Groupon acquires dining discount app Savored

Groupon has announced its purchase of Savored, the company that delivers reservations and discounts at local restaurants. Groupon, which offers a group buying daily deals service online and on mobile devices, says that the two companies will be natural fits for each other. Groupon Now VP Dan Roarty says that Savored will continue to service customers online, but Groupon will work with it to increase dining options and increase traffic at restaurants.

Savored currently services over 1,000 restaurants, though they are mostly concentrated in a handful of cities in the United States. The app connects customers with restaurants that expect to have open tables during a specific dining period. Users can browse through Savored to discover these restaurants, and filter results according to neighborhood and how many people in a party can be accommodated. The app uses partnerships with OpenTable and Zagat to provide menu previews and lets users make a reservation, which can lead to discounts of up to 40 percent.

Savored is available for the iPhone and Android devices. The apps are unlikely to change in the immediate future, but it's possible that Groupon will use its existing sales staff and merchant contacts to expand the number of cities and restaurants that are included in the Savored app.