Advance booking creates misunderstanding among hospitality guest

Telephone booking remains popular despite rise of digital booking tools

Over two in five (44%) Dutch people do not understand why they have to pay a deposit when placing an online reservation for a restaurant. More and more hospitality businesses are asking guests to pay a deposit as a measure against the rising number of no-shows. This is according to research by checkout and payment platform Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), which surveyed a thousand Dutch consumers.

No-shows on the rise

Based on the responses of Dutch consumers, this measure appears to be justified after all, with 17% indicating that they often make reservations at several restaurants at the same time and only decide at the last minute. One in 10 guests (9%) also admit to not informing the restaurant when they cannot make or respect their reservation.

Yet paying an advance does not necessarily seem necessary for every Dutch person. Over three quarters (77%) let them know when the number of people in their reservation changes. Even when guests would arrive earlier or later than their original reservation time, 72 per cent say they would inform the restaurant in question.

Telephone reservations remain popular

Thanks to the rise of online reservation tools, it has become a lot easier and less time-consuming for hospitality businesses to take reservations. Nevertheless, 72 per cent of Dutch consumers say they prefer to make reservations by phone. Just over half (55%) do so via restaurants' websites, while just over one in four (27%) prefer to do so via reservation websites such as Google or The Fork.

19 per cent choose to walk into catering establishments and place their reservations in person. Social media is at the bottom of the ladder as a reservation method with 11 per cent.

Walk-ins vs. reservations

Sometimes, hospitality businesses choose not to take reservations and only work with walk-ins, be it because of the increased risk of no-shows or because reservations would hamper rotation speed. Just under two-thirds (62%) of Dutch consumers think walk-ins make it easier to eat out last-minute. More than a quarter (27%) also believe that catering establishments working only with walk-ins serve more guests than catering establishments working with reservations.

Yet opinions are divided: more than a third (36%) say they do not go to restaurants that do not take reservations. Furthermore, only one in five (21%) is willing to wait in a queue outside for up to 30 minutes until a table becomes available. Moreover, more than half of Dutch consumers (53%) believe that if restaurants only work with walk-ins, they should also provide a seat at the bar for guests while they wait for their table.

"We are increasingly seeing restaurants asking for a deposit when guests book online to reduce the likelihood of no-shows," says Emine Youssef, Regional Manager Benelux Hospitality at Lightspeed. "No-shows not only lead to lost sales, but also increase staff costs and the risk of food waste. Many online booking tools allow automatic reminders to be sent out, by email or text message, but the most watertight measure remains the advance payment. While this is not to everyone's liking, I expect this trend and also consumer understanding to increase. It is important to communicate clearly why this is asked of guests, and what conditions are attached. Guests should not feel that their money is necessarily wasted, but rather that this simply pays part of the bill in advance."

About the study

The survey was conducted by Lightspeed in collaboration with OnePoll, an independent survey and market research agency. A total of 1,000 Dutch consumers participated in this survey.