後來自餐廳的佣金；Gurunavi的作法就是單純的訂位，其預訂服務對消費者不收取費用，商業模式主要依賴於向餐廳收取訂位和行銷服務的費用，餐廳需要支付月費或年費來成為Gurunavi的會員，以便在平台上列出其餐廳資訊並接收來自消費者的預訂。
套餐提前付款模式與訂位模式本就各有好壞，無所謂對錯：提前付款模式偏向於餐廳導向，更適合追求穩定收入和降低取消風險的餐廳，但對於消費者來說，靈活性較低，可能限制了部分用戶的選擇；訂位模式則偏向於消費者導向，提供了消費者更大的靈活性，可以根據當天的計劃來決定是否前往餐廳，但平台和餐廳需承擔一定的預訂取消風險。這種模式更適合希望吸引更多預訂的餐廳，但也需要設計機制來減少無故取消的情況。
但，日本在2022年10月就開始放寬對境外疫情的管控，有利於外國人旅遊入境；而Tabelog與Gurunavi直到2024年3月才轉盈，與其說是商業模式的問題，海擇資本理解更像是大恐龍不易轉身的問題。簡單如預訂體驗來說，我們測試了Tabelog的預訂介面，註冊後並不是預訂每間餐廳都能收到郵件，這可能是消費者所用郵件系統的伺服器問題，但在聯繫客服與退改的過程都比較痛苦；Gurunavi能免費訂位當然很好，但對名店的覆蓋力較差，這牽涉旅客去日本時，把美食名店放在怎樣的優先級，其實一般居酒屋或連鎖店的訂位也非常容易。
可以順帶談談另一間日本的餐飲預訂平台OMAKASE。這是一家專門提供高端餐廳預訂管理服務的平台。該公司成立於2017年，旨在為難以預訂的高端餐廳提供便利的預訂途徑，平台覆蓋超過230家餐廳，包括一些在美食指南中評價很高的餐廳。不過公司在被GMO Internet Group(JP: 9449)收購成為子公司後，近幾年公司談到OMAKASE時，也僅以"占GMO集團總收入比例不到3%，貢獻屬小規模"，不另回答也無財務數據披露，我們的直觀感受是，運營應該並不理想。
日本的餐廳預訂市場很大，境外旅客更提供尚未被挖掘的龐大增量，現有巨頭動作慢，是創業公司的良好機會，豐澤與廣闊的市場，應還能出現數條猛鮫。
-------
Japanese restaurant search and reservation services Tabelog and Gurunavi (JP: 2440) seem to have struggled since the pandemic. While travel and dining sectors in many countries have surged post-pandemic, unaffected by economic downturns, and consumer spending has continued to rise, Tabelog and Gurunavi have not experienced the same success. For the fiscal year 2024 (April 2023 to March 2024), Gurunavi reported a net loss of 360 million yen, which is an improvement compared to the previous fiscal year's loss of 2.29 billion yen. Surprisingly, Gurunavi, holding a 14.96% share by Rakuten and benefiting from Rakuten's transfer of Rakuten Delivery and Rakuten Realtime Takeout, struggled financially. Since Tabelog has not gone public, only partial data is available from its parent company Kakaku.com (JP: 2341). Although Kakaku.com reported a net profit of 16.1 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 2024, Tabelog continued to incur losses from fiscal 2022 to 2024, only turning a profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 (April 1 to June 30, 2024), going from a loss of 285 million yen in the same period last year to a net profit of 115 million yen.
Currently, both Tabelog and Gurunavi have "finally" recognized that international travelers to Japan should be a focus of their operations. Their approaches to capturing this market, however, differ. Tabelog allows inbound tourists to make online reservations on their official website, with about 35,000 merchants available. Booking requires credit card registration to charge fees for cancellations that violate merchant policies. Their business model relies on commissions from restaurants after delivering customers. Gurunavi, on the other hand, offers simple reservation services without charging consumers. Their model primarily depends on fees collected from restaurants for booking and marketing services. Restaurants must pay a monthly or annual fee to become Gurunavi members, allowing them to list their restaurant details on the platform and receive bookings from consumers.
Both the prepaid package model and the reservation model have their pros and cons, with no clear right or wrong: The prepaid model is more restaurant-oriented, better suited for venues seeking stable income and reduced cancellation risks, but it offers less flexibility to consumers, potentially limiting some users' choices. The reservation model is more consumer-oriented, offering greater flexibility and allowing decisions based on daily plans, but the platform and restaurants face some risk of booking cancellations. This model is more suitable for restaurants looking to attract more bookings but also requires mechanisms to reduce unwarranted cancellations.
Japan eased pandemic-related travel restrictions for international visitors since October 2022, yet, Tabelog and Gurunavi only returned to profitability by March 2024. Rather than an issue with their business models, Haize Capital sees this more as a problem of large companies being slow to adapt. For example, our testing of Tabelog's reservation interface showed that not all restaurant bookings generated a confirmation email, possibly due to consumer email server issues, and contacting customer service or making changes was cumbersome. While Gurunavi’s free reservation service is advantageous, its coverage of well-known restaurants is limited.
It's also worth mentioning another Japanese dining reservation platform, OMAKASE. Established in 2017, this platform specializes in reservation management services for high-end restaurants and covers over 230 establishments, including some highly rated in gourmet guides. However, after being acquired by GMO Internet Group (JP: 9449), OMAKASE's contributions are described as "less than 3% of GMO Group's total revenue, with minor impact," and no further financial details are disclosed, suggesting suboptimal operations.
The Japanese restaurant reservation market is vast, and international travelers offer a significant untapped opportunity for growth. The sluggishness of established giants presents a great opportunity for startups, indicating that the market is ripe for the emergence of new and aggressive players.
標籤 Label： Tabelog Gurunavi OMAKASE Restaurant Japan