Unifying restaurant reservations and the digital guest experience has been key to unlocking growth, driving revenue and improving efficiencies at JKS restaurants.
In a cross department panel at MCA’s Hostech conference, marketing director, David Staley, head of sales, events and reservations, Vanessa Torrie and director of operations, Tom Ward, discussed how digitising bookings was not only creating valuable consumer insight, but also maximising site revenues for the BAO, Berenjak and Gymkhana operator.
An essential aspect of this journey, Ward noted, was a paradigm shift from a reservation system driven primarily by anecdotal insights from restaurant management to one informed by data analytics.
This data-centric approach is allowing JKS to leverage consumer behaviour insights and efficiently manage booking inventories to meet escalating demand.
“It has been very much about looking at the data to really understand how we manage the reservation book, as well as using our experience with restaurant management teams and working collaboratively to come up with the most effective use of the booking system,” he said.
One feature that the brand has been keen to implement is priority alerts, to allow guests to be notified when there is availability at a restaurant that was previously at full capacity.
“I think it’s a great example of the overall bigger project of how much of the annoying grunt work we can take off the site team; so that they have more time to deliver experiences to our guests,” said Staley.
By the same token, the business has pivoted towards prioritising bookings over walk-ins, even within its “fine-casual” dining segment.
Staley emphasised that this transition not only aligns with data indicating higher spending tendencies among booked guests, but that through the reservation process, “we actually learn something about those guests.”
“We have a single guest view over all of our London restaurants and our international restaurants, which allows us to deliver a really personalised experience,” he adds.
Torrie told delegates that optimising bookings was also better operationally, especially at larger restaurants with multi-level spaces.
“Particularly over the festive period, we were able to map out bookings and staff up accordingly.
“And also having upgrades available during the booking process, so that guests had visibility on seasonal menus, and we’ve got that capacity to upsell when they come in.
Unlocking data around the latent demand for each of its restaurants has also been key, said Staley.
“When we looked at how many people were looking for a table across the estate, a few surprises came up.
“That was key to unlocking more cover growth across those restaurants.
Particularly at Berenjak, Staley explained that analysing that demand, combined with other insights on turn times, allowed the brand to create more last-minute availability.
“We were able to grow covers around 6% month-on-month for four months in a row and achieve cover numbers we never thought we could achieve,” he added.
Looking ahead, JKS has plans underway to leverage its EPOS system to offer preferential availability to high-value guests who are “likely to spend a little bit more”, in turn increasing sales and loyalty.
“Obviously, everyone’s welcome at all of our restaurants, but there’s certain guests that are really our prime customers”, said Staley.
“If you have a restaurant like Gymkana or Berenjak where it’s full every night, the only way you can grow sales is by getting higher spending guests.”
