OpenRice revamps signals mainland launch

OpenRice, has revamped its website and mobile app, which are designed exclusively for tablet and mobile devices, which it hopes will herald it's arrival on the mainland.Alfred Tsoi, chief executive officer of JDB Holdings Limited (which owns Openrice), said the revamp of the app, which will launch at the end of this month, will include advanced navigation and additional touch screen functions; whilst key changes in the revamped web page include an enhanced search engine and a more dynamic layout in ‘metro' design style."The Digital landscape has moved beyond desktop and laptop computers. Mobile, apps and tablets are dominating the market and are more suitable to OpenRice users."The renovated edition has already attracted additional suppliers. According to OpenRice, more then a hundred restaurants have already participated in the newly added Restaurant Management System (RMS), where restaurants can manage their images and online menu on the system with yearly payment."Apart from advertisement, revenue gained from RMS will become one of our major income sources."Our revamped mobile app allows users to submit restaurant reviews more easily without time and location limit," said Alfred, adding that reviews are easier to be linked to social media in the revamped app.The renovated web page and app will also land in Taiwan in the coming months as part of OpenRice's new direction in the Greater China."Expanding to Taiwan not only aims to explore Taiwan market but also caters to Hong Kong people as Taiwan's food has always been the main attraction to most tourists from Hong Kong," explained Alfred.A symbolic smiling face is added in its revamped logo (pictured), which according to Alfred, is "a strategy for OpenRice to branch to Greater China", as the symbol is a "common language" that can be understood across regions.