A booking marketplace lists your restaurant next to others in its own app and usually charges per cover or per booking; your own booking system puts a booking button on your website and usually charges a flat monthly fee. Marketplaces can help guests discover you. Your own system keeps the guest, the data and the margin with you. Many restaurants start on a marketplace and move to direct bookings as regulars grow.
How a booking marketplace works
A marketplace is an app or website where diners browse many restaurants and book a table. You get a listing, a profile page and bookings from people who may never have heard of you.
The trade-offs:
- Cost per cover. Fees are often charged on every guest seated through the platform, and sometimes on bookings made through your own website if they run on the marketplace’s widget. Check the terms of the one you use.
- Shared guest relationship. The platform holds the guest’s account. It can recommend other restaurants to them after their visit.
- Their brand, not yours. The guest books “on” the platform, and the confirmation email comes from it.
How your own booking system works
A direct booking system gives you a booking form or button on your own website and social profiles. Guests book with you, under your name.
The trade-offs:
- Flat cost. You pay a subscription, so a busy month doesn’t cost more.
- Guest data stays with you. Profiles and visit history sit in your account.
- You bring the traffic. Nobody browses a marketplace and finds you by accident. Your website, Google profile, social media and word of mouth do the work.
Which suits you?
A marketplace can make sense if:
- you have just opened and nobody knows you yet;
- you are in a tourist area where many guests are visitors;
- you have plenty of empty tables to fill midweek.
Your own system makes more sense if:
- most of your guests are locals and regulars;
- you already get enquiries through your website, phone and Instagram;
- per-cover fees add up to more than a subscription in your busy months.
Run the numbers
Take last December’s covers. Multiply by the per-cover fee you pay or would pay. Compare that with twelve months of a flat subscription. For a busy restaurant the difference is often large, and it grows with every regular who books directly.
Doing both
Some venues keep a marketplace listing for discovery and push regulars to book direct. If you do that, make the direct route easy: a clear “Book a table” button on your website, the same link on your Google profile and in your Instagram bio, and staff who mention it when a guest asks how to book next time.
How ForStars fits
ForStars is a direct booking system for UK restaurants. Guests book on your own website, you pay one flat monthly price with no commission per cover, and guest profiles stay in your account. See features and pricing.
Questions owners ask
Will I lose bookings if I leave a marketplace?
You may lose some first-time guests who found you there. Regulars usually follow you if booking direct is just as easy. Tell them, and put the link everywhere they look.
Can a guest book directly if they found me on a marketplace?
Yes, if your own booking button is easy to find on your website and Google profile.