#NoMoreNoShows. Let’s talk about No-Shows & how eatPOS can help
Many chefs and restaurateurs in the hospitality industry have worked for years to build their eateries, hard work and dedication to build a reputable brand behind their business. No-shows are on the rise, and we want to help.
With the pandemic taking its toll on the world, the hospitality industry has been one of the worst affected industries with countless businesses having to close their doors due to a lack of trade. The swan in Monks Eleigh spoke to BBC after a virtually empty return back to business stating “We need people to realise that we need them back because next year is a long way away when you’ve got no trade”. This government said it would help businesses within the industry by reducing VAT from 20% to 5% for six months and offering diners a discount of up to £10 per head with the eat out to help out scheme, but is that enough?
No-shows can be fatal to businesses, it is more important than ever for customers to be considerate and patient within the hospitality industry. Restaurants are having to change the way they operate, and evolve, to ensure they are adhering to social distance regulations. With all of these barriers it seems that no-shows are still proving to be the biggest problem for businesses. This is all too familiar for The Mariners restaurant in Rock, Paul Ainsworth spoke to the BBC and said his business has suffered a “record amount” of no-shows, where customers had made a booking and did not turn up. An image shared on social media showed a total of 27 no-shows in a single day for The Mariners. Such situations will surely make the recovery from Covid ever more difficult for businesses.
How can we help?
We have seen since the reopening of sit in operation on July 4, a number of our clients struggle with no-shows. At eatPOS we thrive on having a personal & friendly relation with our clients, we want to help innovate the EPOS industry which we have, by providing an array of integrated products all designed and developed by us, cutting out the middle man. With that being said we want to eliminate no-shows and we have a solution in doing so.
The above image is part of our online reservation system, now with the ability to take a mandatory deposit when booking.
With the knowledge and experience garnered by the eatPOS development team (over 75 years within hospitality from restaurants to hotels), we believe it is more crucial than ever for businesses to implement a mandatory deposit when customers want to book in advanced. A mandatory deposit will reduce the number of no-shows and it’s an innovative step restaurateurs and businesses alike should incorporate in the efforts to eliminate no-shows. Speaking to Sky news, Michelin chef Tom Kerridge commented restaurants are moving to a model where “full payment” is taken online for reservations and we think that could very well be the answer to help reduce no-shows and will help give businesses the confidence in its customers.
Our EPOS software also has the ability to take deposits on your EPOS till! Within the table reservation page, you are able to create a reservation with a prepaid deposit.
By navigating to Tables, we can click our desired table (in this case FS1) and press New which will allow us to add a new reservation. From here we are able to enter a deposit the customer has paid, in the image above we can see a deposit of £10 has been added. It’s as simple as that.
We are committed to helping customers through these unpredictable times and we are constantly innovating to provide you the best experience and most seamless integration within the hospitality industry. For more information, please visit here, fill out the contact form today and one of our helpful consultants will guide you on our all in one solution, and provide you with the insight to increase efficiency within your operation.