SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dining is back, and
people are eager to return to their favorite restaurants. According
to OpenTable, the world's leading provider of online restaurant
reservations and part of Bookings Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG),
over 80% of their restaurants have reopened in the U.S., and
diners at those restaurants are nearing 2019 levels
(+90%).1 At a time when restaurants
are facing staff shortages and more financial pressure than ever,
they count on every diner that made a reservation to show up. When
they don't, restaurants could lose their entire profit margin for
that shift.
To help, OpenTable today unveiled its Show-Up for
Restaurants initiative to spotlight the impact of no-shows and
late cancellations on restaurants and encourage diners to modify or
cancel their reservation when plans change. From a "four strikes
and you're out" no-show policy and blog and social content
educating diners on the impact of ghosting a reservation, to a
suite of tools that restaurants can use to combat no-shows, the
initiative aims to curb this challenge as restaurants continue to
recover.
"When a diner doesn't fulfill a reservation, it significantly
impacts the restaurant's revenue," said Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable. "At OpenTable, we
believe we have a responsibility to help build awareness of this
issue and leverage our technology in every way possible to reduce
no-show rates."
No-Shows, By the Numbers
A staggering
28%2 of Americans say they haven't shown up
for a reservation in the past year. What many don't realize is that
cancelling is better than simply not showing up. For example, at
Philadelphia's Blackfish
restaurant, if six people don't show up for one dinner,
Blackfish loses 5% of its income - most of the restaurant's
profit margin. This also doesn't include the impact on food and
staffing costs, among other things, that no-shows have on
restaurants since they make decisions based on reservations
booked.3
Don't Ghost Your Reservation.
Diners played a major
role in supporting restaurants this past year, from buying gift
cards and merchandise, to donating to employee relief funds, and
dining outdoors on even the coldest days. As restaurants recover,
the best way to support restaurants is to show up by making and
keeping a reservation. If plans do change, diners can also easily
modify or cancel reservations through the OpenTable app or online
by clicking on their reservation and selecting modify or
cancel.
OpenTable Makes It Easier for Restaurants to Combat
No-Shows
To help restaurants prevent no-shows, OpenTable
will launch a new tool this summer that allows restaurants to label
a diner as a potential no-show based on previous reservation
activity. The tool allows restaurateurs to tag the diner with a new
label, so they can be proactive about confirming attendance with
the diner as their reservation approaches.
OpenTable's strict "four strikes and you're out" policy also
suspends diners who don't show up for a reservation four times.
This policy is in addition to a number of features that OpenTable
offers to mitigate no-shows, such as email and SMS reminders,
prepaid experiences, availability alerts, customizable cancellation
policies, credit-card required reservations holds and more.
For more information about OpenTable's "Show Up for Restaurants"
initiative and the impact of No-Shows, visit
https://blog.opentable.com/2021/no-show-numbers/.
*OpenTable Q2 2021 Diner Survey Methodology:
OpenTable
surveyed over 17,00 adults (aged 18+) across the U.S. and
Canada between May 2-5, 2021.
**YouGov Survey Methodology:
OpenTable partnered with
YouGov on April 19 - 20, 2021 to
survey 1,326 adults (aged 18+) online within the U.S. The figures
have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults (aged
18+).
About OpenTable
OpenTable, part of Booking
Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), powers reservations for the
hospitality industry. OpenTable's software seats more than 1
billion people per year and helps more than 60,000 restaurants,
bars, wineries and other venues attract guests, manage capacity,
improve operations and maximize revenue.
1 Pulled from SOTI dashboard
2 Full survey results from YouGov
Survey is HERE; 28% stat is on slide 4.
3 OT no-show data and Blackfish
example pulled from blog post.
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SOURCE OpenTable, Inc.