How does an online restaurant booking system work?

As specialist software providers of a leading restaurant booking system, we at Access are asked these questions regularly by our customers, so we know our stuff when it comes to the tech behind the software.

In this article, we’re going to look at how both the consumer-facing front-end user interface and the more technical back-end functionality of an online booking system work. But first, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page and clear up what an online booking system is and what purpose it serves.

What is an online restaurant booking system?

An online booking system is software that enables potential customers to reserve a table at a preferred time and date at a restaurant, pub, bar, or other venues online.

Customers can usually self-book directly from social media channels and Google search as well as through your business website and can usually select from available dates and time slots as well as determine how many people will be in their party.

Some online booking systems offer additional services such as taking pre-payments and deposits, collecting pre-orders, or offering alternative venue suggestions as well as a range of operational tools to help you maximise bookings such as queue and table management.

As bookings are made online, customers don’t need to phone ahead or come into the restaurant to reserve their table, they can do it with a few clicks of a button from any internet-enabled device at any time of the day.

What is the purpose of an online booking system in a restaurant?

An online booking system makes it easier for restaurants, pubs, bars, and other hospitality venues to manage reservations in their venue. In the past, most venues had to rely on a paper booking diary with customers phoning in to make a reservation. This method has several disadvantages for businesses as it takes more time to answer enquiries in person, which means you can only take reservations during opening hours and may lose out on bookings if customers can’t get through on the phone.

Moving to an online booking system frees up time for your staff and makes managing reservations much easier. With the added functions of an online booking system, your teams can also usually improve table planning for bookings, send booking reminders to reduce the rate of no-shows and collect pre-orders, pre-payments, and deposits easily.

And it’s not just staff that find an online booking system easier, as technology improves customer experiences it has become an expected offering. According to our own Tech Shift Report, 54% of diners said they would be deterred from visiting a restaurant if they couldn’t pre-book online.

Using an online booking system has many benefits for restaurants, such as:

• Relieves pressure on your phone lines and other booking channels
• Saves time in managing bookings
• Frees staff to do their job of serving customers
• Enables better planning
• Maximises space
• Help reduces no-shows

How does an online booking system work?

An online booking system has two aspects; the customer-facing booking service where they submit their reservation request – this should be easy to use and have all the information available for potential guests to aid in conversation and the back-end platform that you and your teams use to manage your bookings, tables and customer information.

The way it works largely depends on your provider and what tools are available to you. Here, we look at both aspects in more detail to help you understand how it works but don’t worry, we’re not getting too technical here – this is more about the user interface for both customers and staff rather than getting into the programming behind the scenes.

What does your customer see?

One of the first things you want to know is how will your customers book a table through your new online booking system.

Let’s go through it step by step:

1. Choosing a venue

Your potential customers are increasingly heading online to choose a venue to visit. If they already know where they want to go, they might head straight to your website to see if they can book a table, but customers who haven’t decided might head to social media, Google, or a discovery platform to choose a venue. Whichever way they choose a venue, they will most likely complete their booking on the same platform.

This is where your online booking system comes in. Your online booking system will usually work by either having a hosted booking page – an external link that is hosted by a third party, an embedded booking widget – this is very easy to implement with a short-code being added to your website HTML or a booking plugin – similar to a widget in terms of implementation.

2. Search, select and secure

Next, the customer uses the booking widget on their chosen platform to search for the date they wish to book for and inputs the number of guests in their party before being presented with a list of available times. Once decided, they select a time and input their name and contact details to secure the booking.

3. Receive confirmation

Once the previous two steps have been completed and provided the customer has given the correct details, they will receive confirmation of their booking via email or text.

Back-end management

The system’s back-end – or dashboard – is the area where you and your team can view your customer’s bookings and data, as well as manage any other tools available. Here’s the technical stuff you need to know about your chosen booking system:

Booking management

With most online booking systems, you’ll manage all the back-end stuff from a cloud-based platform with a sign-in that’s accessible on any device at any time.

The first thing you’ll usually see on signing in is your dashboard overview of all your bookings across the business possibly separated by a day, week, or month view. From here you should be able to navigate to other tools available in the system, such are a few examples:

Table management

If your booking system includes a table management tool, then this will usually have a digital interpretation of your dining space for you to manage the available space in your venue. In Access Collins, this is a drag-and-drop tool that allows you to visually manage your space. This is especially useful when planning for special events and periods, such as maximising how many large parties you can sit for Christmas dinners or creating more two-seater tables for Valentine’s events.

Communications

This is the place where you can access, review, and edit your automated booking communications such as booking confirmations and reminders, and retrieve any customer information such as special requests, allergens, or other information.

Manage the booking journey

This again depends on your provider, but if your booking system allows you to offer pre-orders, upsell offers, and promotions as part of the booking journey, you can manage all the details from the booking platform. Whether that’s adding the option to add a bottle of wine for the table to the booking or allowing guests to choose menu items before they visit.

Things to check with your provider:

• What tools and functionality are available?
• What can I automate?
• What can I change myself?

Integrations

Many online booking systems let you integrate with other tools and software providers using an API or plugin. This might include integration with third-party booking platforms like Google Reserve or another software system such as an EPoS system so that pre-payments and orders are communicated between systems.

These kinds of integrations are usually handled by your software provider – so depending on the functionality available and what your business needs the back-end integrations will be set up for you.

Things to check with your provider:

• Does the booking system integrate with your EPoS and stock software?
• Does the booking system integrate with your chosen review, feedback, or communication software systems?
• Which online payments are supported by the booking system?

Choosing a booking system that’s right for your business

When choosing a restaurant booking system for your business you need to think about a few factors. How it works and the steps you need to take to get started with a new booking system are one of the first questions you should ask.

Think about:

• What other software am I using that I would like to integrate with my online booking platform?
• What tools and functionality are available on the booking system platform?
• What does the customer booking journey look like?
• You might also be interested in how much a reservation system costs or how to choose the best reservation system to help you decide which system is right for you.

You might also be interested in how much a reservation system costs or how to choose the best reservation system to help you decide which system is right for you.

When does a restaurant NOT need a booking system?

The most important thing to us is that you invest your money in the right software that will help your business, and that means knowing when you shouldn’t invest in an online booking system. Here are some instances where you might not need an online booking system:

Want to learn more about online booking solutions for restaurants?

In this article, we’ve learned about what an online booking system offers and how it benefits a business, as well as how it works from both a customer and staff perspective. Learning how the booking system works will help you ask the right questions when it comes to choosing a system for your business.

Some information about the Access Collins online booking system:

• Uses an easy-to-install website widget to facilitate online bookings
• Takes deposits, pre-orders and pre-payments online
• Has a drag-and-drop table management tool
• Allows you to automate tasks and customer communications to save hundreds of hours of time
• Integrates with Access Collins EPoS system as well as your CRM system, reporting tools and other external systems
• Integrates with Access Tonic ticketing system and Soda voucher management software

Ready to see what Access Collins can do for your business? Fill out the form to chat with our product specialists.