Every month the Zonal Product teams release new and innovative features to our full suite of hospitality technology solutions, all aimed at helping our customers achieve their business goals, and ensuring everything in-venue runs as smoothly as possible.

For those who haven’t had the time to explore some of the great new functionality we’ve added to Zonal Bookings this year, we’ve summarised our top seven features released during 2023

1. Central reservations  

If you manage multiple sites within an organisation and would benefit from central sales, then this one is for you. You can view and manage all your sites within the Events Host app without having to log in and out of each site. Views can be filtered by site, as well as all the usual handy options, in addition to allowing you to keep tabs on all your properties and their bookings in one space. Along with Central Res came the convenient feature of Labels. This allows users to assign labels to bookings internally. As opposed to Tags, Labels allows users to define the labels themselves – for example, by department or booking feature. What’s more, our invoicing functionality automatically creates an invoice for each reservation with the ability to link the invoice to all requirements including pre-orders and payments, decreasing the time spent manually inputting invoice requirements.

2. Tasks

Along with the “Central Reservations” feature, you can also assign tasks to bookings.  You can add a To Do, email or to call prompt or a deadline to a booking.  The task will pop up in your notifications tab at the top of your Host screen to remind you to complete at the set time. Perfect for chasing Christmas bookings, menus, or deposits.

3. User audit details in Tables 

In addition to the current history button shown on a booking, you can now see details of which user has made changes to availability settings within Tables Host.  If you use the pin lock option, then it will still show the name of the user who made the changes using their pin lock. No more questioning who or when a change to availability was made, with admin access, businesses can now view a complete audit trail to clear up any confusion.

4. Pre-order choices 

For those using our pre-order functionality, a great addition to the guest place cards had been made, giving the site the option to print the guests’ choices onto their place card.  A lifesaver for busy events – sites no longer need to worry about people forgetting their orders!

5. Menu and occasion exclusions

For any occasion you have created, you can also select up to 10 dates that you do not want that occasion to be available to book.  So, for example if you have a standard restaurant occasion set up running every day but you have a special event coming up where you don’t want restaurant bookings to show online at the same time as your event you can add an exclusion for that day.  A good example would be Christmas party nights – you would have a Christmas occasion running on specific dates in December and you wouldn’t want guests booking on a regular restaurant booking at the same time. This allows for increased flexibility and control over your occasions.

6. Table shuffle  

The Shuffle feature within our Table Management solution has been further refined to enhance capacity optimisation and assist hosts in maximizing revenue while simplifying the process for staff. The latest updates to this functionality both ensured that shuffled tables remained within their designated areas, as well as taking this further to provide venues with the ability to shuffle tables per bookable area, granting hosts greater flexibility in managing their spaces and boosting overall capacity utilisation.

7. Improved guest portal  

The Guest Portal in Group Bookings has seen notable updates this year to enhance the user experience. Hosts now can log in and manage guest activities, streamlining attendee additions by allowing bulk actions instead of individual entries. Venues can configure pre-ordering journeys in a booking by menu type by either requiring the organising guest to pre-order all items, or if they need to add each attendee who can then action this themselves, simplifying what can be a complex process. Moreover, the integration of our EPoS significantly benefits support teams, addressing issues related to deposit synchronisation. Additional improvements include extended email timing and enhanced management of time slots and events within the portal. These updates aim to provide more comprehensive functionality and ease of use for customers, creating a more efficient booking experience.

Find out more about Zonal Bookings, or get in touch today and our team of hospitality technology experts will be happy to talk you through what’s possible.  

No-shoes remain a blight for the industry, with our latest research in partnership with CGA by NiQ, showing that 12.3% of guests who make a booking don’t let venues know their plans have changed and proceed to no-show rather than cancel. These unfulfilled bookings are currently costing the industry an estimated £17.59bn in lost sales, however in reality, the impact is much more significant than that.

This figure doesn’t take into account food waste or overstaffing, for example, nor does it take into consideration the financial impact of lost business from keeping a reserved table for guests that will not arrive. And, unfortunately, there’s not much sign of improvement.

