Every restaurateur knows the feeling: empty tables on a Tuesday afternoon, followed by a packed house with a queue out the door on Saturday night.
What if you could smooth out those peaks and troughs, ensuring every service is as profitable as possible? That's where yield management comes in.
It might sound like a complex theory, but it’s a practical approach that helps you make the most of your most valuable asset: your tables. This guide will walk you through exactly what it is, how it benefits you, and how you can start using it today.
What does Yield Management mean for Your Restaurant?
In simple terms, what is yield management?
Think of it as the art of selling the right table, to the right customer, at the right time, and for the right price. It’s about being strategic to maximise the revenue you can generate from a fixed number of seats.
Instead of having one price and one approach for every day of the week, you adapt.
You get smart about what the elements of yield management are: optimising prices, managing table availability, and understanding customer demand to ensure you’re not leaving money on the table—literally. It’s a core part of yield management in restaurants and a key to long-term profitability.
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The Key Benefits: from Higher Profits to Happier Customers
Adopting a yield management approach isn't just about boosting your bottom line. The advantages of yield management are clear, with direct benefits for your operations and your guests:
- Boost your revenue during peak hours: By optimising your pricing and table turnover when demand is high, you can significantly increase your earnings.
- Fill more tables during quiet times: Strategic discounts and offers attract diners during your slower periods, turning empty seats into income.
- Improve operational efficiency: By better predicting customer flow, you can plan your staffing and stock levels more accurately, thereby reducing waste and stress.
- Enhance the guest experience: By managing bookings effectively, you can reduce waiting times and prevent overcrowding, leading to happier, more satisfied customers who are likely to return.
Proven Yield Management Strategies to Implement Today
Ready to get started? Here are four proven yield management strategies, along with practical yield management examples, that you can apply in your restaurant immediately.
1. Dynamic pricing: adjust your prices to match demand
This means offering different prices at different times. The goal is to use smart pricing to drive traffic when you're quiet and maximise profit when you're busy.
- Practical example: Offer an "Early Bird" 25% discount for bookings between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM on weeknights. On a busy Saturday night, you could introduce a premium set menu at a fixed price to increase the average spend per table. Using special offers is a powerful way to put this into practice.
2. Table duration management: optimise your table turnover
This tactic focuses on managing how long guests stay at their table, allowing you to serve more covers in a single service.
- Practical example: For a two-person booking at 7:30 PM on a Saturday, you can gently communicate at the time of booking that the table is reserved for 1 hour and 45 minutes. This allows you to confidently book that same table again from 9:15 PM, effectively doubling its revenue for the evening.
3. Menu engineering: design your menu for maximum profit
This is the art of analysing your menu to see which dishes are popular and which are most profitable. You can then redesign your menu to encourage customers to order the items that make you the most money.
- Practical example: Identify your 'Star' dishes (high popularity, high profit) and place them in a prominent position on your menu. For 'Puzzle' dishes (low popularity, high profit), train your staff to recommend them or feature them as a special. Taking the time to design a profitable menu can have a huge impact.
4. Demand forecasting: predict your future bookings
This means using your past booking and sales data to anticipate future customer traffic. Knowing when you'll be busy or quiet helps you plan everything from staff rotas to promotions.
- Practical example: Look at your data from last August. If you see it was a very quiet month, you can get ahead this year by launching a "Summer in the City" promotion to fill tables that would otherwise remain empty.
How TheFork Manager Becomes Your Yield Management System
You don't need to be a data scientist to implement these strategies. The good news is that a powerful and easy-to-use tool can do the heavy lifting for you and help your restaurant.
TheFork Manager acts as your intuitive yield management system, giving you all the features you need in one place.
- For Dynamic Pricing: You can easily run Special Offers, activate Yums to reward loyal customers, and participate in major events like TheFork Festival to attract thousands of new diners.
- For Reservation and Table Management: The Smart Floorplan helps you visualise your restaurant's capacity, manage bookings in real-time, and optimise your seating plan to maximise every service.
- For Demand Forecasting: The Revenue Management Hub and Occupancy Forecast tools give you clear insights into your past performance and future demand, so you can make data-driven decisions.
How to get started with Yield Management in 3 Simple Steps
Feeling inspired but not sure where to begin? Don't overcomplicate it. Follow these three steps.
- Analyse your data: Log in to TheFork Manager and look at your reports. Identify your busiest and quietest services. Which days of the week need a boost?
- Start with just one strategy: Pick one simple thing to try. For example, create a special offer for your slowest day of the week to encourage more bookings.
- Measure results and optimise: After a week or two, check your reports again. Did the offer bring in more customers? If it worked, keep it. If not, try a different strategy. It’s a continuous cycle of learning and improving.
FAQ
Is yield management the same as revenue management?
Not exactly, but they are closely related. Think of revenue management as the overall strategy for maximising a business's income.
Yield management is a key tactic within that strategy, focused specifically on getting the most revenue from a fixed, perishable resource—like your restaurant seats. We’ve explained the difference between revenue management and yield management here, but the goal is the same: to make your restaurant more profitable.
Can I apply yield management even if I have a small restaurant?
Absolutely. In fact, it can be even more important for a small restaurant. When you have fewer tables, making sure every single one is generating as much revenue as possible is crucial to your success.
Will my regular customers complain about the different prices?
This is a common worry, but it’s rarely an issue when done correctly. Most strategies, like "Early Bird" discounts, are seen as a reward for dining at a quieter time. The key is to be transparent. You aren't punishing people for booking at peak times; you are rewarding those who help you fill your restaurant during off-peak hours.
How long does it take to see the results?
You can see an impact very quickly. As soon as you launch a special offer for a quiet midweek service, you could see an increase in bookings for that service within the first week. The key is to be consistent and use the data to keep refining your approach.
Empty tables and ever-increasing costs?
