Having a reservation system on its website has become an obligation for a restaurant. Like many sectors of activity, the restaurant and food industry in general has undergone a strong digitalization in recent years. Today, consumers need to compare, check customer reviews, order online, etc.

To illustrate this, here are some key figures on online booking in 2021:

• 80% of French people choose their restaurant thanks to information on the internet.
• 69% of French people consult online reviews to book their restaurant.
• 50% of French people book their restaurant directly on the Internet.
• 47% of restaurateurs offer an online reservation service.

Having an online booking system for your restaurant is therefore essential to meet this online demand.

In this article we present you several types of restaurant reservation systems that you can integrate in your Webflow site.

1 - Webflow form (Free)

Creating a web form directly in Webflow is a simple and free way to easily receive your booking requests by e-mail. The Webflow forms let you choose the fields you will ask your visitor to fill in. You can ask to fill in the number of people, the phone number, or the date and time of the reservation. You will have a simple and efficient reservation system for your restaurant.

But where will all these reservations go? Well, if no tools are connected to your Webflow site, you will simply receive them by email. This is also the limit of this free solution, as you will have to enter each booking by hand.

You can use a tool like Integromat or Zapier to improve this reservation system:

• Automate the sending of emails confirming receipt of the application
• Send an email to your teams

Benefits

✅ Free

✅ Quick to set up

✅ No management

Disadvantages

❌ No possibility to accept or refuse reservations

❌ No follow-up and reminders of reservations

2 - Jotform reservation system (inexpensive)

Jotform is initially a tool for creating online forms. This no-code tool offers many features to create forms for all types of needs. As it stands, it is difficult to see the advantage of a Jotform form over a Webflow form for restaurant owners. It is necessary to dive into the advanced features of the tool to better understand.

Jotform actually allows you to create very personalized online forms. Both in the design and in the functionalities you will be able to adapt your form according to your needs. One feature in particular will allow you to transform this form into a real reservation system for your restaurant: the calendar feature. Thanks to this agenda your reservation system will be able to :

• Customise fields (names, schedule, phone, etc.)
• Propose time slots for reservations
• Manage the intervals between bookings
• Add rolling days to limit future bookings
• Define closing periods
• Add a maximum number of reservations per day
• Schedule confirmation emails
• Schedule automatic reminder emails

In addition to all these features, Jotform offers to connect your booking system with an integrated approval system. To put it simply, if you want the booking request by you to be accepted or rejected you can. So a group of 15 people will not be able to book without your confirmation. Jotform is therefore the perfect tool to start testing online reservations on your site.

Program your Jotform reservation system for your restaurant.

Benefits

✅ Free up to 100 bookings per month

✅ Easy to use and customisable

✅ Features

Disadvantages

❌ No connection to your till

❌ No identification by table

3 - TheFork

TheFork, also known as LaFourchette, is a web platform that lists thousands of restaurants online. Customer reviews,

TheFork Manager, is a complete management solution that will allow restaurant owners to update their restaurant profile, but also to program their reservation system. The booking tool is designed in a simple and intuitive way, for example to allow managers to easily place customers according to the available seats in the room. The Fork tool also offers a dashboard that allows restaurant owners to have more insight into their restaurant's reservations and occupancy rates. Numerous other features allow restaurant owners to optimise their reservation system by qualifying each customer: customer opinion tracking, no-show control, confirmation by email or sms, reliability score, emailing, etc.

There are many ways to integrate your website

• Link
• Fixed button
• Floating button
• Iframe
• Integration calendar
• Pulgin Wordpress

Connect TheFork to Webflow

Benefits

✅ Features

✅ Integration possibilities (website, social networks, etc.)

✅ Connected to your restaurant and your teams

Disadvantages

❌ Price

❌ Digital maturity of staff

4 - OpenTable

OpenTable is a web platform listing restaurants in France and around the world. Customer reviews, information about your establishment, photos, menu, contact details, etc. OpenTable also offers many tools for restaurant owners:

• booking solutions,
• marketing tools,
• takeout,
• etc.

Perfectly designed for restaurants, bars, hotels or even casinos, you can easily program and connect your reservation form to your website: integration in a page or widget.

Benefits

✅ Connected to your tables

✅ Connected to your till

✅ Features

Disadvantages

❌ Price

❌ Digital maturity of staff

5 - Formitable

Like OpenTable, Formitable is a tool especially designed for restaurant owners. The tool offers a wide range of solutions for managing your business online:

• Takeaway,
• reservation system,
• pop-up website,
• performance dashboard
• Email marketing
• etc.

Perfectly connected to your physical restaurant, the Formitable reservation system can be easily integrated into your website via a pop-up at the bottom right of your screen. Fully customisable, this pop-up offers essential features to speed up the booking process from your website: accessibility, 2-click booking.

Benefits

✅ Bookings from your social networks

✅ Waiting list functionality

✅ Performance dashboard

Disadvantages

❌ Price

❌ Digital maturity of staff