The ability to reserve a table at a restaurant helps to relieve a lot of stress. You do not have to waste time looking for a place with free seats or waiting for a table to become free. Thanks to the reservation service, you will receive only pleasant emotions from dinner at a restaurant and will be able to fully concentrate on your interlocutors.

Steps

How to plan ahead

Choose a restaurant. First of all, you need to decide which institution you want to visit. Not all restaurants allow you to reserve a table, even with high occupancy. For example, in small or new restaurants, this option may not be available due to the lack of regular customers. Before trying to book a table, you should find out the rules of the institution.

1. Determine the number of guests. After choosing a restaurant, you need to decide how many people will come to dinner with you. Waiting times may vary depending on the size of the company. For example, if there are only two of you, then it will probably be easier to find a table, but the task will be more difficult if a company of 10 people is planned. Also, the number of people can affect how much in advance you need to reserve a table.

   • Even if you're not sure if a person will be able to come, still reserve a table with that person in mind. Better to have a seat at the table than to look for another chair in a full establishment.

2. Choose a date and time. The amount of free space may depend on the day of the week. For example, it is usually easier to reserve a table on a weekday than on a weekend. It is also easier to find a free table during the “quiet hours” than during the usual “peak times” for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

   • Always plan a spare date and time in case the establishment does not have free tables on the originally selected day.

3. Check your phone and email inbox regularly for updates. After booking a table online, you should receive a confirmation by e-mail or in a message. In some cases, you will need to follow a link or press a button to confirm your order. You may also be sent links to cancel or change the reservation time in case of such a need.

   • Many table booking sites also offer discount coupons and special point programs that can be redeemed for a variety of services.
   • If there is no cancellation link, please call the restaurant by phone.

• Many high-traffic restaurants do not provide a reservation service, so there are queues near popular spots. Prepare to wait if you want to get into such an establishment.
• Credit card companies often offer restaurant discounts as part of their reward program to attract more customers, and some elite cards may even offer exclusive access to popular establishments.

Warnings

• Some restaurants require you to provide your credit card number at the time of booking and will charge a no-show fee if you do not show up on time and cancel in advance.

Book a table in a cafe can be found right now on Find-A-Table

Find-A-Table will allow you to book a table at the best cafe

When you have a free evening, it creates a great reason to visit a cafe or restaurant. Residents and guests of the city of Krasnodar were lucky. They can choose one of the best cafes with excellent service and cuisine from the comfort of their home. For these purposes, the online service Find-A-Table works, which offers a large selection of establishments for every taste, in the truest sense of the word. On the service website, you can book a table in a cafe, study reviews and the level of service for each of the proposed objects. Thanks to the excellent information base, you can find out everything you need to know and choose the best solution for your free time.
Now walks with a visit to a cafe can become much more accessible and interesting. The availability of dinner is explained by the fact that the catalog of options contains many establishments of the middle price range. By the way, you can limit it yourself in the search bar. Delicious cuisine, excellent customer service and a cozy atmosphere are guaranteed in all restaurants selected on the Find-A-Table. You only have to book a table in a cafe for yourself.
Find-A-Table cares not only about the comfort of choosing a restaurant, but also about the possibilities of spending time in general. Forget boring TV nights! The new service will inform you about what parties and celebrations are planned in Krasnodar.

Find-A-Table makes it easy to book a table in a cafe!

How to choose the best cafe for your evening break? Perhaps, it is worth starting with the type of institution you wish to visit. The assortment does not stop only at cafes, restaurants and sushi bars. The category list includes ice cream parlors, pastry establishments, grill restaurants, karaoke clubs and even gastropubs. Beer restaurants, art cafes, self-service restaurants, suburban complexes continue this list. Still not decided where to book tables in a cafe for your company? Then familiarize yourself with the topics in more detail on the Find-A-Table website. Each of them is described in more than detail.
Appropriate cuisine will help make your dinner truly unique. The cuisine of each restaurant is excellent in its own way, but thanks to the service you can choose not just a good menu, but a menu that matches the culture of a certain people or even an entire era. For example, you can choose establishments with Soviet cuisine, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Russian, Italian or even Yugoslavian. Several dozen options will not leave you without a delicious dinner.

Book tables for your guests. Customers will be glad that they will be guaranteed to get to their favorite establishment, and you will be able to better control and analyze the load of the hall.

Table reservations are available in and open:

- on devices with iOS 11 and newer;

- on all tablets with Android;

- in the Poster application for Windows.

To book a table:

≡ and select New reservation.

In the window New bookingindicate date and time, number of guests and duration the time that the table will be busy.

Write phone number and customer name.

In field Group select a group of clients of the bonus or discount system from the drop-down list. If you do not have customer groups, create them in the admin panel in the tab Marketing → Client groups.

In field Comment write the wishes of the guests or everything that is important to know about the reservation. For example, "high chair", "flower vase".

Click Select a table and select a table on the hall map.

💡 To quickly accept a booking, select tableon the hall map and click + New booking.

View, confirm and cancel bookings in the booking calendar:

Click in the upper right corner on ≡ and select Booking.

In the tab Schedule see the hourly schedule of free and booked tables for a day:

— yellow intervals show tables with open receipts and the time the table is busy;
— in blue shows the time interval during which the table is reserved. It displays the booking start time, customer name and number of guests.
Open the reservation view card to cancel the reservation or confirm the table reservation and open the receipt.

1. In the tab List see the schedule all reserved tables, contacts and wishes of guests.

Control for each room and table.

We have recently launched Yell Restaurants - an application that allows you to easily book a table at your favorite restaurant online. This is a great solution for guests, but how good is it for restaurant owners? We decided to interview HoReCa experts, and their opinions differed.

