How to Combat No-Shows in Your Establishment?

Hundreds of reservations daily, yet only a fraction actually result in an occupied table: no-shows affect every establishment. This practice involves booking a table at a restaurant and failing to show up without prior cancellation. Beyond financial losses, this also leads to food waste for restaurateurs. If you find yourself in this situation, several solutions are available to mitigate the impact of no-shows without completely discontinuing reservation offerings.

1. Limit Reservations

Some establishments choose to offer reservations only on specific days or at particular times, thereby prioritizing walk-in guests. Others limit reservations to a certain number of covers or for large parties, as bookings for large groups are often more reliable than individual reservations.

To mitigate no-shows, you can also accept reservations for only a portion of your tables, thereby limiting the number of guests who might not arrive.

2. Offer Online Reservations

Many establishments now offer online reservations. While this system doesn't directly combat no-shows, it significantly helps to prevent them.

To make an online reservation, the customer must input specific information, enabling the establishment to contact them if necessary. When a reservation is made by phone, there's a possibility of errors in the name or phone number.

Online, customers are also sometimes asked to provide their banking information. The law permits restaurants to require a credit card imprint and to charge a predetermined amount if the customer fails to show up for the reservation.

3. Send Reservation Reminders

Thanks to online reservations, you can also automatically remind customers of their booking. You can implement an automated system that sends an SMS a few hours before the reservation to remind the customer that they have booked a table and can cancel it in case of unforeseen circumstances.

A significant portion of no-shows is due to forgotten reservations or cancellations. It is advisable to include a cancellation link in these SMS messages or emails to facilitate the cancellation process.

4. Conduct Anti-No-Show Campaigns

Many restaurateurs have decided to educate customers about the consequences of no-shows for their establishments. These campaigns take various forms: raising awareness about food waste resulting from no-shows, as well as highlighting customers who never bothered to cancel their reservations and still failed to appear.

Customers should also be reminded that this phenomenon incurs a significant cost for restaurants and can even lead to their closure if losses are too substantial, or to the discontinuation of reservation services.

5. Do Not Guarantee Tables for Late Arrivals

When a customer makes a reservation, you are entitled to inform them that if they do not arrive on time, their table may be allocated to other guests. Some online reservation platforms even maintain waiting lists for tables that are cancelled at the last minute and could be assigned to other customers in case of delays. This is a fairly effective way to limit food and financial losses for your establishment.

6. Request Re-confirmation

Our final piece of advice to avoid the scourge of no-shows is to always request re-confirmation from the customer that they will honor their reservation. Re-confirming with the customer is particularly useful for large group bookings, as it prevents you from unnecessarily preparing additional quantities that are not actually needed. This also serves as a reminder to the customer that they have made a reservation.