TheFork's latest update to its no-show policy

Updates to TheFork's No-Show Policy

TheFork will deactivate users who make 4 no-shows within a 12-month period to raise awareness about the impact of no-shows on restaurants.

This new measure adds to the existing tools in its software, TheFork Manager, to combat this issue, such as preventing multiple reservations at the same time and date, triple confirmation via free SMS, credit card guarantee, or prepayment.

In the first six months of the year, the platform recorded an average of 3.7% no-shows, compared to the 4% registered across the rest of the market.

Combatting no-shows is one of the main challenges facing the hospitality industry today, due to the financial losses it causes restaurants. To address this issue, TheFork, the leading online reservation platform in Europe, has launched a new global initiative to tighten its policies against this phenomenon and raise awareness among diners about the importance of notifying the restaurant in case they cannot honour their reservation. From now on, users who register 4 no-shows in a 12-month period will be deactivated from the platform.

This tool is the latest addition to the features already integrated into its TheFork Manager reservation software, aimed at helping restaurant owners combat no-shows. These features include preventing multiple bookings for the same day and time, triple confirmation via email or free SMS for restaurant owners, allowing customers to cancel with just one click, credit card guarantee, or prepayment of part of the menu at the time of booking, and listing customers who fail to notify of cancellations in a special registry.

No-shows cost UK-based restaurants over £15m per year

The seriousness of no-shows in the industry is such that 90% of the restaurants contacted by TheFork for a study state that reducing no-shows is their number one priority, as it can lead to revenue losses ranging between 5% and 20%, depending on the type of business. In cities like London, it’s estimated that up to 20% of diners fail to honour their reservations.

You can find out more about TheFork’s anti-no-show tools here. If you’d like to partner with TheFork today to start reducing the number of no-shows at your restaurant, then contact us today!