Our latest research has shown that the no-shows rate has doubled since August 2022, rising from 6% to the 12.3% figure mentioned before. This indicates a worrying trend as our industry faces continuing external challenges that will likely continue into 2024. Taking a deep-dive into the data, we can see that the worst affected sector, restaurants, account for over a quarter (27%) of businesses impacted, followed by food-led pubs at just under a quarter (24%).

Who are the no-shows?

Young people continue to be at the forefront of the no-shows problem, with 40% of guests aged between 18 and 34-years-old having admitted to being a no-show. This figure drops significantly the older the guest is – just 13% of 35- to 44-year-olds no-show, dropping further to 6% of 45 to 54 and 55 to 66-year-olds. For the entire 65s and over, the no-shows rate sits at only 3%.

This disparity is partially down to the fact that younger adults tend to make bookings more frequently than their older counterparts. In our previous research into consumer booking behaviours, 73% of 18- to 34-year-olds said that they’d made a reservation within the previous month — well above the national average of 60%, and of the older 65+ demographic at 52%. It may also be down to younger consumers remaining more spontaneous, with last minute changes to plans being more commonplace.

Interestingly those who more frequently visit restaurants, pubs and bars are more likely to be no-shows, with our most recent data showing 21% of those who go out weekly no-show, dropping to 10% for those who visit monthly and rising again slightly to 13% for those who visit less than once a month. Geographically, Londoners are the most likely to no-show.

What can be done about the problem?

Of those that have failed to show up for a booking, 16% simply forget about their booking. Sending out reminders appears to be one of the simplest and most obvious solutions to tackling no-show rates, with all the evidence suggesting that venues that send reminders ahead of time have far lower no-show rates than venues that don’t.

The timing of these reminders can be a key factor in their success. According to our research, the most popular timeframe for guests to receive a reminder is a few days in advance at 38%, followed by the day of the booking (28%) and a week in advance (11%). Systems can be set up to do this automatically, easing the pressure on staff and providing a better experience for guests.

Ensuring that it’s easy for customers to cancel their booking is another effective way of combatting no-shows. More than half (51%) of people prefer to cancel a booking digitally, so clearly signposting how and where guests can cancel should they need to can have a significant impact. This process should be simple, easy to navigate, and require just a few clicks to be truly effective.

Deposits can be another solution to the no-shows problem – albeit a more controversial one. When we last asked the public about this in our consumer research, we found that over half (51%) said they would be willing to pay a deposit to secure a booking, however with this remaining close to 50%, it remains a divisive issue. This changes, however, when it comes to booking for a large group or special occasion, with 65% willing to pay a deposit to secure a booking in these instances – however this drops down to 45% for casual occasions. 45% is still a significant number of customers, however, and so whilst deposits may not be the way to go for every venue, it’s worth keeping an eye on general consumer sentiment. This means that, whilst not a catch-all solution that would work in every type of venue, situational applications could be effective – such as large group bookings or special occasions – to put a safety net around these bookings and reduce the likelihood and potential of a no-show. However, it’s important not to be too heavy-handed with this approach, as guests likely won’t want to pay a deposit for a casual lunch if it’s not necessary.

Lessons learned from other industries could also provide options worth considering too – such as the practice of over-booking. Whilst there may be some hesitancy towards this, the data collected from reservation systems could be used to identify when, where and by how much you might be able to over-book whilst not impacting the guest experience. Whilst this may be a drastic change at first, customer acceptance would likely increase if adoption spread throughout the industry.

Guest blog by Mission Group

The hospitality sector has disproportionately suffered the cost-of-living crisis since 2021, causing many industry leaders to revisit the old management maxim that it’s cheaper to keep current customers happy than to find new ones. Increasingly, data-oriented management teams have been interrogating their loyalty programmes in search of new insights and ideas for innovation. And now there’s new research available: a study by Zonal and CGA which asked 5,000 British people their opinions on loyalty in the context of eating and drinking out.

The findings are fascinating, and I hope will help industry leaders get back to basics in their efforts to turn customer KPIs green.

Vision – what’s your brand promise?

The report reveals the diverse range of factors that influence loyalty, emphasising that it can only be achieved by delivering the fundamentals of hospitality consistently over time. At the top of the list, by a substantial margin, is “value for money,” a factor that resonates with nearly half (47%) of all consumers. Importantly, value doesn’t necessarily equate to cheap; it’s about offering quality and satisfaction that align with the price – also known as keeping a ‘brand promise’.

