Best Reservation Software

Reservation booking is the lifeline of service-based businesses such as the hotel industry, car rentals, hospitals, theatre, travel and tourism, elearning, and others. In such businesses, booking and related activities constitute a significant fraction of daily workflow. Outdated booking processes can immensely hamper productivity. Organizations that cling to traditional methods of booking reservations such as excel sheets or manual register booking not only drain their energy, time, and money but also deprive their customers of a hassle-free booking experience. In the digitally ubiquitous world, providing the facility to book online is vital for customer-centric businesses. 

Profitable businesses have a structured process, systematic approach, and sophisticated reservation booking technology to assist them. A well-organized reservation management system ensures a steady flow of bookings across all assets. Online reservation software works as a diligent front desk for your business.  However, selecting the best reservation software with peculiar traits specific to your business is paramount for establishing a profitable booking business. This buyer's guide for reservation software analyzes all critical aspects of the reservation management system to provide buyers with the essential information required to make a sound investment decision. 

Reservation software is a set of application tools that assist businesses to book online reservations, manage them, and receive online payment. The reservation system keeps a complete record of all bookings, including metadata associated with it. It helps businesses in searching for bookings, providing immediate booking assistance or information to the customers regarding their reservations. It comes with features such as a Booking platform, booking management module, notifications reminders, calendar management, rate management, payment processing, customer management, online reservations, reporting and analysis, and scheduling. 

1. Calendar: A reservation software must have an inbuilt calendar that enables both users and the customers to check date wise availability of reservation 'assets.' The calendar must provide a one glance view of booked or vacant days. (preferably in different colors for eBay visualization).

2. Payment Integration: A reservation software must either provide the facility to pay online itself or through integration with popular payment channels. The software must allow customers to pay with multiple payment methods (credit cards, debit cards, wallets, etc.) in multiple currencies. 

3. Email Integration: Emails at various levels of the customer's journey adds to the authenticity of your business. Reservation software should integrate with popular email services to send automated emails for booking confirmation, payment confirmation, booking date reminders, feedback, etc. Reservation booking software must also have auto-populated templates that can be used to fill booking details. 

4. Channel Integration: Reservation software must have capabilities to integrate on all potential online channels that fetch bookings. Your customers may find you on social platforms, online platforms, your website, etc. Channel integrations allow your customers to start booking right from the channel where they are logged in with central synchronizing to avoid double booking. 

5. Reporting: Streamlined tracking is essential for the improvement of the booking business. Reservation software must provide reports such as sales, conversions, customer profiles, asset requirements, etc. 

6. Review management: Most of the industries that provide online booking facilities are review sensitive businesses. Customer reviews immensely influence future customer inflow. Review management is critical to ensure that upcoming customers receive a favorable view of your business.  

• A reservation software integrates with your business’s website and other digital platforms where you want your customers to connect for online booking. 
• When the customer reaches any of the digital channels, they find the ‘book now’ button. By clicking the button, the reservation software lands them on the booking page. 
• Customers can visualize all available assets, prices, timings, and other crucial information on the online booking page, and based on it, can make a booking decision.  
• The reservation software is a self-service facility that allows customers to fill in their reservation details by themselves. You can customize the booking page according to your business-specific needs. 
• Most of the details on the booking page just require selecting from the predefined values. Customers need to select their specifics from a set of options. However, based on your business's working conditions, you can also allow customers to put requirements that are not in the predefined list. 
• Customers select all the values. As soon as they click on the confirm booking button, the reservation is accepted and updated in real-time on all other digital platforms where you accept bookings.
• You can also set a mandatory information section. If the customer does not fill in any mandatory information, the application will prompt the customer to fill it before confirming the reservation. 
• For bookings where prepayment is required, the confirm button will redirect the customer to the payment page. Reservation platforms come with payment integration with popular payment apps such as Paypal, Stripe, etc. Once the payment is made, the booking gets confirmed.
• Reservation software sends a series of automated emails at various stages of the customer's reservation journey, including booking confirmation emails, reminder emails for the upcoming bookings, feedback-seeking mails, etc.  

​​​​​​If you want to maximize your business time

Your physical booking window cannot stay open 24/7. Nor your customers will always endure the hassle of coming to you in person for booking their seats, rooms, etc. A reservation software makes your business available to your clients 24/7 for 365 days. This flexibility helps in achieving enhanced customer satisfaction. 

If you want to manage multiple bookings simultaneously.

Handling simultaneous bookings from numerous customers can cause staff exhaustion. Physically responding to every client's query regarding the vacant seats, available properties for booking, etc. is practically unrealistic. Reservation software can show hundreds of logged in customers' real-time status of available 'assets' for booking and provide complete information regarding the price, availability, timings, and amenities on a single screen. 

