Free calculator
What do no-shows cost your restaurant?
Put in three numbers to see what empty tables cost you in a year. It takes a few seconds, works on your phone, and nothing you type leaves this page.
These example figures show how it works. Change them to your own.
No-shows cost you about £21,000 a year in sales.
That's about £1,750 a month.
How the sum works
No-show guests in a typical week × average spend per head × weeks open in a year. For example, 12 guests × £35 × 50 weeks = £21,000 a year.
Count guests, not tables: a table of four that doesn't turn up is four guests.
What the number doesn't show
- It's lost sales, not lost profit. Some food can be used elsewhere, but staff and rent are paid either way.
- It doesn't count guests you turned away because the table looked booked.
- It doesn't count late cancellations that came too late to rebook.
Ways to bring it down
- Send a reminder before every booking, with a link to change or cancel.
- Make cancelling easy, so you get the table back in time to rebook it.
- Ask for deposits for large groups and your busiest nights.
- Keep a waiting list for the nights that fill up.
- Read How to reduce restaurant no-shows.
How VIEreserve helps
- An automatic reminder email before each booking, on both plans.
- Guests change or cancel from their confirmation email.
- Deposits for any service, paid straight into your own Stripe account.
- A waiting list, and walk-ins seated in a few taps.
- Mark a no-show in a tap, and undo it if the guest turns up late.
The calculator gives an estimate from the figures you enter. They aren't stored or sent anywhere.