FOUNDERS OF UK ONLINE BOOKING PLATFORM SOLVE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY’S NO-SHOW CRISIS
A booking website co-founder has revealed their solution to the no-show plague that has become a huge issue for the UK’s hospitality industry.
Michele Cuccovillo, of BottomlessBrunch.com, says that in major cities the no-show rate for bookings is seeing a fifth of all customers not make an appearance despite getting reminded about their bookings with texts and emails.
With margins already so thin for restaurants and the burden of additional Covid-19 checks and limitations, this could be lethal for the industry.
“The average no-show rate for a restaurant is 20%, resulting in huge problems for restaurant owners,” Michele said. “For some of them, losing 20% of their revenue means they have to cut costs, let go of staff or even go into liquidation.”
A survey conducted in 2015 stated that on average the UK hospitality industry loses £16 billion annually due to no-shows. Every pub, bar or restaurant incurs costs whether the customer shows up or not.
“Our no-show rate is below 0.1% because we have turned traditional reservations into ticketed events,” Michele said. “People book and pay in advance; therefore they will turn up. It’s a no-brainer, our restaurants love this.
“In essence, by making diners pay in advance – either 10% of the value of the brunch or 100% – you create a necessity to show up, just like buying a ticket for an event.”
According to a recent poll, only around 42% of UK restaurants are taking and holding pre-paid deposits to help protect them against the cost of no-shows but this is becoming a more normalised process.
A group of women holding drinks
Description automatically generated with medium confidence”We have erased the no-show issue,” Michele added. “We believe that the future of hospitality will be ticket-based as it’s a much more predictable revenue model for venues.”
Bottomless Brunch is the UK’s leading platform to help people find the best brunching spots around the UK.
Their page is dedicated to the best bottomless brunches in London, Shoreditch, Covent Garden, Clapham, Soho, London Bridge and Brixton, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
