What Is Restaurant Reservation System - 13 Benefits Of Using Software

“What is restaurant reservation system?” - if this question is wondering in your mind then good news. This whole article is a detailed answer to this question. Let us look at a simple answer to this question. Well, the restaurant reservation system is software that allows diners to reserve a table for themselves. Diners can reserve a table for them online. They don't need to visit the restaurant or call over the phone to reserve a table.

With the restaurant reservation system, diners don’t have to wait till you open your eatery. They can reserve a table for them anytime from anywhere. The restaurant reservation system is an amazing facility that helps restaurant owners and operators manage restaurants effectively.

What Is Table Reservation?

An agreement made in advance for a table to be vacant at a restaurant is called a table reservation. While the great majority of eateries across the world do not need reservations. And some do not even have a policy or a method of table reservation. So-called higher-end eateries, often found in crowded cities, sometimes have a table reservation policy. Some may even have tables reserved for weeks in advance. Booking a reservation on the same day you plan to visit a high-end restaurant may not be appropriate.

What Is Restaurant Reservation System?

The restaurant reservation system is the software used to book tables at restaurants. It’s the database that maintains a record of each table that’s open. It’s also used to generate reports. The restaurant reservation system is made up of many different components. Those are,

1. A computer system that handles reservations. 
2. An automatic system that handles wait times. 
3. An employee management system that manages staff schedules and shifts.

Restaurant reservation systems allow restaurants to efficiently manage their wait times. And keep their tables full, which can increase the amount of money they make. It is also used by consumers to find the best reservations at the best restaurants in a given area. It saves time and money.

The restaurant reservation system allows consumers to reserve a table for them online. Consumers don’t need to visit the restaurant for reserving a table. Also, they don’t have to wait for the owners to open their restaurant. This process is called the online reservation system. Restaurant reservation also reduces no-shows through digital payment system and also online food ordering system.

Now if you have an online ordering system along with your restaurant reservation system. And a customer booked a table and also placed an order of food in advance. Then there is a higher chance that the customer will show up. It is as effective as the online payment system.

Restaurant owners rely on a reservation system. To determine who comes in and out of their business. Restaurants use a reservation system to determine how many people can be seated at a certain time. And also determine how many tables are open in the restaurant.

Features Of A Restaurant Reservation System

The restaurant reservation system has many features. These features are very useful to both restaurant owners, managers, and also the restaurant staff. It allows restaurant owners to refine their products and services. And also it provides consumers with a lot of conveniences.  

Get More Customer

The biggest benefit of having a restaurant reservation system is that you can make more customers enter your restaurant door. The reservation system lets the customers reserve a table for them from anywhere. So customers can reserve a table for them or add them to the waitlist. They can reserve a table from the comfort of their home. Also, they can add them to the waitlist on the busiest days from their office. This is a great convenience. It attracts more and more customers. And you get the opportunity to increase the crowd in your restaurant.

Generate More Revenue

A restaurant reservation helps you get more and more customers for your restaurant. And more customers means more revenue. With a restaurant reservation system integrated with your POS system, You can drastically boost your income.

User Friendly

A restaurant reservation system or software should be very easy to use. It should not take too much time or need too many details to reserve a table. Because people like to use apps that are easy to navigate. If it’s hard or time-consuming people tend to avoid reserving a table or skip the process in the middle. All the information and policies related to booking and cancellation should be mentioned to avoid any misconceptions.

Digital Payment System

Restaurants can provide their customers with the facility of a digital payment system with the restaurant reservation system. Nowadays people like to pay bills with cards or mobile payment systems more than cash. So it’s a good thing if you can provide your customer with a digital payment system.

At the same time, it is secure. So the sensitive information of customers is always secured and never exposed to anyone. A restaurant reservation system must support multiple digital payment systems and card processing.

Online Ordering 

Restaurant reservation systems should have an online ordering option. Through this option, customers can order their meal along with the table reservation. If a customer places a food order with a table reservation. It is more likely to reduce the chance of last-minute cancellations and also no-shows.

It also saves time for both the customer and kitchen staff. And customers can enjoy their meal as soon as they take their seat. Customers don’t have to wait for food. At the same time, they don’t have to endure the hassle of placing orders in a busy restaurant with no free staff.

