Reduce No-Shows in Your Venue with Payment Links

No-shows take a toll on restaurant owners, both financially and emotionally. It can be hard not to take it personally when customers fail to uphold their reservations, and the loss of revenue can be devastating to the business. 

So far, no one has found the perfect solution to eliminate no-shows and cancellations. Still, there is a solid ChatFood feature to reduce it payment links that have worked for many businesses on ChatFood, and we hope it can inspire you to tackle one of the most pressing issues in the F&B industry. 

What are payment links?

A payment link is an online payment method where a request for online payment is created and shared by the business to the customer for instant online payments. Clicking the shared link directs customers to a landing page for payment displaying the required amount, the purpose of payment, and the payment options such as credit, debit cards, or mobile wallets.

How to use payment links to collect cover fees?

Since we launched the feature, payment links have been used by hundreds of merchants who:

• Take offline orders by phone or WhatsApp.
• Know the price only after preparing the product like butcheries, groceries, and bakeries. 
• Offer one-time services like catering or home services.
• Participate in pop-up events offering partial menus. 
• Offer meal plans or pre-agreed meals packs. 
• Organize events in their stores for a limited number of people.

One more scenario can be added to this list: use payment links to charge a cover fee. A widely used technique that creates liability on a diner for missing a reservation by charging a booking deposit to secure a restaurant reservation. 

So instead of collecting credit card details which can be tedious for the staff, or using an online reservation system that will charge you for each cover that comes through, you can simply share a payment link with your diners to charge them a booking deposit. Easy for your customers to pay, and easy for you to get paid. 

It only takes a few minutes to create a payment link and share it with your customers via Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, email, QR code, or any other channel of their preference:

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