The Importance of Bookings

Written by Natalie Millington, Head of Customer Success at Zonal

26th June 2024

Booking systems have become an essential requirement for running pubs, restaurants, and bars, but if it’s not something you heavily rely on, when it comes to maintenance, it’s also an area that often gets forgotten.

Outside of work, I’m part of a management committee for a community owned pub in North Wales, and it was one of the first things I set out to install and promote the importance of.

The site only has a 34-seater dining area, and we’ve historically been much more wet-led, with a lot of regular drinkers. However, after implementing table bookings, we saw an immediate uptake in online bookings, bringing in between 20-30 covers every day that we are open for food. This has helped hugely with the planning of bar and kitchen rotas, as well as stock ordering.

3 main reasons to implement a booking system:

When deciding whether to implement a booking system, there are three key areas worth considering, which also serve as important reminders for those who have already adopted a system:

1. Improving your customer experience

Convenience: Customers can easily make reservations online, at any time of day, reducing the to call. This not only allows the customer to do this at a time convenient to them, but it can also reduce the staffing levels needed at site.

We saw that over 72% of those who had booked online had made those bookings at times when the pub was not open – when no one was on site to pick up the phone.

Reducing wait times: By managing reservations effectively, the system can minimise wait times, improving the overall dining experiences.

2. Improving operational efficiency

Better table management: A booking system helps optimise table assignments and turnover rates, ensuring that tables are used effectively. Having a two-way integration between your POS and booking system means you have real-time awareness of what stage a guest is at in their visit.
Before we had a booking system at our community-owned pub, we had a pen and paper diary, so we were much more reserved when trying to plan table arrangements and assignments. It even stopped us taking bookings with confidence.
Staff management: Having systems in place can assist with better forecasting of busy periods, aiding in appropriate staff scheduling and resource allocation.

3. Enhancing data collection and marketing

Customer insights: Booking systems collect data on customer behaviour and preferences, which allow for measurements in trends and demand. Knowing what your online guests are wanting to make a booking for can help the operator make decisions on layouts, floor plans and menu builds.

Targeted promotions: Once you have a booking platform in place, you can link the data collected from the system into CRM and loyalty platforms to take your marketing activity to the next level. Loyalty programmes bring increased customer retention, engagement and revenue when able to adopt more direct and relevant marketing.

Introducing the Zonal Bookings Health Check

To help our customers get more out of their booking system, the Customer Success team at Zonal have implemented a “Bookings Health Check” for those who use the Zonal Bookings suite.

Who is it aimed at?

Our aim is to reach any Zonal customer who may need more support or who doesn’t have a big head office team behind them.

What to expect during the Health Check

The review is broken down into 3 areas. You’ll be able to choose from one of the 3 to be reviewed. These are: Pre-order, Capacity Management and Booking Journeys.

Once the review has been completed, you’ll be supplied with a document outlining any suggested changes that can be made, or an offer of support to discuss 1-2-1 over a Teams call – making sure you’re getting the most out of Zonal Bookings.

How to request a Bookings Health Check

If you’re interested in taking part in a Bookings Health Check, simply click here to complete the online application form.

Your request will be sent direct to the Customer Success team, and you’ll receive a notification from them to say that your review is underway or being scheduled.

To discover more about Zonal Bookings, visit zonal.co.uk/bookings