Brand promises make up our rich consumer landscape. For instance, if I go to the local Community Club, I expect a pocket-full of change from my round of drinks in a friendly, local environment – and not much else. When I go to Gordon Ker’s Blacklock I expect a steak dinner experience that blows the local pub away, without forcing me to remortgage at the latest Bank of England interest rate. If I occasionally dare to take my wife to a Michelin Starred restaurant for Valentine’s, I expect the experience to impress her for longer than it takes to subsequently pay down my credit card. You get the idea – my loyalty to these brands is relative to how well they keep the unique brand promises they make to me as a customer – not who’s the cheapest.

It is the leader’s (or leadership team’s) responsibility in a hospitality business to nurture a clear and compelling vision for their brand promise. And, when the vision is clear, it is their further responsibility to ensure that it is shared by all, so that the entire organisation can work coherently to deliver it. In my examples above, it would be no good if half the Blacklock team spent their days cutting costs to match those of a Community Club and the other half worked on a £250 per head Michelin-Star-style tasting menu. That would result in chaos internally and customer confusion (and disappointment) externally.

Traction – delivering your brand promise through each and every employee

Whereas vision is all about getting your team 100% on the same page with where you’re going, traction means actually getting there. This is where most hospitality leadership teams fall down and their companies pay a particularly heavy price for poor employee execution in times of economic uncertainty, when consumer loyalty comes under increased scrutiny.

According to Zonal and CGA’s recent report, 52% of consumers now admit to having higher expectations of the brands they are loyal to. This figure jumps to a remarkable 64% among the 18- to 24-year-old demographic.

Consider a boutique hotel brand, committed to delivering a “home away from home” experience for travellers seeking authentic local encounters. Their vision might be to transform every guest’s stay into a unique story about the locale. To achieve traction for this vision, the hotel might initiate weekly sessions focusing on KPIs like guest feedback on curated local experiences, staff training on regional history and customs, or partnerships with local artisans and businesses. By ensuring that each department’s daily activities actively contribute to crafting these individual guest stories, the hotel can bring its brand vision to life, consistently and effectively.

Healthy relationships – bringing everything together with a customer-centric culture

Even with a clear vision and the right habits for traction, it’s team harmony which forms the real backbone of a thriving hospitality business. And harmony doesn’t simply mean avoiding conflict; it’s about addressing and resolving issues constructively, fostering open communication, and building an environment of trust and mutual respect.

In the case of our boutique hotel, this might mean ensuring that the front desk collaborates seamlessly with housekeeping, that the kitchen and service staff operate in unison, and that every team member feels valued, heard, and empowered.

Great leaders promote the idea of vulnerability-based trust within teams. For example, imagine a further scenario where a chef at our hotel feels comfortable admitting to a mistake in ordering supplies without the fear of retribution. This open admission allows the team to quickly adjust and find solutions. It also fosters an environment where learning and growth are prioritised over blame. When each member of the hotel staff takes ownership of their responsibilities and commitments, the result is a smoother guest experience.

Whether it’s ensuring that a guest’s special request is met or promptly addressing feedback, a healthy team that holds itself accountable ensures that the brand’s promise is consistently delivered and customer loyalty is earned day in day out.

The hospitality industry’s path forward

In conclusion, the hospitality industry’s path forward hinges on the simple yet profound principle of keeping promises. The Zonal and CGA study underscores the need for brands to understand and deliver on what ‘value for money’ truly means to their customers. It’s about aligning every aspect of service with the brand’s core promise, from the boardroom to the front line. As consumer expectations climb, especially among the younger demographic, the margin for error narrows. Authentic experiences, not price wars, are the new battleground for customer loyalty. For leaders in the industry, the mission is clear: cultivate a culture that prioritizes a consistent and genuine delivery of the brand promise. When every employee understands and contributes to this mission, customer loyalty will follow. Let’s not just chase the green on spreadsheets, but foster the kind of loyalty that comes from customers who leave as satisfied storytellers of the unique experiences they’ve had.