10 important must have features in a restaurant booking system

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Jasmin

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Managing a restaurant isn’t an easy job. There are a lot of tasks and things to keep track of all the time, in order to give your customers the best service and food there is to offer. In this blog post, we will go through the must-have features of a restaurant booking system. The purpose of the features is to reduce any unnecessary time you spend on, for example, trying to increase your revenue manually when there’s a system that could help you with that!

must have features
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First of all, having the option of handling and managing your bookings is the most important feature to look for in a booking system. You may want to get notified via SMS and/or e-mail when customers book a table at your restaurant. The second most important feature for a booking system is being able to integrate it on any type of device. Whether it’s a phone, tablet, or computer. Whatever works best for your restaurant!

Read more about what criteria to look for in an online booking system.

Increase revenue and reduce no-shows with a restaurant booking system

To be able to give the best experience to your customers, and, at the same time, make the most out of your business, is the end goal. An important feature that reduces restaurant no-shows is important. Having the option to overview and keep track of guests who don’t show up to their scheduled booking reduces the potential loss of revenue. With resOS booking system, you can, for example, flag a customer as a “no-show”, which in the long run can help you increase revenue.

Read more about this cool feature here!

Another one of the must-have features you should look for in a booking system is to take pre-payment for all or some of the bookings. In order to book a table at your restaurant, a guest has to pay a fee. Being able to turn it on and off for certain times or areas in your restaurant is also something that you should look for!

must have features
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Keep track of all your bookings

Keeping track of all of the bookings that have been made at your restaurant can also be a struggle. Therefore, having multiple options on how to keep an overview of your restaurant bookings is a must-have feature. Choosing between seeing all the bookings in a month or a day, viewing it either as a list or as a floor plan overview. With the visual table planner, you can easily set up tables that reflect how your restaurant looks in real life. This will make it easy for your staff members to keep better track of which tables are booked at which times and with what names.
Read about resOS visual table planner here.

Furthermore, setting up different seatings for the guests when they visit your restaurant makes it easier for your staff to get breaks and prepare for the next guests. This is also a must-have feature.

must have features
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Integrate social media platforms and make the experience easier for your guests

As a customer at a restaurant, you don’t want too much hassle when booking a table. Having the possibility to integrate social media platforms into your webpage will make it easier for your guests to book a table and can increase your bookings! With a booking link on every social media platform that your restaurant has, your customers will find the booking experience a lot easier than if they have to spend too much time looking for it. And on the same line, another feature is easy communication between your restaurant and your guests, so that there won’t be misunderstandings and can reduce no-shows!

must have features
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The last two must have features in a restaurant booking system is focused on guest feedback and tracking. Asking for guest-feedback, and tracking/analyzing your existing feedback, overall helps you improve and optimize what guests appreciate about your restaurant. Most people look for ratings and reviews of an eatery before visiting it. And this is exactly why encouraging previous guests to give input of what they thought about their experience is crucial!

Learn about resOS tracking feature here!

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Need a booking system with all of these features? Try resOS

We understand that knowing which features to look for in a restaurant booking system isn’t easy. That’s why we created resOS the way we did. To ease your daily work and help you out in the best way possible! Are you interested in trying out resOS? Do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you as soon as we possibly can.

Frequently asked questions

How does the no-show feature work?

This feature allows you to requires guests to add their credit card when they book a table. The system will charge them automatically if they don't show up for their booking. Also, the guests will be flagged as 'bad guests', which means that you will be warned next time they book a table.

How does the visual table planner work?

You get a complete overview of bookings and tables in real-time. The table planner allows you to see available, reserved, and occupied tables at a glance with smart color codes. This feature makes it easier to allocate guests and improve your daily routines.

How does the guest feedback feature work?

Send the guests an automatic notification with a request to review their visit at your restaurant. You will get valuable insights about how guests evaluate the service, food, and atmosphere. Also, you can encourage happy guests to leave a review on your social media platforms.

How does the prepayment feature work?

This feature allows you to charge guests a prepayment fee when they book a table. You can define the criteria for when and how you want to charge a prepayment. Also, define how long in advance a booking can be canceled and a prepayment refunded.

Do you have any other questions?

Do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.

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