Brisbane Restaurant Group — Custom Booking System
A 4-venue restaurant group ditched third-party booking fees with a custom system — direct bookings up 156%.
TL;DR
- Challenge:
- A 4-venue Brisbane restaurant group paying $12K/year in third-party booking fees with fragmented systems per site.
- Approach:
- Unified custom booking platform across 4 venues, deposit handling via Stripe, shared guest database.
- Result:
- +156% direct bookings, $12K/year booking platform fees eliminated, group no-show rate 15% → 4%.
Key Results at a Glance
+156%
Direct bookings
-100%
Booking platform fees saved
-73%
Group booking no-shows
Client Context
Business Type
Restaurant group (4 venues: Italian, modern Australian, wine bar, café)
Founded
2012
Team Size
78 staff across 4 sites
Market
Brisbane CBD + inner suburbs
Revenue Tier
$6.8M annual revenue
Stack Before
3 different booking platforms across 4 venues, no unified database
The Challenge
The group was paying $12K/year in booking platform commissions across 4 venues. Each venue had a different booking system, making cross-venue management and reporting impossible.
Goals & KPIs
North-Star Metric
Eliminate third-party booking fees and unify guest data across 4 venues
Supporting KPIs
Direct bookings/month
Target: 500+
Third-party fees saved
Target: $10K+/year
Group no-show rate
Target: Under 8%
Guest database size
Target: 10K+ unified profiles
Cross-venue bookings
Target: 15%+
Discovery & Research
Audit Findings
- •3 different booking platforms across 4 venues
- •No shared guest database
- •$12K/year in booking platform commissions
- •15% group booking no-shows
- •No deposit handling
Baseline Issues
- •220 direct bookings/month (rest through third parties)
- •$12K/year booking fees
- •15% no-show rate on groups
- •Fragmented guest data
Competitor Insight
Top restaurant groups ran unified booking systems with shared guest data + deposit handling + cross-venue marketing.
Audience Insight
Regular diners appreciate being remembered across venues — allergy notes, dining preferences, and visit history drive loyalty.
Strategy
Core Hypothesis
“If we unify booking + deposits + guest data across 4 venues, then bookings scale + no-shows drop because control produces revenue.”
Positioning Shift
Repositioned as "one group, four experiences — remembered at every table".
Channel Mix
Custom booking system · 50%
Foundation
Stripe deposit handling · 20%
No-show reduction
Shared guest database · 20%
Personalisation
Cross-venue integration · 10%
Discovery + loyalty
Our Approach
Custom booking system
Built a unified booking platform across all 4 venues — diners select the venue, date, time, and party size with real-time availability from a single interface.
Deposit & pre-order handling
Added credit card holds for large parties and pre-order menus for group events — reducing no-shows from 15% to 4% on group bookings via Stripe integration.
Unified guest database
Created a shared guest database with dining preferences, allergy notes, and visit history across all venues — enabling personalised service at every location.
Phased Roadmap
Month 1
Discovery + Design
- →Venue-by-venue workflow mapping
- →Guest data audit
- →Booking system architecture
- →Stripe integration scoping
Months 2–3
Build
- →Next.js unified booking system
- →Stripe deposit handling for group bookings
- →Shared guest database (allergies, notes)
- →Venue-specific customisation
Month 4
Launch
- →Venue-by-venue rollout (weekly)
- →Third-party platform migration
- →Staff training
- →Direct bookings: 220 → 563/month
What We Built
The Results
Monthly Direct Bookings
Before vs After — 6 Months
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct bookings | 220/month | 563/month | +156% |
| Booking platform fees saved | $12K/year | $0 | -100% |
| Group booking no-shows | 15% | 4% | -73% |
“One system for all four venues. No commission. And we finally know our customers across locations.”
Tim B.
Group Operations Manager
Key Insights
- →Deposit handling dropped group no-shows from 15% to 4% — commit rate matters
- →Shared guest database enabled cross-venue marketing (15% of bookings are cross-venue)
- →Third-party fee savings ($12K/year) exceeded build cost within 18 months
- →Staff prefer one system to manage across all venues
What's Next
Adding an in-venue tablet ordering system, launching a loyalty program across all 4 venues, and testing dynamic pricing for peak times.
Ready to see similar results?
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Services Used
Representative case study. Figures illustrate the type of outcomes achievable through these strategies for Australian businesses; individual results vary based on market, budget and starting position.