Whether you’re a high-end spot in a thriving city centre or a corner shop cafe in a bustling town, small restaurants need to save as much money as possible. A free reservation system for restaurants is up for grabs, and now managing your tables with smartphone technology can help you maintain necessary savings in 2021.
Figure 1. Al Sur De Granada by Paul VanDerWerf via Flickr
Customers Love Independent Restaurants
Independent restaurants are in style.
In the past five years, journalists have reported a steady turn in what customers are looking for in today’s restaurants — from snug places in Paris’s hidden streets to nine-seater cafes in New York’s Soho district.
Contemporary fashions have their own demands. As such three writers at Bloomberg, an online magazine, figured out the style of the restaurant scene today. “The hottest commodity in restaurants right now is not purple asparagus or black sesame tahini,” they wrote, boldly. “It’s space.”
Today, figures show that this is true. Industry leaders are observing an increase in demand, a new taste, for distinguishable locally owned businesses. One said that 65 per cent of Brits are going local, that is, favouring the start-up restaurant at the edge of town rather than the national chain in the city centre.
This is good news. Smaller establishments are currently doing their best to stay running in 2021. They need the best start they can get, and an increase in popularity for their own way of doing things — i.e., sourcing local goods, keeping table count to a minimum — minimises worry for the immediate future.
It also spells out the obvious: more guests, more business, and more revenue.
In the end, this means growth. Small businesses will need to meet new demand with a capable pair of hands — staff on site and the added benefit of a booking system for small restaurants.
Reservation System for Restaurants — What is it?
A booking system for small restaurants makes dinner reservations easier both for you and your clientele. You can:
- Accept online reservations
- Manage upcoming reservations (add and edit)
- Use SMS notifications to inform guests about their bookings
- Improve service with accurate data input
Managing bookings with a reservation system for restaurants acts as an alternative to an antiquated pen-and-paper logbook system.
Via a heads-up display, you will be able to accept and manage customer reservations via the web. Customers make reservations in their own time.
Yet the main thing to watch out for is a pain for all restaurants to bear, big and small: the cost.
How Much Does a Reservation System for Restaurants Cost?
First, you’ll confront a subscription cost that varies with the provider. Free trials are available but price options range between £30—£120 a month for top services.
Second, features and add-ons will bump up the price. Extra tools for managing your table capacity (such as point-of-sale options) and customisable software suited to your own restaurant’s service will cost more.
Most providers charge on a per-cover basis, usually known as a pay-per-use model. When a customer makes a reservation with you, your restaurant will have to pay for their bookings on an individual level — sometimes between £0.2 to £2 for each booking made via the system.
This applies more to big restaurants that take so many covers per month; as a result, they witness their outgoings soar. Nevertheless, it’s still a pain for smaller establishments that have to pay for their own seats.
Software providers should take pride in helping their clients prosper — not chip away at a restaurant’s bank account with multiple fees based on their own policies. To meet current demand, this money could go elsewhere as necessary funds to help restaurants make the most out of their business.
Figure 2. The Corner II by Eden via Flickr
Reservation System for Restaurants to Meet Current Demand
Recently, a UK survey wrote about the many independent restaurants set to open in Autumn 2021. From comfy Scottish inns to busy inner-city venues — all the featured venues are independent places that set out to face the competition. That is, they’re all open for bookings.
A restaurant’s opening week is their make-or-break scenario. Small venues opening their venues for the first time can’t afford to waste a single penny. Places like the Old Pharmacy, Somerset, have witnessed slow but steady growth from a weekend grocery shop to a full-blown wine bar and restaurant, specialising in seasonal British classics.
The Old Pharmacy celebrates local cuisine with a menu teeming with traditional foods. Reliant on local suppliers, owner Merlin Labron-Johnson selects most of his produce (i.e., vegetables, leaves, herbs) from his own farm nearby. Self-sufficiency is key.
Taking in its first guests there’s no way a venue like this in its transitional stage can afford to pay for a booking system for small restaurants.
Restaurants like the Old Pharmacy need the best they can get: a free reservation system for restaurants.
Figure 3. Cafe by MIKI Yoshihito via Flickr
Free Reservation System for Restaurants
The best way for independent restaurants to meet demand is to waste no time and money, to keep their heads above water with a free table booking system.
Restaurant software has thrived on charging restaurants extra fees for ages. It’s time that someone did more.
Carbonara App is the first-ever free reservation system for restaurants designed with independent chains in mind.
These establishments rely both on a loyal clientele and an efficient team to keep business moving. The combined burden of payrolls, cost of goods, insurance costs, utility bills, and overhead rent mean that most locally owned places have zero funds to spare for anything extra.
Rather than add to a small restaurant’s overall outgoings, Carbonara App is here to help you boost your indoor revenue. We’re truly free because the world of hospitality needs it more than ever.
Go with the recommended option — download a free table booking system today and let us know what you think!
