A no-show (literally a “non-attendance”) is a booking that goes unfulfilled: a customer has reserved a table, a room, an appointment or a service, but does not turn up on the day and did not cancel in advance. It is a very common term in restaurants and hospitality, but also in transport, healthcare and any appointment-based service.
A no-show represents a real cost for the business. A reserved seat left empty generally can no longer be resold, especially when the absence is noticed late. For a restaurant, several no-shows on a busy evening translate into direct lost revenue, food waste and disrupted service, since other customers may have been turned away to keep the reserved tables free.
Several levers help limit the phenomenon: confirming the booking by e-mail or SMS, an automatic reminder before the date, a clear cancellation policy, and above all requesting a deposit or a card pre-authorization at the time of booking. The deposit, governed by consumer law, makes the customer accountable and partly offsets the loss incurred in the event of an unexcused absence.
The eyeot restaurant solution manages bookings and lets you attach a deposit to them, in order to reduce the risk of no-shows while keeping a clear record of the commitments made by each customer.