QUICK READ
Jan 22, 2026
How loyalty can help tackle no shows
How loyalty can help tackle no shows
This is a guest post from Loyalty Landscape by our partners at Zonal. Learn more about the Zonal + Ingredifind Integration.
We’ve all been there; prepped for a busy Friday night, stoves firing, servers on the floor and yet, something is missing. The table of 8? No shows is one of the biggest impactors of success in hospitality.
Last year £17.6 Billion pounds was lost across the hospitality sector directly linked to no shows and that is just taking account of lost covers. The picture is even worse when accounting for the loss of other customers, who have been turned away by a venue in the mistaken belief that bookings are full, leading to wasted food and unnecessary staffing costs.
In a recent piece of research, a survey of over 5,000 UK pub, bar and restaurant-goers, we found that whilst more than two thirds (68%) of consumers who make bookings say they turn up for all of them, 18% cancel in advance and one in seven (14%) admit to failing to turn up without even telling their venue.
This comes at a huge cost to the industry. In partnership with CGA by NiQ, Zonal has been measuring the number of customers who make a booking and then simply don’t turn up (aka No Shows) since 2021. It is a huge issue for the industry and underlines again, why building a loyal customer-base is crucial for pubs, bars and restaurants.
Why do People No Show?
29% said it was because they decided it would be too expensive to go out
27% said it was because they changed their plans
21% said it was because someone in the group fell ill
17% said it was because they forgot
14% said it was because someone else in the group cancelled
10% said it was because they had booked several venues
There is a way forward by investing in loyalty strategies that build trust and consistency, operators can reduce no shows and strengthen guest relationships.
Loyalty persuades customers to show up
With £17.6 Billion on the table, the sector needs to find ways to mitigate the issue and encourage consumers to at least let venues know if they no longer intend to turn up.
Interestingly, loyalty was one of the top five reasons consumers said they’d be more likely to honour a booking, with 17% saying they are less likely to no show if they felt loyal to the venue or brand. The same proportion said they would do so if they knew about the impact of lost bookings on businesses and this underlines the need for the industry to join forces and clearly communicate the damage the practice causes.
Other reasons guests gave when asked what would make them less likely to miss a booking were: a simple cancellation process, rewards and incentives to show up, reservation reminders, and (controversially within the trade at least) paying a deposit.
Boosting loyalty to combat no shows
A strong, and often overlooked, driver of loyalty is confidence. For the growing number of guests with food allergies, intolerances, or dietary preferences, when they find a place they can trust, they keep coming back.
That’s a core reason why Zonal partnered with Ingredifind for Allergen Management. For the 1 in 3 diners with a dietary restriction or preference, confidence in what they can safely eat is often the deciding factor in where a group chooses to dine.
Ingredifind’s usage data reinforces this: guests who use their personalised allergen menus are 4× more likely to return than the industry average. That repeat behaviour translates directly into stronger loyalty, more predictable bookings, and fewer no-shows.
By combining Zonal’s loyalty tools with trusted allergen transparency by Ingredifind, operators can build the kind of guest relationships that drive commitment, not cancellations.
This is a guest post from Loyalty Landscape by our partners at Zonal. Learn more about the Zonal + Ingredifind Integration.
We’ve all been there; prepped for a busy Friday night, stoves firing, servers on the floor and yet, something is missing. The table of 8? No shows is one of the biggest impactors of success in hospitality.
Last year £17.6 Billion pounds was lost across the hospitality sector directly linked to no shows and that is just taking account of lost covers. The picture is even worse when accounting for the loss of other customers, who have been turned away by a venue in the mistaken belief that bookings are full, leading to wasted food and unnecessary staffing costs.
In a recent piece of research, a survey of over 5,000 UK pub, bar and restaurant-goers, we found that whilst more than two thirds (68%) of consumers who make bookings say they turn up for all of them, 18% cancel in advance and one in seven (14%) admit to failing to turn up without even telling their venue.
This comes at a huge cost to the industry. In partnership with CGA by NiQ, Zonal has been measuring the number of customers who make a booking and then simply don’t turn up (aka No Shows) since 2021. It is a huge issue for the industry and underlines again, why building a loyal customer-base is crucial for pubs, bars and restaurants.
Why do People No Show?
29% said it was because they decided it would be too expensive to go out
27% said it was because they changed their plans
21% said it was because someone in the group fell ill
17% said it was because they forgot
14% said it was because someone else in the group cancelled
10% said it was because they had booked several venues
There is a way forward by investing in loyalty strategies that build trust and consistency, operators can reduce no shows and strengthen guest relationships.
Loyalty persuades customers to show up
With £17.6 Billion on the table, the sector needs to find ways to mitigate the issue and encourage consumers to at least let venues know if they no longer intend to turn up.
Interestingly, loyalty was one of the top five reasons consumers said they’d be more likely to honour a booking, with 17% saying they are less likely to no show if they felt loyal to the venue or brand. The same proportion said they would do so if they knew about the impact of lost bookings on businesses and this underlines the need for the industry to join forces and clearly communicate the damage the practice causes.
Other reasons guests gave when asked what would make them less likely to miss a booking were: a simple cancellation process, rewards and incentives to show up, reservation reminders, and (controversially within the trade at least) paying a deposit.
Boosting loyalty to combat no shows
A strong, and often overlooked, driver of loyalty is confidence. For the growing number of guests with food allergies, intolerances, or dietary preferences, when they find a place they can trust, they keep coming back.
That’s a core reason why Zonal partnered with Ingredifind for Allergen Management. For the 1 in 3 diners with a dietary restriction or preference, confidence in what they can safely eat is often the deciding factor in where a group chooses to dine.
Ingredifind’s usage data reinforces this: guests who use their personalised allergen menus are 4× more likely to return than the industry average. That repeat behaviour translates directly into stronger loyalty, more predictable bookings, and fewer no-shows.
By combining Zonal’s loyalty tools with trusted allergen transparency by Ingredifind, operators can build the kind of guest relationships that drive commitment, not cancellations.
