How loyalty can help tackle no shows

We’ve all been there; prepped for a busy Friday night, stoves firing, servers on the floor and yet, something is missing. The table of 8?  No shows is one of the biggest impactors of success in hospitality.

Last year £17.6 Billion pounds was lost across the hospitality sector directly linked to no shows and that is just taking account of lost covers. The picture is even worse when accounting for the loss of other customers, who have been turned away by a venue in the mistaken belief that bookings are full, leading to wasted food and unnecessary staffing costs.

In a recent piece of research, a survey of over 5,000 UK pub, bar and restaurant-goers, we found that whilst more than two thirds (68%) of consumers who make bookings say they turn up for all of them, 18% cancel in advance and one in seven (14%) admit to failing to turn up without even telling their venue.

This comes at a huge cost to the industry. In partnership with CGA by NiQ, we have been measuring the number of customers who make a booking and then simply don’t turn up (aka No Shows) since 2021.

It is a huge issue for the industry and underlines again, why building a loyal customer-base is crucial for pubs, bars and restaurants.

[Pull stats] Why do People No Show?18

29% said it was because they decided it would be too expensive to go out
27% said it was because they changed their plans
21% said it was because someone in the group fell ill
17% said it was because they forgot
14% said it was because someone else in the group cancelled
10% said it was because they had booked several venues

Despite these frustrating figures, hospitality does at least compare favourably to other sectors.

While 14% of customers fail to show up for hospitality, you have to feel for the gym sector, where 35% of people admit to having booked and no showed to a class in the last year, as well as hairdressers, driving instructors, and taxi drivers, for whom a quarter of people admit to not attending a booking they have made without cancelling in the last 12-months.

No shows are more than missed bookings. They disrupt operations, drain resources and impact the bottom line. There is a way forward by investing in loyalty strategies that build trust and consistency, operators can reduce no shows and strengthen guest relationships. Now is the time to act. Review your booking journey, reward repeat visits and give customers a reason to commit. Because in hospitality, loyalty is not just valuable – it is vital.

Persuading customers to show up

With £17.6bn on the table, the sector needs to find ways to mitigate the issue and encourage consumers to at least let venues know if they no longer intend to turn up.

Interestingly, loyalty was one of the top five reasons consumers said they’d be more likely to honour a booking, with 17% saying they are less likely to no show if they felt loyal to the venue or brand. The same proportion said they would do so if they knew about the impact of lost bookings on businesses and this underlines the need for the industry to join forces and clearly communicate the damage the practice causes.

Other reasons guests gave when asked what would make them less likely to miss a booking were: a simple cancellation process, rewards and incentives to show up, reservation reminders, and (controversially within the trade at least) paying a deposit.

Operators should therefore be looking at implementing some, or all of these, in order to mitigate any losses.