How to fill empty tables fast, and what each fix costs

The fastest way to fill empty tables is to aim at the specific tables that are empty: resell cancellations instead of losing them, take walk-ins properly, put a perk or a lower price on the slot that is always quiet, and tell the regulars who already like you before you pay to reach strangers. Advertising to people who have never heard of you is the slowest and dearest fix, so it goes last.

Why are your tables empty? Name the kind first

"We need more customers" covers four different problems, and each has its own fix.

• Tables that were booked and then were not. No-shows and late cancellations. You had the demand and lost it.
• A slot that is always quiet. The five-thirty sitting, Tuesday lunch, the gap between lunch and dinner.
• A whole night that is quiet. Monday or Tuesday, every week.
• A place people do not know about. New, off the main street, or recently changed.

Work through them in that order. The first is the cheapest to fix and the last is the most expensive.

Tonight: fix the gaps you already have

Remind people. Most no-shows are people who forgot rather than people who decided not to come. On Mosey, every reservations plan, including the free one, sends a reminder 24 hours before. Paid plans add more reminders and a request to confirm.

Resell the cancellation. A table cancelled at four for eight o'clock is the most expensive empty seat you can have. On the Starter reservations plan, you can post it to the cancellations page, where it becomes a last-minute table for somebody who wanted you and could not get in.

Keep a waitlist. On the Starter plan, when a night is full, take names instead of turning people away. When somebody cancels, the table goes to the list rather than staying empty.

Run the door properly. A walk-in you cannot seat now is still a customer if they can wait somewhere else. Mosey's walk-in queue lets a guest scan a code at the door, join from their phone without an app or an account, and get a message when the table is ready. It is free on every plan and does not need reservations switched on.

Our guide to reservations and deposits covers each of these in more detail.

This week: put a price on the quiet slot

If the same slot is quiet every week, give people a reason to choose it.

• A Deal Hour lowers the price of the dishes you pick, in the days and hours you pick, and nothing else. It runs in the venue, on collection or on delivery, and it is free. See Deal Hours.
• An Early Bird offer puts a perk, such as a glass on arrival, on your early booking slots, shown to diners while they choose a time. No commission, because no money moves through Mosey.
• A daily special shows to people nearby and stops showing by itself when it ends. Free.

Choose a thing over a percentage where you can. A dessert or a glass costs you its food cost, feels generous, and does not teach people to wait for a discount.

This month: sell the table before the night

A quiet night is easier to fill when the seats are sold in advance.

• A promotion sells a set menu or an experience ahead of time, capped at a number you can cook, valid only on the days you choose. It is paid for up front, at 4.5% commission.
• An event turns a dead Tuesday into a ticketed night: a supper club, a tasting, a quiz. Tickets carry 4% commission, and the money reaches your Stripe account as they sell, so the night is paid for before you shop for it.
• Gift vouchers bring money in now and customers in later, often on quiet weeks. They carry 4.5% commission.

As an example of why a cap matters: a set menu of €35 capped at 40 covers over three weeks of Tuesdays is €1,400 of trade you did not have, spread across nights your kitchen can handle. Uncapped, the same offer can arrive all at once on a Saturday.

Who should you tell first?

Your existing customers. People who follow your business, your loyalty members and your recent regulars already like you, and they are the most likely to come back on a quiet night.

Mosey's automations can do this for you: a win-back message to customers who have not been back for a number of days you set, a nudge to a loyalty member one visit short of a reward, a reminder to followers the day before a promotion ends. There is no per-message charge, and you can start each rule in manual mode so you approve every message before it sends. See win back quiet customers.

Only then pay to reach strangers. A Boost or a sponsored post shows your venue, a dish or an event to people nearby while they are deciding where to eat. You see the estimated audience and the exact price before you pay, and you set the budget.

What does each fix cost?

Fix	What it costs on Mosey
Reminders, walk-in queue, specials, Deal Hours	Free
Early Bird booking offer	Free, no commission
Reservations	Free up to 75 bookings a month, then €79.99 or €169.99 a month
Promotions	4.5% commission
Event tickets	4% commission
Gift vouchers	4.5% commission
Automatic customer messages	No per-message charge
Boost and sponsored posts	Your budget, priced before you pay

Mosey's fees have 23% VAT added, and Stripe's card fee is passed on at cost.

Do you have to be a restaurant?

No. A café with an empty mid-afternoon, a food truck with a slow pitch day, a bakery with a quiet hour before close and a bar that does food all have the same problem in a different shape. A Deal Hour on the last bakes, a collection order at 1.5% commission, or a ticketed tasting all work without a single reserved table.

Start with the gap you already have tonight, then work outwards. Claim your business free or See pricing.