Online table bookings for a New Zealand restaurant

A booking is more than a line in a book. It is a specific table, chosen on the floor plan for a set number of covers, and a confirmation the guest can rely on. This guide explains how the booking flow works and how to handle no-shows, with steps you can use on your next service.

How it works (short answer)

Enter the booking with the date, the time and the number of covers.
The floor plan shows which tables are free and which are reserved at that time.
Choose a table of the right size for the party, so a group of six is not seated at a two-top.
Confirm the booking with the guest by phone or from your own inbox, using your usual details.
Check the evening's bookings on the floor plan before service, and update the plan if anything changes.

What helps with no-shows

A confirmation from you, by phone or email, a day or two before the booking.
A clear line on how to cancel, so the guest frees the table instead of disappearing.
A written cancellation policy for large parties and busy nights, if you have one.
Your cancellation terms shown before the booking is confirmed, in plain words.
A call on the day to confirm the evening's bookings, especially the large parties.
Different terms for guests who often do not show, which you decide.

Table: booking channels

Where bookings come from and what to watch on each channel

Channel	What works well	The main risk
Phone	Special requests and large parties	Lost if the host does not enter it straight away
Website form	Bookings that come directly from guests	Double-booking, if nobody checks the floor plan
Social media and messaging	A younger crowd and last-minute bookings	Chats that never turn into a booking, with no phone number taken
Third-party platforms	Visibility with new guests	Commission, and guest details that stay with the platform
Walk-in	Fills the gaps left by cancellations	Blocks reserved tables if the booking list is out of date

A practical example, with your own figures

Hypothetical example: a 60-seat restaurant in Auckland with two seatings a night and 25 bookings. If some guests do not show, tables stay empty and those covers cannot be sold again that evening.

Work it out with your own figures: empty tables per evening, multiplied by your average spend per table, then by the trading nights in a month. The result shows what one cause costs you.

Confirming in good time, a clear cancellation policy and noting empty tables after each service are things you can track yourself, month by month.

What you need to know legally

Names, phone numbers and emails in a booking are personal information under the Privacy Act 2020. Keep them only as long as you need them, and keep them secure.
A reminder about an existing booking is not marketing. Promotional texts or emails need consent and an unsubscribe option under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007.
State your cancellation policy before the booking is confirmed. The Fair Trading Act 1986 applies to how you describe your terms.
Keep your sales records for the period Inland Revenue requires, and check the detail with your accountant.

Common mistakes

Confirming by cover count instead of by table, then finding you have no free table for six.
Sending one confirmation and nothing afterwards, so a guest who forgot gets no reminder.
Not noting the guests who did not show, so you repeat the same mistake next time.
Not stating the cancellation policy before confirming, which is both a legal risk and a lost booking.
Not spotting tables freed by cancellations in time, so a table stays empty until 9pm.

How 4restaurants.net helps

The floor plan shows which table is free and which is booked at a given time.
Bookings are placed per table, per room and per time, next to the evening's table orders.
It does not sync with calendars. SMS confirmations to guests are optional (Plus plan and above, through your own 4notify account); otherwise confirmations stay with your own team.
Reservations, the floor plan and orders are in the same application.