A contact form isn't enough
With a simple form, every request arrives by email. You check by hand whether there is still room, you reply, the customer confirms… or has already booked somewhere else. And two people can ask for the last place on the same evening, with nothing to decide between them.
What a booking system should do
- Show what's left. Every date and every time shows the places still free, for your customers as well as for you.
- Refuse what can't be served. A fully booked date, a closing day, a time that has already passed: the booking is refused before it is recorded, not after.
- Confirm straight away. The customer receives an email saying what they have booked, when, and for how many people.
- Let customers change their mind. Change the date or the number of people, or cancel within your rules, without calling you.
- Show you the day. Who is coming, at what time, who still has to pay.
- Work on a phone. Many customers book from their phone: every button must be easy to tap with a thumb, every text readable without zooming.
How to check before you choose
- Install the plugin on a test site, or on a copy of your site.
- Book from your phone, like a customer. Count the screens, and note what made you hesitate.
- Open the same date in two tabs, with only one place left, and book in both. Only one booking should go through.
- Cancel from the confirmation email. The place should go back on sale.