Promotional Offer

A restaurant reservation software can be used to promote different offers. Suppose no customers visit your eatery in the afternoon. You can use your restaurant reservation system to get your restaurant full during that time. You can give exciting offers and free items to anyone who books a table during that time. This way you can increase traffic to your restaurant using the restaurant reservation system.

Calendar

An important tool for managing restaurant reservations is a calendar. A well-organized timetable determines whether the restaurant reservation system will be successful or unsuccessful. Poor planning will lead to incorrect reservations, multiple bookings, and several other issues. Additionally, the calendar element should be visible to the consumer. So that they can check whether or not the restaurant has any open reservations.

Benefits Of A Restaurant Reservation System

Restaurant reservation has countless benefits for both restaurant owners and customers. It opens new ways of making revenue for restaurant owners. And it provides clients with cutting-edge convenience. Let’s look at the benefits of the restaurant reservation system in detail. It will help to better understand the importance of restaurant reservation system.

Focus On Core Business

Instead of receiving phone calls, staff can now concentrate better on core activities cooking or serving customers. Customers can reserve a table for themselves using the restaurant reservation system.

Cut Employee Expense

You can cut employee expenses using the restaurant reservation system. With the restaurant reservation system, you don’t need a dedicated employee to manage table reservations or receive phone calls.

Online Presence

The online presence is the most remarkable advantage of using a restaurant reservation system. Nowadays, having an online presence has several benefits. It's free advertising. Additionally, there is a higher chance that someone who hasn't been to your eatery before may visit your restaurant. If your restaurant’s website or app appears in front of them.

Another significant benefit of having an online presence is convenience. When you have a restaurant reservation website or app, customers don’t need to call or visit your restaurant to place a table reservation. They can simply visit your website or app and place a table reservation adding some details like the day and time and number of people etc.

Customers don't have to face the hassle of waiting for your restaurant to open. Or waiting on the phone for a long time for a restaurant employee to answer the phone. Or maybe having background noises on the phone that interrupt conversations. 

Online Waitlist

You can now cut short the long lines outside your restaurant with your restaurant reservation system. As an online restaurant reservation system lets your customers reserve a table for themselves online. It also lets your customer see the virtual waitlist of your restaurant. Additionally, customers can add themselves to the waitlist from anywhere. And wait for their reservations from any place they like. Such as home, office, supermarket, cinema hall, amusement park, zoo, etc.

Better Reservation Maintenance 

The restaurant reservation system helps you manage your entire restaurant table in a very effective way. A restaurant reservation system can help you manage the capacity of your restaurant effectively. The restaurant reservation system will assist you in managing not to overbook. And also restricts the number of reservations that may be made at any given moment. This kind of error can occur more often when you use pen and paper to manage your reservation. The reservation system also notifies you of the available number of tables as soon as a guest arrives or leaves. So you can take immediate action and make more profit out of your eatery.

Better Communication

Restaurant reservations ensured better communication with your customers. You can communicate with your customers with a restaurant reservation system. You can use the restaurant reservation system to send email or text messages. You can give real-time updates to your consumers if there are changes to the menu. You can also notify them that you will be closed on a specific day for a specific cause. You can also use the restaurant reservation system to gather feedback from consumers about their most recent visit to your eatery. You can improve your restaurant's products and services based on their feedback.

Minimize No Shows

No show is a big loss for restaurants. If a customer books a table for her/him and doesn’t show up, the restaurant loses revenue that might come from that customer. At the same time, valuable time and possibilities to serve other consumers are lost.

But if you have a restaurant reservation system it will reduce no-shows in a large number. As a restaurant reservation system sends reminders to the client who reserved a table for themselves. And also asks for a reply if the customer wants to make any changes to their reservation. This allows the customer to recall their reservation even if they forget. Also, customers get the opportunity to get in touch with you. And let you know about their changes in schedule or plan cancellations. As a result, you can offer their place to your other guests if they wish to withdraw their reservation.       

Better Service

The restaurant reservation system shows the real-time table status. This helps the restaurant operator manage restaurant staff better. And give the customers the best service possible. Customers leave satisfied and keep coming back to your restaurant again and again.

Customer Feedback

Customers can add their valuable feedback to your restaurant reservation system. You can enhance both your food items and service quality and other things related to the restaurant. And become better at working on the given feedback of customers.

