How much does an online reservation system cost?

As a leading supplier of cloud-based restaurant management software for hospitality businesses, Access Hospitality looks at what exactly a restaurant operator needs to know before investing in a reservation and enquiry management system.

We talk to restaurant operators every day about what a booking and reservation management system could do for them.

In this article we will look at what restaurant booking system does, the benefits it will bring, what it’s likely to cost you and what systems at different price points are likely to deliver for your business.

The cost of a restaurant reservation system can vary massively depending on the package, functionality and pricing structure of your chosen system. Some reservation systems cost as little as £49 per month – but may have limited functionality, others may be free to use the software with fees per cover.

While there are many different pricing structures, tiers and packages available, you can usually divide offers into two main categories:

• a fixed monthly fee
• a fixed monthly fee + variable fee per cover or reservation.

Let’s look at them in detail alongside some pricing examples. Keep in mind, though, that offers for this type of product never stay the same for too long: Providers constantly try to optimise revenue and create offers that resonate with their prospects, so they regularly update fees and pricing structures.

Fixed fee plans for restaurant reservation systems

Typically, providers of restaurant management systems offer at least two plans to choose from, with a subscription that can be paid monthly or annually (usually with a discount).

Resy, for example, has three plans that range from £133 to £899 (VAT excluded), each one with a growing number of features.

ResDiary, on the other hand, has four plans that range from £89 to £245 per month, but the features are the same for all of them. What makes the price go up or down is the number of reservations that can be managed with the system: from 150 with the cheapest plan, to unlimited reservations in the most expensive one. The provider also charges a one-off fee for setup and initial online training.

Fixed + variable fees for restaurant reservation systems

With this second model, you should expect to pay a fixed monthly or annual fee like in the examples above, plus a variable fee based on the number of covers or reservations.

When you make a cost simulation, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between them: a reservation for five guests means one reservation but five covers. Plans might also include a fee for each booking from Reserve with Google, or a percentage on orders or transactions.

This type of pricing structure is typical of those providers of restaurant management systems that are also restaurant reservation services.

Here are a few examples:

• OpenTable in the UK has a ‘core’ and a ‘pro’ plan based on features included. The higher tier costs £299 per month and includes several additional features as well as those included in the ‘core’ plan. Both plans also include a £2 fee per network cover, free reservations that come through your website and a £2.50+/cover or 5% service fee for prepaid/experiences.
• The Fork Manager has no monthly fee for its standard plan and its ‘Pro+’ plan is £125 per month after an initial free trial period. Both plans charge a commission for bookings through TheFork and Tripadvisor (based on a percentage of your restaurant average meal prices) and the same fees apply to the free plan for bookings through the Google Reserve module.
• Tock, another provider that is also a booking engine, has a simpler structure: two monthly plans, with the cheapest one including a percentage on prepaid reservations. 
• TableIn offers two fully featured plans, but the cheaper one limits the number of reservations and charges an additional fee for any extra one.

In addition to the main pricing elements, there are other costs that you may need to consider.

• Training and set up fees: even when the provider won't charge for them, the time it takes to complete training and set up will have to be considered as hidden costs
• Integration fees: Touchbistro, for example, charges $69 per month for POS integration
• Add-ons: there may be additional features that are not included in any of the monthly plans and are charged as optional add-ons. With Eat App, for example, adding guest database or marketing automation will cost $49 extra per month.

What is a restaurant reservation system?

Booking management

At the reservation stage, the most important feature of the booking management software is to collect bookings and enquiries from different channels: your website, phone, Google, social media, and other partners. From there, users can manage them efficiently from a single dashboard, replying to enquiries, accepting reservations, or negotiating alternative dates or venues.

But it doesn’t end there. The most advanced reservation systems can also:

• Allow guests to purchase tickets for events, either for themselves or as gifts
• Collect payments for pre-orders or deposits
• Send booking reminders and confirmations via email or SMS
• Manage waitlists and suggest a different venue of the same restaurant group, if one of their choices is fully booked

Table management

The second stage of a guest journey starts when they arrive at the restaurant. Here, a good restaurant reservation system can:

• Help optimise space in the dining room to accommodate as many guests as possible, both from reservations and walk-ins
• Keep the status of each table updated for a more efficient service
• Make relevant info for each table readily available (guest tags, or special requests that guests made at the moment of booking, e.g., ‘window table,’ ‘intolerant to gluten’, etc.)
• Keep track of how long a table has been occupied for, to improve turnover

Marketing and guest communications

The third – and often underutilised – stage starts after guests have left the restaurant, when it’s important to stay in touch with them and present them with enticing offers. Here, a reservation and enquiry management system can:

• Build a guest CRM with contact information and data about past visits
• Integrate with the EPoS, connecting spend data and food preferences to guest records
• Use marketing automation to create personalised campaigns

Reporting

All the data that is collected in the process can also be used to analyse restaurant or group performance. For example, you can identify the channels that are driving most covers or reservations, and those that are underperforming.

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Do you need all of these functionalities in a restaurant reservation system? That will depend on your business goals. For example, if you feel you should manage bookings and optimise dining space better, then a reservation and table management system will suffice. If, on the other hand, your goal is to attract more repeat visits and spend less on advertising, then adding marketing and guest communication to your features stack is probably a good idea.

How can you determine the ROI of your restaurant reservation system?