Seamless is continuing to build its mobile presence with a new iPad application that lets hungry consumers order from their favorite restaurants.

Seamless claims that 25 percent of the company’s transactions are placed via mobile, showing the growing opportunity mobile ordering presents for restaurants. The iPad app is the first Seamless tablet app, but the company is also looking to develop for other tablet platforms in the near future.

“Everything with mobile has happened faster than we thought it would, and it continues to accelerate,” said Jonathan Zabusky, CEO of Seamless, New York.

“We see the tablet as a stepping stone to a new paradigm and a way to customize content,” he said. “People are using Seamless to order from their couch, so they should be using an iPad app while they are doing it.”

Seamless is a Web site that works with local restaurants in more than 37 cities in the United States to help consumers order delivery and takeout food.

Tablet takeout
The Seamless iPad app is available for free download from Apple’s App Store.

Users are given two choices when opening the app after logging into their Seamless account – either use their existing order history to place an order or show a list of new restaurants.

Consumers can then choose to either use their device’s GPS technology or type in an address to find local restaurants to order from.

Once a restaurant is selected, users can toggle different cuisines to filter the number of restaurant results.

Consumers can also customize the results to show deals and only new restaurants, for example.

Additionally, users can choose a time to pick-up their order or have it delivered.

Mobile hunger
The Seamless iPad app is an example of a mobile initiative that uses the tablet device as a middle ground between a desktop experience and a smartphone experience.

For example, as items are added to an order, a plate in the bottom right-hand corner of the app shows consumers their total and how close they are to a restaurant’s minimum amount.

Consumers can then change their tips or add items to get their order as close as possible to the delivery minimum. This is a feature that Seamless integrated from its Web site to the iPad app as a way to make mobile ordering more similar to the desktop experience.

Another feature lets users review restaurants and like particular dishes, which Seamless hopes will encourage users to create a more community-driven site.

Seamless is seeing consistent success with its mobile ordering options.

The company recently revealed that twenty percent of peak-hour traffic is generated via mobile (see story).

Seamless also uses multiple channels to advertise, including print, Web, social media and email marketing.

Last year the company tied a three-day email marketing campaign with a mobile offer for users who ordered via their devices, helping the company bolster orders and spread the word about its apps.

“Over the past two and a half years, we have been shifting our model from Web as the primary platform to being more mobile-driven,” Mr. Zabusky said.

“We still have the majority of ordering happening on non-mobile platforms, but we are using tablets to bring the deeper Web experience to mobile users,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York