How booking tools can keep control of reservations

The Coniston Hotel & Spa embraces ecommerce with Journey

Louise Bolton, director at the Coniston hotel, a country estate and spa in Skipton, North Yorkshire, says: “We struggled to attract new customers and realised that we weren’t focusing on digital as we didn’t have the expertise.

“We needed support, and Journey’s ecommerce platform has helped us become more shoppable and we’ve seen a lot of new business as a result. As well as live availability 24/7, guests can add extras to their shopping basket. The peak time for orders is 7pm to 9pm – times when reservations are usually closed and the reception team are busy with arrivals – which is why it’s vital to have an online booking platform that guests find easy to use. 

“We’ve seen a 60% increase year-on-year, with revenue driven to all areas of the business – the spa, restaurants and rooms.

“Our installation includes Google Analytics, payments and a customer relationship management system, so it was quite an involved process. Journey’s team ran quality checks throughout the process and provided training sessions for our team. There was ample time to test before we went live, and later follow-ups, which were appreciated as you may not always know what questions to ask when you first start using a tool.” 

The Shoulder of Mutton secures last-minute revenue with Tabology

Mark Stanforth took over the Shoulder of Mutton in Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire in October 2023, on a lease with Stonegate Pub Partners, and installed the Tabology Pub & Bar EPoS system on the recommendation of payments provider Zettle.

Tabology’s booking functionality is fully integrated with the EPoS, via a landing page with the booking widget built into it. There are also links to the bookings page from the pub’s Facebook, social media and Google Business page. As well as booking tables, customers can also order takeaways for collection.

Stanforth says: “Bookings come through to the EPoS system, which is much more straightforward than having a separate booking system, and I also get an email notification.”

Same-day bookings can be a challenge as care needs to be taken to avoid a last-minute booking being allocated to a table that’s just been occupied by a walk-in.

“We’ve set the system up so that if a booking is for less than four hours ahead, it comes through as a booking request which we have to confirm, and if it’s more than four hours it’s automatically confirmed. Equally, if a customer cancels a booking, the notification comes through to the EPoS.”

Butcher and Catch adds an extra sitting with Zonal

Independent Sheffield restaurant Butcher and Catch uses an integrated EPoS and booking system from Zonal. Customers can book from any device or channel with live availability, ensuring they always secure a table. With staff also benefiting from clear visibility of booked tables and diners, they can optimise seating arrangements and identify opportunities to maximise occupancy.

Adam Pearce, co-founder of Butcher and Catch, says: “Using Zonal Bookings meant we could open with confidence, knowing that we had full control over volume and the flow of bookings. We could protect ourselves from any potential negative customer experiences due to overbooking, which in turn led to a totally successful launch.”

“We have been able to analyse data for busy times – such as Friday and Saturday nights – and identify when most customers were requesting a table. By tweaking available booking times, we are now able to fit in an extra sitting, significantly increasing the yield and revenue.”

Dough LoCo fills more tables with Quandoo for Restaurants

Dough LoCo, a pizza restaurant with two sites in Lincoln, has been using Quandoo for Restaurants since 2022 to help reach more diners and increase reservations. It selected Quandoo for Restaurants because of the visibility that its marketplace provides.

Matt Barnes, owner of Dough LoCo, says: “We wanted a solution that would help us connect with more diners and get in front of people when they are still in decision-making mode. Quandoo’s marketplace allows diners to browse based on cuisine type, location, price point, real-time availability and more. From their search, they can then take a closer look at menus, reviews and images of the venue to make a decision and book a table. It means, regardless of whether a diner was thinking of us or not, we become visible as an option.”

Since using Quandoo for Restaurants, Dough LoCo has seen a significant increase in reservations. Barnes added: “Quandoo for Restaurants has helped us to widen our net and connect with diners who may not have come across our restaurants previously.”

Illustration: topvector/Shutterstock