At the same time, a lot of people who haven’t been to your restaurant exist. They will judge the quality of your restaurant by the feedback given by your customers. And people can decide whether to visit your place or not. If you get good feedback, more people will visit your place seeing that feedback.

Multiple Touchpoints

You will be able to use your restaurant reservation system on multiple touch points or devices such as desktops, laptops, tab, mobiles, etc. It is a great facility. As you will be able to operate the restaurant reservation system from anywhere using any device. You don’t need to stay at the restaurant counter all day long staring at the desktop.

Customer History

Restaurant reservation keeps track of every customer history who reserves a table using the reservation system. So using these data you can understand the behavior of your customer well. You can take the necessary measures to make sure that consumers are satisfied. And also the customer returns to your establishment repeatedly.

Targeted Advertising

If you have a restaurant reservation system integrated with your POS system. Then you have access to every customer data. You can utilize this information for your benefit. Most importantly, you can use this information to target the audience for any marketing campaign. Also, you can design a marketing campaign by exploring your previous customer's behavior.  

Flawless Information Transfer

A restaurant reservation system automatically passes all the information of every customer who reserves a table using the reservation system to the POS system. This is a great benefit. As the restaurant reservation system passes the information on every reservation made by each customer to the POS system. It helps the POS system automatically keep track of every sale and transaction made by the reservation system. Also, add this information to calculate the total revenue of the restaurant. And keep track of the overall sale.

If your restaurant doesn’t have a POS system integrated with the reservation system many problems can happen. Such as, you have to manually enter all the information of the customer who reserved a table. As man is mortal, many mistakes can happen while entering information into the POS system manually. It requires a lot of time at the same time. You can save your time and have error-free data in your POS system automatically with the restaurant reservation system.

Cost Of Restaurant Reservation System

A restaurant reservation system provides significantly greater convenience for both restaurant owners and diners. But a restaurant owner knows what it takes to run a restaurant. Restaurant owners make great revenue from their eatery. But they also have to spend a good fortune to run their business smoothly.

So if a restaurant owner is considering integrating restaurant reservation software. And allow his/her customers to enjoy the next level of comfort. Then a restaurant owner has to add another expense to his/her paycheck. Which is heavy. But considering all the benefits that come with the restaurant reservation software, it’s worth it.

But still, affordability is a big concern. So before integrating any new software, restaurant owners should know all the expenses that come with it. And do a good calculation of whether they can or cannot afford it.

Here is everything a restaurant owner should know about the expense of a restaurant reservation system. 

1. Integration Cost

You must pay for integration every time you introduce new software into your business. The same goes for the restaurant reservation system. You have to pay an integration fee.   

2. Subscription Fee

You have to pay a monthly or annual fee to use your restaurant reservation system. It varies from platform to platform. A third-party reservation system has different policies than a private reservations system platform. 

3. Transaction Fee

Every time a business gets payment from a customer, it must pay a transaction charge. The transaction charge can change based on the service chosen by the customer.

4. Average Check Size

To evaluate the worth of the patrons, restaurateurs often use the average check as a statistic. To figure it out, just divide the sum of all sales for a particular time by the sum of all customers for that same period.

5. Numbers Of Cover Every Month

The average cover is another name for the word “number of the cover”. Average cover refers to the average cost of a client's meal. This represents an average or overall client at all hours of the day. To calculate average cover, divide total sales by the total number of customers served. 

Best Reservation System For Your Restaurant

There are a lot of restaurant reservation apps or systems available in the market. Some of the companies provide a free restaurant reservation system. But the best free restaurant reservation system might not be the best choice for your restaurant. And some restaurant reservation apps are not free. The best reservation app for restaurants is RestoraPOS. It is a paid restaurant point of sale that also has a restaurant reservation system. It is paid but it has a lot of other facilities.

Conclusion

The restaurant reservation system is an important part of running a successful restaurant. It allows the restaurant to plan for the day, knowing how many tables to prepare for and when certain tables will be available. It also helps to ensure that the restaurant is fully staffed and ready to serve customers. The system is often the first point of contact for customers. And the restaurant reservation system must be as efficient as possible. So that the restaurant can continue to serve customers, and meet the needs of a successful business.