Introduction example: There were days when online reservations more than doubled thanks to using the Respo reservation ledger (Yanaka Beer Hall).

I wanted to be able to forecast the number of customers visiting the store.

— What kind of customers do you usually have?
On weekdays, most of our customers are in their late 30s to 60s, while on weekends we welcome a wide range of ages, from people in their early 20s to those in their 70s, regardless of generation.

Our place mainly serves craft beer and we have many customers who love alcohol. The building has a distinctive design, so we sometimes get visits from YouTubers as well.

— It really has that wonderful, old-fashioned charm, doesn’t it?Since we’re using a wooden building constructed in 1938, people often say the place itself feels “like grandma’s house.” Rather than the lively, boisterous atmosphere of a typical izakaya, it’s more of a calm, relaxing space.

— How many staff members usually run the place?
During busy times and on weekends and holidays, we have three or four staff, and up to six when it’s really crowded.
Outside of those times, it’s not uncommon for us to operate with just one person on duty.

―――Before introducing the Respo reservation ledger, what kind of issues were you facing?
Originally, our shop did not accept online reservations, so we had no way of estimating how many customers would come in on a given day.

We often ended up in a standby situation, where we’d schedule extra staff but then have only a few customers, so it just cost us time and money. There are so many factors that affect how many people come to the store—like the weather, traffic conditions, and COVID-19…

―――Besides the Respo reservation ledger, were there any other systems you were considering introducing?
Including some of the well-known options, we requested materials from several companies and listened to their proposals.

However, the setup was difficult, it wasn’t very user-friendly, and I just couldn’t find a product that made me think, “This is it”...

We decided to introduce the Respo reservation ledger because when we actually tried using it, it was very easy to operate and the explanations were thorough.

AutoReserveSometimes you can fill all your seats just with reservations made through it

—Has introducing the Respo reservation ledger reduced the burden of handling bookings?The number of phone reservations has dropped to less than half. There used to be days when the phone rang nonstop, but now we have some breathing room.

Also, up until now we often handled bookings via social media direct messages, but we were always worried about overlooking some of them. By using the reservation ledger, online bookings are reflected automatically, so we no longer miss any reservations or accept incorrect booking details.

— I’m glad to hear that. Have there been any benefits from reducing the burden of handling phone calls?
Since we can now focus on serving customers, we’re able to communicate with them more attentively and serve drinks right away, which has improved the quality of our service.

Another advantage is that you can reduce staff and thereby keep personnel costs down.

— At Yanaka Beer Hall, you’ve also added the AutoReserve booking URL to Instagram. Have your reservations increased?They’ve increased quite a lot. Depending on the day, the number of reservations has more than doubled compared to before, and there are even time slots that are fully booked just from AutoReserve reservations.

For example, until now having three phone reservations in the 12 o’clock hour on Saturday was considered a lot, but thanks to online booking, there are times now when all seven seats (fully booked) are filled.

―――By the way, which age groups tend to make reservations via Instagram?
Of course, we get many reservations from people in their 20s and 30s, but customers in their 40s and 50s also book through Instagram. Some customers have even told us, “It’s great that making a reservation is so easy.” A much wider range of age groups than we expected are booking via Instagram.
“With its intuitive interface, even our foreign staff quickly got used to it.”

― The Respo reservation ledger comes with multiple features, including customer management, but are you making full use of them?
It’s only been about a month since we introduced it, so we’re not using every function yet, but being able to check repeat customers with the customer management feature has been a big plus for our customer service.

Until now, I had been serving customers based on a vague feeling like, “I’m pretty sure this customer came in a few months ago,” but by using the customer management feature, I can immediately see their name and the date of their last visit. This lets me say specific things, like thanking them for coming in twice in such a short period of time.

— By the way, did the Respo reservation ledger catch on smoothly with your staff?There’s one other staff member besides me who manages reservations, and that person is a former international student who became a full-time employee.

Until now, when we handled reservations by phone, we were always worried about whether we were correctly understanding the details, but now that online reservations have increased and are automatically reflected in the ledger, it’s been a big help.

I learned how to use it in about two days and never had any problems. You can use it intuitively just by tapping what’s displayed, so I think even people who aren’t used to this kind of operation will be able to handle it right away.

—When you set out to radically change how reservations work, didn’t you feel a lot of pressure?
To be honest, I did at first. Especially around the setup.

The thing is, about four years ago when I was working at another location, I had a chance to use another company’s reservation ledger system. That product could only be run on a computer, and it was actually quite difficult to operate while serving customers…

However, the forR reservation ledger is easy to operate on an iPad, and they provided thorough support with the setup, so any concerns we had during the actual implementation disappeared.

— I’m really glad that Yanaka Beer Hall’s concerns are gone!
I’m 100% satisfied with the support we received during implementation.

I’m grateful for the thorough support, such as being able to call as many times as I need when I’m in trouble and having you actually come all the way to the store.

From now on, the restaurant will be reservation-only. What is the thinking behind this change?

— Lastly, please tell us about your vision for Yanaka Beer Hall!
Actually, within the next six months or so, we’re thinking of making Yanaka Beer Hall completely reservation-only.

The main reason is that I want to achieve a good work–life balance. Looking at society as a whole, many restaurants have poor working conditions, and that has always bothered me. Since introducing the reservation ledger, I feel that we are gradually moving toward making that goal a reality.

―――It’s true, there may be quite a few people who have the impression that “restaurants = exploitative workplaces”...
Exactly. Another reason we’re pushing for a fully reservation-only system is that we want to reduce food waste.

Up until now, we managed our ingredients based on the weather, so depending on how many customers actually came, there were days when ingredients went to waste. From now on, we want to manage ingredients and prep work according to the number of reservations, so we can reduce ingredient loss.

— We will continue to give our full support so that Yanaka Beer Hall can move fully to a reservation-only system! Thank you very much for today!

Store Information

Yanaka Beer Hall

Address: 2-15-6 Uenosakuragi, Taito-ku, Tokyo 1-1 Building, Uenosakuragi Atari
Phone number: 03-5834-2381
Store details:https://autoreserve.com/restaurants/k8hX2bj4vK1AKUFT1Pfi