Blog
Reservations to Tickets
Apr
I was making a reservation for the fanciest meal I would ever attend to celebrate with my wife for her milestone birthday.
They called my purchase a ‘ticket’ and not a reservation.
Potato, potato. You get my meaning!
I read the large print. It was paid 100% in advance. It clearly stated that the ticket was non-refundable but was transferable. No credit would be given.
A bit harsh, I thought.
But it made sense.
So it was like buying a ticket to a concert. Think of the venue for an NHL team. The same rules apply when you buy a performance ticket.
What the restaurant is doing is mimicking the rules around concert tickets. The financial viability in the restaurant industry is difficult at the best of times. You don’t know how many people will come for supper, what they will order for mains, if they want dessert, or even how long they will stay. To top it off, the expected tip may be less or more than usual—very high risks to manage.
By selling tickets for supper, the restaurant can know what staffing to have on-site, at least. With meal selection ahead of time, the inventory for food is very predictable. Tipping is included in the price, so there is no risk from that income stream. This restaurant might survive.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is just one example of how businesses adjust to the new normal.
Another quick example is moving from selling a product outright to switching to a subscription model. For example, electric cars need so little maintenance compared to gas-fueled cars-thereby lasting longer. With all the software in the vehicles, car manufacturers will likely be selling subscriptions for many options in the years ahead. Heated steering wheel, backup camera, and air conditioning are possible targets. Subscriptions are now readily accepted as normal for music streaming services to your car.
Please give this a bit of a think. What are some services or products we currently buy outright that would likely move to a subscription model over the next five years? Think about groups of possible products or services that would reduce the buy-in price; housing, transportation, entertainment, utilities, travel, admission to attractions and museums, health, hot water tanks (oops, they are already available on a subscription basis,) and parking stalls and balconies.
Without really realizing it, I’m subscribing to my internet provider on a monthly basis to have a router in the house. I used to own the router but not an option anymore.
I’m curious about your thoughts. Please share your bit of a think below.
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Congratulations on the milestone BD! I hope the high priced ticket meal was exceptional. Sad that a restaurant must expect up-front payment in order to thrive. Remember when good size portions and tasty food was what kept customers coming back?
Subscriptions can be a waste of money if you don’t use the service/ product frequently. Back in the day receiving a new subscription magazine in the mail was a nice “surprise “ as I never paid attention to when I’d receive it. Of all the things that aren’t under subscription in Ontario that I’d like to receive on a monthly basis is wine. No it cannot be mailed and only certain UPS FedEx delivery services would bother with complicated applications and fees. The US is much more relaxed and wine clubs abound.