Welcome

That’s it for the summer then. We’ve only just packed away our barbeques after the August bank holiday, and now all of a sudden it’s Christmas. For the restaurant industry, being well prepared for Christmas is a necessity. Consequently here at Livebookings we’ve shelved our fear of turkey and crackers in September to bring you our guide to online success over the festive period!

Read on for our top tips on handling your availability, gaining large party bookings and uploading your offers and menus. Speaking of which, we haven’t booked the Livebookings Christmas party yet. I need a venue where I can book a table for 80 online...any ideas?

Olivia Fitzgerald
General Manager UK & Ireland

P.s. We recently made it into the Guardian’s top 100 tech media companies!

Hot Topic

Only 106 days to go ‘til Christmas!

Bookings are already coming in for Christmas and New Year!

Each year, many restaurants see their profits soar around the festive season, with thanks to increased levels of socialising and corporate events, Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties. Some restaurants can make as much as 25%* of their annual turnover in this period.

In 2008, the restaurant industry saw a big change in Christmas dining habits. The uncertainty of the economy and the fear of redundancies looming meant that both corporate and personal socialising budgets were slashed. From the thousands of Christmas and New Year bookings that Livebookings processed last year, we noticed some dining trends of our own, with customers delaying their plans and booking up to three weeks later than previous years.

It is predicted that Christmas 2009 will follow a similar pattern to 2008. The key to a thriving business this Christmas will be planning and using the tools available to you.

If you would like to chat to one of our account management team about maximising your restaurant this Christmas please get in touch by email or call 020 7934 9275.

*Restaurant Magazine, August 2009

Marketing Tip

We’ve listed below some of the key things you need to be thinking about to help you be prepared and successful over the festive season:

1. Submit your Christmas offers and menus
Send us your offers and be sure to include a menu so that your customers are aware of your prices and packages. This will also ensure that you are featured on our Network Partners’ dedicated Christmas promotion pages.

2. Keep your availability open
Last year due to the looming recession, we noticed that bookings were made up to three weeks later than previous years, so make sure you catch those last minute bookers. Don’t close out your availability too soon, as you’ll be sending negative messages to your customers that you are fully booked when you may still have some space available.

3. Update your opening times
We want to make sure that we provide your potential customers with the correct information and not send you bookings when you are closed. The quickest way to do this is in your Livebookings reservations diary. Alternatively, contact our account management team who will be able to help.

4. Contact our dedicated party planning team
We receive hundreds of enquiries for party and group bookings and can place them with you! Simply get in touch and we’ll send you the necessary forms and information.

5. Attend a free training session on Livebookings Console
Learn how to use the new ‘Guests and Mailings’ function so you can run email campaigns and target customers. More information can be found below.

Promotional Ideas

lastminute.com's dedicated Christmas party planning team

lastminute.com will be adding a dedicated Christmas and New Year party section to their website this year, enabling customers to make bookings for parties of eight and over at restaurants throughout the UK.

The new feature will be promoted extensively to lastminute.com’s database of over five million customers between now and Christmas.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Patrick Tunmore for further details, terms and conditions.

Are you running any offers?

Although Christmas may be just around the corner, there are still 106 days to go, so don’t forget to let us know about any other offers you are running in the meantime and we will ensure they are promoted within the Livebookings Network. Some of the most successful categories are:

If you would like us to send you an email each month to remind you to set up or renew your offers, please let us know and we’ll add you to our reminders list.

LIVE Training

FREE training sessions

Livebookings is running a series of free LIVE online training sessions to help you to use your Livebookings Console diary more effectively. Why not get your staff involved? The sessions are free of charge and will help you and your staff to use your system better, resulting in overall improved customer service and hopefully more bookings!

Simply decide which session to attend and book your place. Sessions will start at 3pm and you will need a computer with access to the internet.

You can also watch training videos on your Livebookings Console by clicking on the help button in the top right hand corner of your screen.