If organizing manual reservations by hand on paper has worked for your restaurant for many years, you might have difficulty understanding why it’s time to change. However, once you know the five advantages of online restaurant reservations, you’ll probably recognize that making the switch isn’t just a good idea but perhaps even overdue. One thing you’ll notice about these five benefits is that every single one should help your restaurant make more money in the long run.
1. Reservations All the Time
The very nature of 24/7 communication technology means that your restaurant can let reservations happen online at any hour of the day or night. People who make plans to eat together don’t always do so when you’re available for a phone call, and your restaurant could be missing out on plans that get made at any time if people communicate with each other through text, chat, or email. Let consumers book their reservations when convenient and easy for them, and enjoy that technology frees up your staff’s time.
2. Quicker Tables
Online reservations make estimating how many patrons you’ll have during a given period more effortless. Use this information to improve your staffing, and you can free up more tables faster than you did previously. When the reservation process goes more smoothly, you can increase the number of bookings you get at one time, but you can also free up more tables to take more walk-in patrons who come in the front door.
3. Data and Decisions
Online reservations enable your restaurant to capture consumer data and performance metrics. Look over the information you gather about table turnover, consumer feedback, and reservation trends. This information is a potential goldmine for data-driven decisions to improve the efficiency of your restaurant operations. Identify potential areas of improvement so you can manage your budget and resources more effectively over time.
4. Marketing Potential
You can also use information from online reservations to streamline your marketing efforts. Send your customers updates, promotions, and customized offers. Offering discounts, information about special events, and notices about new additions to your menu to regulars or registered users increases engagement and brand loyalty.
5. Preventing No-Shows
You want your reservation slots filled up, but you also want those people and parties to enter your restaurant. A certain percentage of no-shows is bound to happen, but you want to keep that ratio as low as possible. Ideally, you’d be able to replace them all with walk-ins. Unoccupied tables waste resources and staff time, and they’re uncollected revenue. An online reservation system lets you implement fees for no-shows and cancellations. The right reservation system lets you secure payment information from consumers, but you must always be transparent about your policies.
Sometimes, Newer Is Better
There’s no denying that tech is changing restaurant reservations, and it’s usually for the better. From improving the consumer experience and reducing no-shows to turning over tables faster and boosting sales, you should see that using an online reservation system can drive traffic, revenue, and profit to your restaurant.
