How to reduce no-shows in your restaurant

Two simple actions can help restaurants reduce no-shows by up to almost half, research by Elavon shows.

We asked more than 1,000 adults in Ireland what, if anything, would encourage them to honour a booking for a meal. 

Most diners are a decent bunch, with almost three in five (57%) respondents saying they would always honour a reservation or cancel in advance. 

But either asking for a deposit or reminding customers they have a booking would encourage many of the potential no-shows to turn up. 

Of the 43% who admitted to not always honouring a booking, over a third of these (37%) said a 10% deposit would encourage them to turn up and 16% said a deposit per person would discourage no-shows.

“We’ve seen a rise in no-shows for bookings in lots of different business types but the restaurant trade, which is still recovering from Covid, has been particularly badly hit,” said David Wheatcroft, Head of European Corporate Hospitality at Elavon.

“What this shows is that with a little thought, you can reduce the number of people who fail to turn up to a pre-booked table. 

“A decent point-of-sale system [POS] will connect your booking system with your billing system. That way, it can send out reminders, either by text or email, to diners or arrange for deposits to be deducted from the final bill – all without creating any extra work for you or your team.” 

For those who don’t have the technology to take deposits, or who are worried that asking for a deposit could discourage diners, simply reminding customers they have a booking is an easy win. 

“This act of reminding a customer they have a reservation can serve as a double benefit to you,” says David.

“Not only are you potentially reducing the likelihood of a no-show, but you’ve also got an opportunity to build a relationship with a customer. You could link it with a loyalty scheme or follow up after they’ve visited to get feedback and offer repeat sales. 

“If you need help with setting that up, and with keeping your diners’ data secure and within the law, talk to us.”

Elavon is a leading payments partner for restaurants and cafés in Ireland. Our in-house experts can help you find a speedy, secure payments system that also helps you manage your business – everything from stock levels and staff timetabling, to splitting bills and making stubborn no-show numbers a little more palatable. 

Whatever you decide is best for your restaurant, we can help you combine it with your payments system. Any questions? Just get in touch.

Source: Yonder conducted an online sample of 1,082 adults 18+ in Ireland between 8 – 14 March 2023. Data is weighted to be representative of the known population of Ireland. Yonder is a founding member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.  

Which of the following would encourage you to turn up to a restaurant booking? Tabled rebased to exclude those who said they would always honour a booking.