UNB Grads Launch ‘Dinnerbell’ App That Connects Fredericton Restaurants With Customers
FREDERICTON— A new app meant to help drum up customers for local businesses began as a class exercise that had to be completed before a group of UNB students could head to the campus bar.
In the fall of 2019, the group of students was looking forward to a drink at The Cellar, but they had to complete a class assignment first, which was to come up with an idea for a business. A friend asked, “Why don’t you just make a business that tells you to go to The Cellar?”
Last Friday, Cormac Stewart and Matthew White, and five other recent UNB grads, launched an app that does just that. Dinnerbell works as a marketing tool for local businesses that need to connect with customers in the area.
If a restaurant is having a slow night, a manager can go on Dinnerbell and push out a promotion to get more people there.
“Everyone who has the Dinnerbell app that’s within a seven-kilometre radius will receive the ad and then can use Dinnerbell to redeem the promotion at the restaurant,” said Stewart.
Beyond sending notifications to users, the app also has a comprehensive map of all the restaurants that use Dinnerbell in the area. To see deals and events you can click on the restaurant.
“It’s nice for restaurants because they have full ownership over the content that’s on there,” said White. “It’s a really great way for them to connect with their users and get the information out.”
Throughout a year of building the app, they have been working with restaurant owners in the area.
“We really tried to learn how they operate so that we could build to meet their needs,” said Stewart.
Stewart is one of the team’s three developers. Throughout the school year, they developed the app between classes and homework.
“We built all the platforms ourselves using what we learned in school and what we learned during our work term,” said Stewart.
Picaroons was the first restaurant to sign on to the app. After they landed them, they got The Hilltop, The Abbey, Isaac’s Way, Cinnamon Cafe, and Dolan’s Pub. There are more businesses slated to join later this summer.
“We want to be a platform that these restaurants can use to leverage and try to level the playing field between larger competitors that have a lot more resources to do these types of things,” said Stewart.
Dinnerbell has been in the works for a little over a year.
“Me and Cormac and the rest of our team all met each other the second or third day back in first year,” said White. “It’s exciting that we’ve been friends for this long and we’re launching this venture together.”
When the pandemic hit last April, they got the chance to really focus on the app.
“We didn’t really have any responsibilities, it was a good opportunity to officially pursue it,” said White.
All seven team members set up at Picaroons last Friday to spread the word and celebrate the launch. Restaurants will be releasing deals throughout the week.
“Throughout July, August and September, it will be free for any restaurant in the Fredericton area that would be interested in signing up and trying it out,” said White.
This beta trial will help them to develop the app more in the future. For users in Fredericton, it is available free for download on the app store.
Banner photo: Cormac Stewart, Matthew Ford, Tanner MacLean, Evan Larkin, Thomas Gogan, Matthew White, and Alex Smith. Image: submitted
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Rachel Smith is a summer intern for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected].