How do I setup compulsory Deposits for Reservations?
In this article
- What are Deposits
- Before Getting Started
- Deposit for all Reservations
- Deposit Based on Covers
- Examples
- FAQs
Deposits
Deposits are a monetary amount that customers are required to pay in advance to secure and confirm their reservation. This upfront payment helps ensure that customers are committed to their reservation, reducing the likelihood of no-shows. Deposits can be set against all Reservations during a Service or can be triggered by Rules within a Service.
Before Getting Started
If Deposits are required for Online Reservations you will need to set up Stripe following this guide.
Option 1: Deposit for all Reservations
-
After signing in to the Back Office select >Settings > Tables and then select Services and a list of the current services are displayed.
-
To edit the settings of a Service click the ‘Edit’ icon beside the required Service.
-
Navigate to the Deposit section.
-
Select the Required tick-box if a deposit is compulsory for this Service.
-
Next enter the monetary Amount for the deposit.
-
If the deposit is per cover, then select the Per Cover tick-box. If not selected the deposit amount will be for the entire table.
-
Select Apply Internally, if required. This will require users to manually take a deposit when taking a reservation on the point-of-sale.
Note: If not selected and deposits are required the guest will be sent an email with a link to pay the deposit online, bookings are Unconfirmed until the entire deposit required has been paid and are then Confirmed.
Note: Ensure that any Deposit Cancellation rules are stated in the Online Terms & Conditions
-
Select the ‘Save’ button to save the Service.
-
Select ‘Update Tills’ from the main screen and ‘Send Changes’ to apply the Rules to the reservations widget.
Option 2: Deposit Based on Covers
This allows a restaurant to set whether a Deposit is required based on a minimum number of covers. This can ensure that reservations for larger capacity tables will always be honored, reducing the likelihood of no-shows for more profitable tables.
-
After signing in to the Back Office select >Settings > Tables and then select Services and a list of the current services are displayed.
-
To edit the settings of a Service click the ‘Edit’ icon beside the required Service.
-
Navigate to the Rules section.
-
To create a new Rule select the +Add Rule button.
-
Select Enabled
-
Enter the Description for this rule
-
Choose Require Deposit from the Type drop down menu.
-
Enter the number of covers when a Deposit is required in the Trigger Covers field.
-
Choose a Time Profile when this rule applies.
- e.g. This can be set to apply on busier days only and not during the week or mid-week.
-
After adding the Rules select the ‘Save’ button to save the Service.
-
Select ‘Update Tills’ from the main screen and ‘Send Changes’ to apply the Rules to the reservations widget.
Note: The widget browser must be refreshed to view the changes. Please allow up to two minutes for any changes to apply.