Alexander Uvarov, Managing Director "Tiki Bara »

Online booking services are a logical step in the development of e-commerce. Another question is how much such a format is in demand by customers and how beneficial it is for the restaurants themselves.

On the one hand, online booking systems are an important option for guests who actively use modern Internet technologies. With their help, a person can quickly book a table in his favorite restaurant, anywhere - in a traffic jam or at a meeting. And if a restaurant does not keep up with the times, then it risks losing such customers.

On the other hand, we must honestly admit that while online booking services are more useful to guests than to the establishment, and restaurants cooperate with them only because of the popularity of mobile technologies. In terms of profitability, online booking services are not an additional source to attract guests, but rather an intermediary claiming a certain percentage of the check.

Plus, working with such services is an additional burden for restaurant staff, who, in addition to communicating with guests, spends time and effort on communicating with the managers of the reservation service. In addition, the booking systems themselves are far from perfect: there are serious shortcomings in the calculation and verification scheme of guests, software malfunctions periodically occur, etc.

Online reservations today represent a very small percentage of the total number of reservations at Tiki Bar. And the no-show rate for online bookings is much higher compared to standard phone bookings. A simple psychological factor is at work here: the more a person makes an effort to book a table - making a call - the more seriously he takes it, and online booking with one touch creates the illusion of optionality.

In general, while online booking services are rather an additional option for the convenience of our guests, which does not generate income for Tiki-Bar. Indeed, today the very fact of the presence or absence of online booking is not a decisive factor for a client to visit a restaurant.

Dmitry Stilin, Marketing Director, Pub Life Group (Tap & Barrel Pub , The Tipsy Pub, Lion's Head Pub andDrunken Duck Pub )

It may seem to some that it would be better for guests to visit their own website, but online booking services spend money on promotion, and your establishment is still in an advantageous position by being placed on them. The number of reservations made through services varies greatly depending on the concept of the restaurant. Most of all, through the services there is a reservation in the so-called family restaurants.

Any service placing you on its pages is a plus for the establishment, regardless of the number of reservations made through it. Regular customers will still book directly. After all, every normal restaurant has online reservations on its website and such services are not fundamental. But since they are there, the restaurant needs to be present to increase the reach of its audience. 10% of the check is an ideal collaboration system that does not burden staff with third-party calculations and memorization. A specific amount per guest is not always a profitable option for a restaurant, and with a large flow, it is simply inconvenient.

Valeria Efremova, General Director of the restaurant " »

It was for us that this system for some reason absolutely did not work. We cooperate with many companies, but no particular effect is observed. This happens for a number of reasons. For example, the human factor. So, an operator who accepts an application for a banquet by phone (and often the guests call) is more likely to persuade him to a restaurant that is more profitable for him - maybe he loves it himself, or maybe he gets a separate commission for this. Tables are booked in advance mainly for a romantic meeting or business. The company often already has a favorite spot. If the meeting is business, then most likely the institution will be selected on a territorial basis (here you are lucky, and the restaurant is not able to change anything), but lovers will most likely pay enough attention to the search, and if yours is romantic and tasty (and we have it that way), then they will definitely come.

As you can see, the probability of ordering a table is not very high. Add to this competition, cancellation / non-arrival, speculation in booking (for holidays, for example), etc. - we get the result of our restaurant - this is 1-2 tables per week on average. Therefore, we do not place special bets on these services. We are accommodated on them, of course, “to be,” but we do not harbor illusions.
The most effective method of promoting on the Internet is still Yandex Direct.

How many guests should such a service bring to your restaurant in order for you to use its services?

It would seem that the answer is obvious - the more, the better. However, imagine that you have a full seating in the hall by pre-ordering online. At the same time, your profit is reduced by% commission, and regular guests have nowhere to stay. Again, the average bill is important, not the number of persons.

What needs to be done to make online booking popular among Russian users?

Any business (in the service sector) is generally based on fashion and / or laziness. You need to build on this. You can offer at the same time the service of giving a taxi at a certain time, pre-ordering and prepayment of the order (i.e. the guest prepares an order for the evening through the website in advance - such a mini-banquet is obtained), a musician with a choice of a certain repertoire, etc.
This is in terms of service and laziness item. Well, making it fashionable is not so difficult. An online booking site is not a piece of architectural art that once built and cannot be fixed. You can experiment and you need to unwind.

Alexey Pospekhov, Managing Director of the FUTUR CAPITAL Fund

Our foundation considered several projects for online table reservation, both based on existing POS systems and separate software.

This solution is undoubtedly a cool and necessary feature, but everything is as usual - it rests against the peculiarities of local Russian business processes.

Let's start with the fact that 90% of the POS systems market in Russia belongs to UCS (software brand - RKEEPER), which is distinguished by a total Soviet approach to its products. 50% of this company, not so long ago, was bought by Rambler, thanks to which they enclose the entire HORECA eco-system - from table reservations to the integration of fintech mobile services with a loyalty program.

The second part of table reservations rests on the personal factor, when the manager of the establishment with one wave of his hand, for the sake of a "more important guest", can demolish the online reservation, which will damage the reputation of not so much the establishment as the mobile service that provided this service.

There was no link to the average check in our projects.

We saw the most suitable business model, where establishments paid a certain fixed cost (from 50 to 350 rubles) for a person who came through a similar service. All other decisions are quite difficult to implement, and also run up against the motivation of staff "in the field".

In any case, if Rambler successfully reorganizes the UCS company and introduces new features into its RKEEPER software, it will be impossible to compete with a company that owns 90% of the market. For its part, Rambler will be able to offer restaurants, in return for a small commission, expanded options for the loyalty program, payments from smartphones, and other solutions that will force managers of establishments to use their solutions.