143 Sperry Blvd. New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11040
support@restaurantpos.com
Tel. 516.770.6661

Internet Restaurant Reservations

The ResPAK Internet reservations module offers a modern approach to booking restaurant reservations online. This feature is designed to cater to a wide range of establishments including restaurants, cafes, clubs, hotels, and casinos. Increase patronage to your restaurant by offering a simple, no-hassle method of making a reservation - by making it possible to book reservations through your existing web site.

Some of the reasons why you should take reservations for your restaurant over the Internet:

• To take reservations both during and after business hours (when most customers make reservations)
• To have a database of all of your customers for customer relations management and marketing purposes.
• To enable each property to undertake individual marketing campaigns based on the customer database.
• To enable authorized patrons to view and alter their account details online. Patrons can also view their booking history and, if permitted, cancel reservations.
• To automatically confirm reservations by email or SMS (cell phone text messaging).
• To be able to receive live information on table availability.
• To provide restaurant management with total control over all aspects of the Internet reservations.

Booking restaurant reservations via the internet solves several problems at once:

• On the average, it costs a restaurant $3 - $4 per reservations by phone; in contrast, Internet reservations only cost about $1 per reservation.
• Internet reservations quickly help fill the typical 12% of reservations that are cancelled.
• Some patrons prefer being able to book a reservation without having to speak to a person. They can make the reservation at their leisure.
• Restaurant owners save time and money by allowing customer to make their own reservations instead of tying up valuable restaurant staff on the phone.

For diners, Internet reservations are the next-best thing to standing at the shoulder of the maitre d or host. Most of the customer web sites featuring ResPAK operate in real time, which means that the moment a table opens up (say, because of a cancellation), it becomes available on the Web site. Restaurateurs say it's best to check the sites around 5 p.m., because that's the time of day when restaurants often release tables that were being held in reserve.

The companies offer restaurants software that lets them track their guests - how often they dine, for example - and even rate them based on factors such as whether they show up for their reservations on time. As a result, when guests with high scores phone in for their next reservation, they can be rewarded with special treatment such as getting first shot on a busy weekend evening.

About 26 percent of the Internet reservations made are booked between the hours of 10 p.m. and 9 a.m., when many restaurants do not take reservations by phone.

Taking reservations used to involve nothing more than paper, pencil and a phone. Now, however, online reservation sites have exploded onto the scene, vying for consumer eyeballs and promising to help restaurateurs fill empty seats.