Bookings

#What it's for

With the Bookings module, your guests book a table from your menu or from a link on Instagram or Google, without phoning you. You accept them with one tap, see which tables are booked, run the waitlist and, if you like, ask for a card or a deposit to cut down on no-shows.

Price: 14.90 €/month or 149 €/year + VAT. Included in the «Guests come back» and «Everything» plans. No free trial.

#Getting started

1. Go to Bookings and open Booking settings.
2. Turn on Accept bookings from the menu.
3. Tick the Days you open.
4. Check the Services. There are two by default: 13:00 to 16:00 and 20:00 to 23:30. You can have up to 4 with Add service.
5. Set how many Guests/hour you accept (20 by default), the Max per booking (10 by default) and the minimum Notice (min) (60 by default).
6. Decide whether they confirm automatically: Confirm automatically (if there's room). When it's off, you confirm them one by one.
7. If you've drawn your dining room, leave Let guests choose their table when booking… on.
8. Copy the Direct link for Instagram or Google: with Copy and put it in your Instagram bio and on your Google listing.

Times are offered every 30 minutes. The «Book» button also appears on your menu (you can turn it off in Menu buttons).

#What your guest sees

1. They choose how many people, the day (the next 14 days) and one of the times still available.
2. If you allow it, they choose a table on your floor plan or tick «No preference».
3. They enter their name, phone number and email, and press Request booking. It reads: «The restaurant confirms by email or WhatsApp.»
4. They see «Booking sent! We'll confirm shortly.» or, if bookings confirm automatically, «Booking confirmed!». They can then view or cancel their booking.

If there's no room, we offer to add them to the waitlist: «No slot? Join the waiting list».

#Running the day's bookings

In Bookings you have the next 14 days at the top and a summary («N bookings · X guests · N to confirm»). You can view them as a List, on the Floor plan or in the Waitlist.

• When you press Seat, you choose a table (you can join several) or Seat without table. If the table is taken, it lets you Seat anyway.
• When you press Decline, it asks «Decline [name]'s booking? They'll get an email if they left one.».
• Each booking has Call and a WhatsApp button with the message already written.
• To see booked tables on the floor plan, first draw your dining room in Tables › Edit floor plan.

#Adding a booking that comes in by phone

1. Press New booking.
2. Choose the day, number of guests and time (you'll see «N left» or «full»).
3. Enter the name, phone number and, if you like, a note («allergies, high chair, birthday…»).
4. Press Save booking. It's confirmed straight away.

#Automatic reminders

In Booking settings, Automatic reminder is on by default: your guest gets an email with «I'm coming» and «Cancel» before the booking.

• Choose when: The day before (at the time you choose, between 17:00 and 21:00) or Hours before (from 2 to 72; 24 by default).
• Also remind bookings pending confirmation, if you like.
• Also by SMS: costs a few cents per SMS.
• Automatic WhatsApp messages aren't available yet: in the meantime, you can message the guest on WhatsApp by hand from each booking.

#Waitlist

• On the menu (Waitlist on the menu): if there's no slot, the guest joins the list. When a table frees up, you press Offer table and they have a few minutes to accept it (10, 15, 30 or 60; 30 by default). If they accept, the booking is made.
• At the door (Walk-in waitlist): you add people who arrive without a booking with Add walk-in and, when their table is ready, you let them know with Table ready, Notify on WhatsApp or Notify by SMS.

When you cancel a booking, the panel tells you if someone on the list fits that table.

#Bookings with a deposit or a card

To reduce no-shows, you can ask for a card or a deposit when guests book. As well as Bookings, you need the Online payments module with Stripe ready. The 2 % per payment also applies here.

1. In Bookings, open Deposit & cancellation.
2. Turn on Ask for a card when booking.
3. Under «What happens with the card?» choose:
   • Guarantee only: we save the card and it's only charged if they don't turn up or cancel late. With Charge automatically off, the manager decides whether to charge.
   • Deposit charged: it's charged when they book and deducted from the bill when they're seated. If they don't turn up, you keep it.
4. Set the Amount: per person (10 € by default) or a fixed amount per booking, from 1 to 1,000 €.
5. Choose how long they can cancel for free: up to the booking time, or 12, 24 (the default), 48 or 72 hours before.
6. Choose when it's required: Always, Only groups (from 6 people, by default) or Only some days and times.

Your guest sees your policy, accepts it, enters their card and then sees their booking with «Card saved ···· 1234» or the amount paid. If they don't complete the payment, the booking expires after half an hour.

• If they cancel in time, or you decline it, they're refunded automatically.
• If they don't turn up or cancel late, the manager or owner sees Charge X no-show fee and Refund X. Refunds reach their card within a few days.

#Common problems