Have you ever taken your girlfriend to a restaurant just to find out there are no free tables? It happened to me once. Quite an embarrassing situation. We had to walk a long way to find another place. Well… Savvy people don’t do it anymore. They use GRRS or Graphical Restaurant Reservation System. What is it and how to build one? We are going to cover these issues in this article. If you are a business-minded person, this article may give you hints on “how to create a graphical restaurant table reservation app.” So, grab your coffee, and let’s get started!
What is a Graphical Restaurant Reservation System App?
To put it simply, it’s an app to book a place in pubs and restaurants. But what’s the deal? You can reserve a table by phone call, you may say. The fact is that the Restaurant table reservation app does more than that.
Did it happen to you to reserve a table by a phone call and end up in a faraway corner where you could not see the band playing? GRRS will help you with that problem. It is an online tool that showcases the outlay of the restaurant which means you can see the available tables for any given time. You can do it on the web or on a mobile app without the need to call the restaurant. In this era of mobile apps when you can even make a mobile wallet app, it is not much of a surprise.
Benefits of a Graphical Restaurant Reservation System App
Benefits for restaurants
- Converts online users into potential customers: It goes without saying the restaurant and pub owners should be interested in having their food offering venue in the app. Chances are high that online visitors can convert into reservations.
- Opportunity to showcase other special offers and benefits: Restaurants can include photos and special offers in the app that attract potential customers. For example, they may displace the beautiful ambiance of the restaurant or yummy dishes anyone would love to taste.
- Lesser workload: Instead of taking customer queries or taking care of canceled bookings, restaurant staff can do other work resulting in efficiency and higher work performance.
- Better management: The app includes everything from name to contact number, time of booking, and arrival time so that the staff does not have to search for information. Everything is in one place. Similarly, the confirmation and cancellations are managed without a hassle.
Benefits for customers
- Easy way to book a table: It’s much easier to book a spot at a restaurant or a pub using the app than making a reservation via a phone call. You can even book a place a week ahead and 24/7.
- The app allows making the best choice by reading the reviews or the best offers made by food offering venues. This allows comparing prices and making a better selection of where to spend time.
- The app offers an opportunity to get discounts that would not be available otherwise.
- You can see the menu before even going to the place.
- It’s easy for customers to locate the restaurant through GPS.
Graphical Restaurant Reservation System App — Types and Features
Main types
1. A restaurant review app
2. A local restaurant finder
3. A restaurant menu app
4. A restaurant delivery app
5. A restaurant booking app
6. Restaurant promotional apps & loyalty programs
As you can, there are various types of restaurant apps that allow reviews, location finders, deliveries, and not only booking. Depending on your restaurant’s needs, you can have one or several apps integrated into your restaurant.
For example, you may provide access to special deals, coupons, and let customers gain certain types of rewards when spending at a restaurant. This works best when integrated with a mobile checkout when customers can place orders via the app. Perfect examples of loyalty programs are Starbucks and McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Among these examples, Starbucks is especially interesting. Starbucks Rewards program awards customers with “stars”. When they get enough stars for buying specific items, they can win free coffee and products. Or, they can celebrate their birthday at the venue or access exclusive games and personalized offers.
Features for app owners
The restaurant table reservation apps have two groups of main features: features for diners and features for restaurant owners or app owners.
Let’s go through the features for restaurant owners first.
Features for restaurant owners/app owners
Personal data
Each restaurant should be managed by a restaurant manager or owner. Therefore it should include personal data like position, name, email. This information may be updated, so the app should include an option for ‘’update personal details’’.
Restaurant details
Apart from the restaurant manager, detailed information should be given about the restaurant itself, like name, address, timing, menu, typical check time, and primary cuisine. This information should also be possible to update, so the app should include an option for ‘’update restaurant details’’.
Payment
And of course, the app should include a payment option for the restaurant. Some apps include advance payment but most apps allow customers to pay on the spot.
Features for diners
Sign-in
The app starts with a sign-in process which should be as easy as possible. Do not ask for more information than the name, phone number, and email. Sometimes, customers don’t take the hassle to sign in and this takes away from the number of your potential customers.
Restaurant details
The diners should see what they are buying. Therefore detailed information about the restaurant, including the cuisine, timing, address, etc. should be included. Even the number of guests is valuable information as it gives a clue to the customers of how overcrowded the restaurant is at the moment.
Search for a restaurant
The search for a restaurant should be super easy. App owners should provide a comprehensive search result page that should provide an option to filter options like locality, cuisine, pricing, timing, and any discounts that restaurants offer.
They should be able to sort options based on rating, popularity, and alphabetical order.
And, of course, they should clearly see the restaurant rating, the cuisine offered, and the pricing range.
Reservation
The reservation itself should be super easy. They need to select the time slot in the reservation chart. At this stage, there is no need to ask for their name or contact details as the users have already signed in with their personal data. The least you overburden a user, the better for your restaurant management and performance.
Special occasions
And finally, you can have an option for special occasions like private dining. You need the following information:
- Event size
- Preferred neighborhood
- Cuisine
- Price
- Seating capacity.
Conclusion
Restaurant reservations apps have caught the eye of many business-minded people. And this is not by chance as the food industry is growing. Most of these apps are making decent progress. Along with the basic features we offered, you should also consider a comprehensive option for feedback and reward. Discounts or gift cards are super attractive for customers.
In case you are deliberating on building a restaurant table reservation app, we are here at Addevice to help you build one. Our portfolio and a team of talents give us confidence that we can make your app one of the on-the-go table reservation apps in the market for your locality. Contact us for more detail. We are also able to come up with an initial estimate.
Read also: How much does it cost to make an app for your business in 2021?
