What Is a Reservation System?
A reservation system refers to the application and network services used by businesses such as shops to enable online booking.
Traditionally, reservation systems utilizing computers and networks have been employed across various industries, including transportation, hotels, restaurants, beauty salons, and more, to manage bookings from customers.
In this explanation, we will discuss reservation systems that are easily implementable for individual shops or small chain stores. These systems are provided as internet services, allowing for reservation management and integration with other business systems without the need for extensive personnel or time commitment for system construction.
Uses of Reservation System
Based on the concept of Digital Transformation (DX), reservation systems are utilized for various purposes, including reservation acceptance, acquiring new customers, expanding revenue, unmanned and streamlined reception operations, and rationalizing marketing and resource management.
1. Traditional Meaning of Reservation Systems
Industries such as transportation and services like hotels have historically built and operated their reservation systems. In today’s society, where online booking via smartphones and computers has become commonplace, even small chain stores and individual shops find it essential to accept reservations online for business continuity.
However, smaller businesses and individual shops have limited resources for operating reservation systems. Therefore, they have started to expand their customer base and accept reservations via e-commerce sites operated by major companies, including those in retail, food and beverage, and beauty industries.
Yet, joining e-commerce sites imposes constraints on the uniqueness of services provided by exhibitors and their methods of appeal. Additionally, it involves expenses such as fees for joining the site and payments based on sales amounts.
2. New Reservation Systems
By using reservation systems, businesses can construct reservation screens (functions) that leverage their uniqueness while depending on applications and cloud systems developed by service providers.
Reservation systems encompass features such as member registration, payment function registration, reservation acceptance, and modification, sending reservation acceptance emails and reminder emails, and overall reservation management tasks. Furthermore, some systems can be integrated with staff scheduling systems, customer entry/exit management systems, and platforms like LINE and social media for business streamlining and revenue expansion.
These systems find applications in various scenarios, including self-fitness gyms, indoor golf facilities, karaoke boxes, shared offices, hotels, and event venues, as well as small clinics, beauty salons, and nail salons often run by individual proprietors.
Principles of Reservation System
A reservation system consists of a reservation system construction app and cloud services. Service providers, such as shops, can use these systems by entering into contracts with companies or agents that develop and sell reservation systems.
The reservation system construction app is application software that makes it easy to create screens (reservation screens) accessed by customers on the internet for making reservations and the reservation management screens used by service providers. It provides templates covering various screens required for reservation tasks, and service providers can input necessary information into each screen to build their systems.
Reservation screens can include the service provider’s profile, service details, location, and contact information of the shop, selection of reservation date and time, member registration, registration of payment methods, and other information required for customers to make reservations.
The reservation management screen allows service providers to confirm customer information, check reservation details, configure settings for sending reservation confirmation emails and reminder emails, set reservation acceptance time slots, define days off, and create reservation calendars, among other functions necessary for reservation tasks.
Reservation systems operate as cloud-based systems. Service providers do not need to allocate personnel for server setup, maintenance, and operation, allowing them to focus on their core business activities.
How to Choose a Reservation System
When selecting a reservation system, considerations should include how well it aligns with the services provided by the company, whether it meets the conditions for the number of reservations handled and pricing, its ability to integrate with other systems, and whether it allows for customization. There are various factors to contemplate.
Some systems can be used solely with smartphones, while others can be started for free. Additionally, some systems offer broad integration capabilities, contributing to the rationalization of management, including accounting systems and staff shift management systems. It is advisable to choose a system that aligns well with the scale and circumstances of the business.
While the allure of easily constructing a reservation system online is appealing, it is crucial to assess whether the selected combination of screens and functions, chosen from templates, genuinely fulfills necessary and user-friendly features.