Click for service

Attracting customers to a restaurant is obviously a fundamental part of the business. All marketing material will have a phone number displayed in big print to make sure anyone glancing at it will know how to make a reservation.

And that's the way it has always been done. The trouble is that the world is changing; newspapers or magazines aren't the prime sources of information for many potential customers any more, the Internet is. And, most importantly, Internet users aren't afraid to spend money. A new survey from Media Metrix in the USA shows online consumer sales reached $6b there in July, up 26% on the same time last year.

Hotels are finally beginning to realise that as more people get access to the Internet, the more it is used to choose all kinds of products, from holidays and meals to presents and books. Yet restaurants are lagging behind. While many now have a Web site, they are often only online brochures rather than an interactive medium.

Internet users expect a certain amount of functions on any competent Web site. If they're booking a hotel room, for instance, they expect to be able to book it with a couple of clicks. The same goes for restaurants. If they are on the Web site, customers expect to be able to make a reservation.

One restaurant company that is reviewing its online reservations is Fish, which went into administration last month. Although online bookings have been suspended, seven restaurants are still open and there are plans to reinstate the online service. Bookings through its Web site, www.fishdiner.co.uk, previously accounted for 7% of its total bookings, a figure that's pretty average for the industry.

"The feedback we've been getting from customers is that it's a very good service to offer," says Fish's director of operations, Andrew Bafford.

And, Bafford says, it's a service that will only become more popular as people become more confident with the Internet. However, his recent examination of the online bookings will lead to certain changes designed to get the most out of the system.

"We're looking to streamline quite a bit," he explains. "So, for example, we'll only allow 75% of the tables to be available on the Web site, and keep 25% for phone bookings. We're also looking at having a cut-off time of two hours before the service period, and perhaps limiting the booking to four people or fewer."

Bafford is keen to move control of reservations back to the managers of the individual restaurants, hence the desire to keep 25% of tables free for telephone bookings. In other words, no matter how proficient technology becomes, he wants to keep control in the hands of restaurateurs rather than IT men.

He says: "Personally, I think technology has a place in any business, but it's supposed to make things easier and if it doesn't then it needs to be looked at."

A system such as Fish's isn't cheap, and consequently isn't for everybody. But there are ways even the smallest restaurateurs can get themselves Internet bookings without breaking the bank.

Booking services
There are many restaurant-booking services available on the Internet that the restaurant can pay to be listed on. Toptable.co.uk, Squaremeal.co.uk and Eatingout.com are all examples and each will have different prices and business models.

Founded three years ago, 5pm.co.uk is a good example of one of these listings Web sites. A user chooses a city, the number of diners and a date and the site will list all the available places. If they choose to make a booking, the customer gets an on-screen confirmation and a fax is simultaneously and automatically sent to the restaurant. It now has more than 950 restaurant partners in the UK.

"There's no requirement for the restaurant to be involved in the technology at all," explains Charles Shaw, chairman of 5pm. "They operate with us by telephone through a call centre. So they can amend and change the offer they have on the site as often as they like."

In other words, a restaurant can make 10 tables available even for just an hour. "This is to fill seats that would otherwise be empty, and the overheads can be covered," Shaw continues. "So if on a Wednesday night you're quiet until 8pm, put a special offer on between 6pm and 8pm for six or seven covers."

The basic service on 5pm.co.uk will cost £150 initially and then £1 per cover. There is also the upgrade of a micro-site, an individual Web site that allows the restaurant to include much more information. That will cost £500 a year plus £50 a month.

5pm.co.uk markets its services through promotions and partnerships with regional newspaper groups and national magazines. It has just signed on the main restaurant service for the London Tourist Board and has recently launched in Belfast in partnership with the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau.

But Shaw admits that many restaurateurs still have concerns about the Internet. "The main problem is that you get restaurateurs who have tried other Internet initiatives and they just haven't worked for them," he says. "So we have to try and convince them that it can work if it's done properly.

"Having said that, it's a hell of a lot easier selling our services now compared with three years ago. Then these people weren't even booking airline tickets; now they book hotel rooms, airline seats and loads of other things, so it is getting better all the time."

More and more people are using the Internet, says Shaw, and restaurants are in danger of missing out on a potentially lucrative way of pulling in customers: "Airlines, hotels and car hire are all big business. Restaurants can, and should, be up there with them."

Using the Internet

• Don't go out and spend your money building a Web site before you've researched the alternatives. A stand-alone site will work for larger restaurant groups, but for small independents it may worth signing up with a service such as 5pm or Toptable.
• Include the Internet in all your marketing plans. Include the Web address on your bills, business cards, or print advertising. Make sure all the images and logos are the same across all these mediums.
• Tell your staff what you're doing. Make sure they know the Web address in case any customers ask and encourage them to ask where the customers heard about the restaurant.
• Take advantage of the functionality. Don't just put one menu on the Internet and leave it - experiment with special offers and changes.
• Don't expect miracles. Fish has spent a lot of money on its reservations system and gets 7% of its booking that way.

Useful links

www.fishdiner.co.uk
www.5pm.co.uk
www.toptable.co.uk
www.squaremeal.co.uk