Once upon a time, most restaurants, even casual dining, took reservations. Many of those who didn’t take reservations would allow “call ahead seating,” which was a way to join the waitlist by calling before arrival. These days, most casual dining establishments have gotten rid of both reservations and call ahead seating.
We looked into it and uncovered a few reasons why that is happening:
- No Shows – people make reservations or call ahead but never arrive.
- Timing – people arrive 20+ minutes before or after their appointed time, throwing off the flow of service.
- Staffing – it takes a lot of human capital to handle the door, the seating list, and the phone.
- Crowds – when everyone arrives at the same time to get in line, the waiting area gets congested.
At Floqque, we’re developing EnRoute, a waitlist management system where customers simply say, “I’m on my way.” Our innovative Predictive Queuing Platform cuts down on no-shows, poor timing, overburdened staff, and large crowds.
EnRoute Allows for Real Time Proximity-Based Arrival Lists
The missing link in reservations and call ahead seating has always been an inability to account for real world conditions like these:
- People make reservations at multiple restaurants and 'no show' at all but one.
- People get caught in traffic and don’t think to call the restaurant to update their status.
- Hostesses get stuck having to call or hunt down too many customers.
- Hungry customers in the waiting area get angry when they see tables sitting empty for a long time because the reservation holders are not there.
These are all real issues, and they’ve caused many restaurants to throw in the towel on trying to manage advanced seating lists. Heck, some restaurants are even getting rid of their phone lines entirely!
EnRoute – a revolutionary queuing system that converts waitlists into efficient arrival lists – will fill in that missing link. Using GPS and Artificial Intelligence, EnRoute eliminates the gaps in service that happen when restaurants can’t reliably sync up available tables with arriving customers.
EnRoute is a completely new technology, and we have several phases planned for development. Phase 1 allows restaurants to plan their seating schedule based on when customers are predicted to arrive rather than when they join the list:
- Restaurants set a geofenced radius from which customers can join their ArrivalList™.
- Customers view restaurants on a map and see their current wait times.
- When customers join a list, EnRoute employs GPS to check traffic and calculate arrival. *
- EnRoute uses AI to coordinate everyone by placing the customer on the ArrivalList and letting them know when they can expect to be seated after arrival.
- Once the customer crosses a specified geofence, they can check in, and EnRoute will let the host(ess) know they are ready for service.
- When their table is ready, the host(ess) sends a message through the system to invite them in, where they’ll be led straight to their table.
Click to enlarge.
*Don’t like sharing your location? No problem! Customers who are not sharing location can simply wait until they’ve arrived at their destination to turn on locations briefly to check in online.
With EnRoute Seating, everyone achieves a better sense of flow.
- EnRoute initiates most of the communication, which allows both customers and staff to share exactly the right information for optimal service.
- EnRoute tells the restaurant when people will arrive and re-orders the arrival list based on changes in conditions to fill empty tables faster.
- Customers can wait more comfortably in their cars, or take a stroll nearby.
Both customers and restaurants are able to meet each other’s expectations, which makes for better dining experiences, more table turnover, higher profits, and better reviews.
EnRoute Offers a Better Waiting Experience
No one likes waiting, but it’s always easier when we have a realistic idea of how long a wait will be. EnRoute allows people to wait on their own terms without all the uncertainty. Using GPS and Artificial Intelligence, our system tells restaurants when customers will arrive and tells customers when their table will be ready.
Are you ready to add better flow to your dining experience? Join our mailing list to follow our development as we bring this innovative technology to market!
Floqque is revolutionizing reservations and waitlists with EnRoute.
This exciting technology takes the guesswork out of waiting for both restaurants and customers to create better dining experiences. EnRoute is a new type of reservation where customers simply say, “I’m on my way.”
- Phase 1 rollout launches real-time waitlists that use GPS and AI to coordinate actual arrival and wait times between restaurants and customers.
- Phase 2 redefines advanced reservations by setting expectations and allowing for flexibility in arrival and party size.
- Phase 3 will aggregate data to predict actual customer behavior as a forecasting and planning tool.
We’re also working on premium features to allow for in-app event organization. Follow the flow of our development when you subscribe to our email list!