If you want to reduce canceled bookings scenarios

Your staff cannot efficiently track every step of the booking process manually. Reservation software does it for your business. All booking steps are recorded accurately, and the system has automated means of sending reminders for booking. It prevents no shows and cancellations. 

If you want real-time insights about your business

Comparing month-wise, week-wise, and day-wise bookings, cancellations, no shows, and Key performance indicators manually will never give you the complete visual picture of your business's performance. Reservation software enables you to easily track key performance metrics such as the number of online inquiries, converted bookings, success percentage, booked to capacity ratio, revenue reports, etc. 

If you want to beat your competitors 

You are competing with thousands of competitors, websites, tools, and strategies. In such a highly competitive market, you need distinct capabilities to stay ahead of your peers. Reservation software puts the scale in your favor by providing you an efficient system for booking reservations for clients. 

Desktop-based/On-Premise

These types of reservation software are licensed and can be installed within the IT infrastructure of your business. On-Premise reservation systems are easily customizable. Businesses who want to store their booking data on their own servers can opt for on-premise reservation software.

Web-based

Third-party reservation system providers offer online reservation software. No installation is required for this completely independent application. Web-based reservation software can be accessed from anywhere with internet connectivity. 

Cloud-based

The cloud-based reservation software is popular with businesses owing to its massive data storage capabilities and high-speed technology. The cloud-based reservation software hosted through a third-party cloud service provider is a SaaS (Software as a Service) based solution. 

Open Source

The open-source reservation software allows users to customize software codes and modify default settings to enhance the core working functionalities. External plugins can be added to open source reservation systems to increase its utility. Businesses requiring customized reservation solutions can opt for an open source reservation system. 

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• Provide the convenience of booking to your customers: Deploy a reservation system to let your clients book your assets from anywhere and anytime. 
• Keeps your reservation data safe for cyber breaches: With an encrypted booking system and cybersecurity features, keep your booking and payment data secure for getting compromised. 
• Easy processing of bookings: Booking any asset with a reservation system software is super easy. It increases the website conversion ratio.
• Eases your Workload: Manual data entry, mundane tasks, human errors, etc. can increase the workload unnecessarily. Your precious time is destroyed in redundant tasks, and you get less time to work on important elements for the bottom line. Employee satisfaction increases as their workload is reduced significantly.
• Better client experience: Clients that directly book with you can be rewarded with attractive discounts, promo codes, deals, loyalty benefits, etc. It creates a better client relationship and experience. 
• Prevent chaos: Multiple bookings, calls, bills, forms, invoices, inventory, etc. can cause chaos on a busy day. In peak booking seasons, this can cause a real mess for your business. The reservation system won't allow you to book more than capacity. It will reduce your work so that you can focus on customers. 
• Upselling opportunities: On your reservation page, you can list your other products and cross-sale for your business tie-ups also. 
• Highlight reviews: Reservation software prompts your regular clients to submit testimonials, reviews, and feedback that can be highlighted on the booking page.
• Security: Reservation software with PCI DSS compliant structure keeps your data safe and booking engine stable. 
• Controlled Occupancy: With a reservation manager, you can forecast no shows, cancellations, overstays, understays, walkins, etc. to keep occupancy of your property under control. 
• Increase Productivity: Reservation software increases productivity by eliminating redundant tasks. Your team need not take constant calls or answer frequent emails from customers asking for small details about their bookings. All information they require is already in the reservation software’s vault. 
• Eliminates error in booking: Booking errors can cause extreme inconvenience to your customers and revenue loss for your business. Manual methods often cause errors in dates, price, double booking the same property, etc. Reservation software eliminates errors and keeps precision in the booking.

Tours and Travels Industry: Online tour bookings saw a growth of 8.9% in 2019. In the Tours and travel industry, reservation software allows businesses to set up a complete online booking system for tourists. Tourists can book online and reserve their bus, train, or air seats from tours and travel agencies. Tours and Travel platforms that want to remain at the forefront of the industry can invest in a reservation software that;

• Creates a booking engine integrated with their website
• Controls booking from all sources centrally
• Stores all information securely for compliance and retrieval needs
• Provides accurate reporting and insights of their ongoing business

Hotels: Today, more inquiries come from online channels rather than offline ones. Businesspersons, tourists, frequent travelers, etc. prefer to book and secure a room before directly coming to the hotel premises. In a recent survey, 88% of respondents said they prefer online channels to book hotels. Hotels need to live up to the modern demands and expectations of the visitors for consistent income and growth. Hotels can deploy hotel booking software that:

• Increases their operational efficiency by automating the room booking process 
• Provides real-time visibility of available rooms across all properties
• Allows visitors to self-serve tasks such as booking, payment, stay extension, room extension, room upgrades, room service orders, cancellations, etc. 
• Allows hoteliers to set and change pricings automatically based on demand and availability

Rental Service Business:

Rental service businesses such as Car rentals, motorcycle rentals, RV rentals, Taxi rentals, Home Rentals, etc. can use reservation software to rent their services. In the Car Rental industry, 70% of the total revenue will be generated through online sales by 2025. Rental service businesses can deploy reservation software that:

• Allows them to check vehicle availability, commission rate, etc. with a few clicks
• Creates a centralized database of all rental properties which is retrievable in a click
• Allows customers to select from the list of available rental assets and provides them essential information such as pricing per hour/day, seating capacity, type of asset, required advance amount, documents that need to be submitted, and more.
• Sends automated confirmation emails, hours exceeded notifications, fuel left alerts, etc. 

Restaurants: Reservation software for restaurants allows restaurant owners to build relationships with their customers, connect with guests easily, fill up seats fast, recognize loyalty, and record customer's preferences and dining history for better service in the future. Restaurant owners can deploy a reservation management system that:

• Lets them set accurate timing for each table booking
• Allows them to manage their staff schedule and shift plan
• Comes with POS integration for payment 
• Has features such as waitlist management, guest analytics, feedback system, mobile application

Event Industry: The event industry can use reservation software for creating automated ticketing systems, managing bookings, and providing reservation convenience to its customers. Event managers can deploy a reservation system that:

• Allows them to create seat plans for events, add different reservation and ticket types with different pricings, etc.
• Provides promotional features such as coupon codes for discounts, social media marketing features, sponsorship management, and more
• Creates a timeline to manage event and guests easily
• Has features for invoice management, calendar integration, online payment, integration, and more

Aviation: The aviation industry can use reservation software for establishing a robust and scalable flight booking system that integrates with the global distribution system and third party flight APIs.  Airlines, Travel agencies, and flight ticket agents can deploy a reservation system that : 

• Allows them to provide online booking of flight tickets to their customers
• Integrates with other channels/ third-party service providers to provide hotel booking, car booking, etc. for a complete travel experience
• Has advanced merchandising tools, inventory tracking, and ticketing system
• Has a versatile system for customer grievance management along with every booking, reporting system, and standard compliance management. 

E-learning industry: Currently, the elearning industry is experiencing an increased demand for catering to millions of aspirants who enroll themselves in various types of online courses offered by elearning course providers. Elearning course providers can deploy online reservation software that:

• Allows course aspirants to browse courses, book seats for online courses, and pay online. 
• Has inbuilt marketing tools for reaching more course aspirants
• Allows them to visualize all vacant seat data and oversee all details from a centralized dashboard
• Has features for webinar booking, special session bookings, email notifications, etc. 

Individual Practitioners: Busy professionals such as Lawyers, Doctors, Therapists, Instructors, etc. have to meet numerous clients in a day. Without pre-appointment and reserved timings for each session, managing a workday is an impossible task. Individual practitioners can deploy an efficient reservation booking system that:

• Obtains relevant onboarding information of the clients
• Books automatic reservations for clients based on empty slots
• Enables clients to pay online for pre-booking
• Sends automated emails/notifications for feedback

Other businesses: Gyms, Salons, Clubs, Conference hall providers, parking lot providers, campground service providers, amusement parks, waterparks, and other small businesses can deploy reservation booking software that:

• Facilitate them to manage their space, seats, camps, etc.
• Allows visitors to book and pay online for confirmed reservations
• Allows group bookings, multi-session bookings, and more
• Integrates efficiently with their business website and other interaction points

The features of reservation management software differ from industry to industry. However, some common features apply to all reservation booking systems, such as: 

• Booking: Reservation software lets customers book online with an automated booking system and intuitive interface. 
• Automated communications: Online reservation software sends pre-populated emails at various stages of the booking process.
• Asset Display: Reservation platform displays your live inventory and assets available for booking to customers.
• Multiple-Channel bookings: This feature allows your customers to initiate booking from various channels where they find you, i.e., website, social media, online booking platforms, etc. 
• Advanced Analytics and KPIs: Reservation software reports your business’s performance and key performance indicators to help you understand your current business position and decide on future strategy. 
• Branding features: Most online reservation software allows users to put their customized logos, headers, design formats on the booking page for an enhanced customer experience.
• Real-time visibility: Reservation software provides real-time status of bookings, available assets, occupancy rates, conversions, etc. Every new booking is simultaneously updated on all integrated channels. 
• Multiple payment options: Reservation systems broaden payment options by allowing customers to choose their preferred payment mode. Not only payment alternatives, reservation management systems provide facilities to pay in multiple currencies. 
• Multiple Languages: Booking in multiple languages helps businesses attract more customers worldwide. 
• Administrative Panels: Users can customize settings, define roles and permissions, and set automation rules using this feature. 

