Online table booking: how a restaurant stops losing evenings

In a restaurant a no-show looks different from one in a salon. Nobody is left waiting by an empty chair. A table for six was simply held all Friday evening for a group that changed its mind, and you turned away two couples at the door.

Where empty tables come from

Phone bookings in the middle of a shift. Someone writes the booking on a scrap of paper between two orders. It gets lost, written down twice or put on the wrong day.

Nobody sends a reminder. A guest books on Monday for Saturday, and by Saturday they have agreed on another place. They are not being rude, they just forgot they ever called you.

The wrong size of table. A couple sits at a table for six because it was free when they called. An hour later a group of five arrives and there is nowhere to put them.

What helps

Booking on the website, not only by phone. Most bookings are made in the evening, when you are already closed. A guest who could not get through does not call back in the morning. They book somewhere that lets them do it right away.

Choosing by party size. The guest says how many people are coming and only sees times when a suitable table is free. The smallest table that fits is offered first, so the large ones stay free for large groups.

Confirmation and reminder. An email right after booking and a reminder the day before bring back a good share of the people who forgot. It is the same mechanism that works in salons, except that in a restaurant every no-show costs a whole table.

The menu right on the site. A guest deciding where to go wants to see the dishes and prices. Nobody opens a PDF on a phone. A menu page with sections and photos works as advertising and answers the question "what do you have".

What a platform costs

Booking platforms are convenient, but many charge for every guest they bring in. That includes a guest who has been coming to you for five years and just happened to find their button instead of yours. At forty bookings a week, that adds up to a noticeable sum every month.

Booking on your own site costs a fixed amount however many guests come, and the guests stay yours.

Where to start

Describe your tables: how many there are and how many seats each has. Set your hours and the usual length of a visit, for example two hours. Add the menu. Put the booking link on your Google listing and on Instagram, because that is where people look most.

In Termeva this is a separate mode for restaurants: tables instead of staff, a menu on the site and booking by party size.