Other Features:

• Simple to install with installation guide or vendor support 
• Extensions with pluggable components
• Mobile application and mobile-responsive user interface

1. Recaptcha validation

Online reservation system must have Recaptcha validation at all booking points to prevent automated program spams, malicious bot content, and unwanted server loads. 

2. GDPR compliance

Ensure your online reservation management software is GDPR compliant to protect your customer's personal data such as name address, phone number, web data such as IP address, location, cookie data, category data such as orientation, opinions, and views, biometric data, etc. 

3. ADA compliance

American Disabilities act of 1990 was updated in 2010 to include website accessibility and online booking compliance to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Your booking website that fails ADA compliance can be sued under the ADA compliance act 2010.

4. PCI DSS for payment

PCI DSS (Payment card Industry Data Security Standards) compliance ensures that cardholder data is safe. Online Reservation software that integrates with payment systems to allow customers online payment facilities must ensure that the third party payment method is PCI DSS compliant for secure payment transactions. 

• Payment Integrations: Payment integrations with popular channels such as Paypal, CC Avenue, PayU, Stripe, Sagepay, etc. helps your business to provide more payment gateways to your customers.  
• Website builders for events: Reservation software that can integrate with website builders such as WordPress, Drupal, Woocommerce, Joomla, etc. can help your business build landing pages for reservation. 
• Calendar integrations: Integrations with calendars such as Google, iOS, Microsoft let your business synchronize booking between multiple sites. 
• Ecommerce Integrations: Ecommerce integrations with websites such as Shopify, Big-commerce, Magento, etc. helps your business to reach potential customers from these ecommerce giants directly. 
• Coupon Code website: Coupon code websites such as Groupon allow your business to provide coupons for discounts and run loyalty programs. 
• Accounting Systems: Accounting Integrations such as Quickbooks allows you to manage your reservation business accounting books directly from within the application. 
• Others: You should also look for other important integrations such as social media platforms, video conferencing apps, email integrations, form builders, CRM software, etc.  before investing in the software. 

Consider the following factors about the reservation software you are planning to purchase:

• Does it provide all critical features as required for an effective booking system?
• Can it work with low bandwidth internet connectivity?
• Does it help reduce no shows by automated notifications, emails, SMS, etc.?
• Is the system scalable to accommodate more reservation assets?
• Does it come for free, or in the freemium or paid version?
• Are any hidden costs, installation charges, and training charges? 
• Is the online reservation system compatible with all devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones? 
• Whether the reservation platform provides customer data protection, safe payment mode, and encryption to prevent any security breach while the booking is processed?
• Is the reservation system user-friendly, sophisticated, and easy to use?
• Does the reservation management software vendor provide 24/7 customer support?
• Does the reservation software vendor provide a live demo or free trial of its functionalities?

The cost of the best online reservation management system depends on a large number of factors such as:

• The industry in which it is used
• Features it offers
• Type of software framework and installation: Cloud-based, Web-based, on-premise software, or open-source.
• Quality of the software, user interface, and customer experience
• The type of automation functionalities it offers
• The number of bookings, reservations it can manage simultaneously 
• Devices it can work upon simultaneously
• Types of integrations it provides
• Privacy and the data encryption it provides 

These variations influence and decide the pricing estimations of the reservation software. 

Reservation management software such as  Skedda will cost $5 per month for its Pro plan. It also has a free plan with limited features.  The standard plan of Reservio will cost you $20 per month, with a limitation of 500 monthly bookings. You can upgrade to its pro plan for $40 a month for unlimited monthly bookings. The pro plan of Checkfront will cost you $84 per month, whereas its enterprise edition comes at $169 per month. 

If you are looking for free reservation software, then KWhotel (hotel reservation system), Sagenda (appointment booking system), Upbooking (Multiple industries), and Zaui (Tourism industry reservation system) offer free versions with limited feature plans. If you need free and open source reservation software, then go for QloApps. For other online reservation management software such as Planyo, ResNexus, Reservation Engine, bookatonce, Roverpass, and many others, you need to contact the reservation software vendor for detailed pricing information. Get the updated list of reservation software solutions from the GoodFirms reservation software page. 

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The readers of this buyer's guide for reservation software are advised to navigate the list of thoroughly researched best reservation software solutions that provide immense features and best services to manage bookings.  You can also read reservation software reviews here.