How COVID-19 impacts restaurants and how we can support our clients

Thank you for being a part of our TableCheck Community.

First, I wish to express my sympathy to those who are suffering from Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to all the restaurant businesses who are affected by the nature of the pandemic.

Cities have become deserted and events from graduation ceremonies to high school baseball tournaments have been cancelled since the government adamantly requested people to stay home unless it is inevitable.

This is also heavily affecting the hospitality industry in numerous ways.

To comment on the data, we are paying close attention to the decrease in number of reservations made at restaurants. The cancellation rates have been increasingly at a notable rate.

Below is the data showing how the spread of Novel Coronavirus is affecting the restaurants.

*Reservation and cancellation rates per restaurant will be updated regularly.

*Updated on March 24, 2020
*Updated on April 8, 2020

1. Graph which shows the drop of reservations made per restaurant impacted by Covid-19

2. Graph which shows the decrease in the average number of reservations made impacted by Covid-19

As our data shows, the number of reservations made per restaurant has heavily decreased. An average number per restaurant in 2020 was shifting around 15 reservations, which dropped to 7.7 reservations / day on 31 of March, 2020 while it was around 20.1 reservations / day in March 2019.

3. Graph which shows the increase in cancellation rates impacted by Covid-19

Additionally, cancellation rates have doubled compared to last March. As of 3/31, the cancellation rate has increased to an average of 28.2%. It reached its peak at over 40% during the weekend after the Tokyo Governor urged people to stay home.

* The data above is an aggregation up until 31 of March, 2020.

4. Graph which shows the increase in cancellation rates per different party size impacted by Covid-19 from 1 of January 2020 to 29 of March, 2020.

We suspect that the large amount of cancellations is sourced from the festive season of March with lots of farewell and welcome parties. Cancellation rates for reservations for parties of six or more have rapidly increased in response to the official government statement suspending large events. The cancellation rate for reservations for parties of six or more has rapidly increased by 1.5 times and reservations for parties of ten or more, increased by 3.6 times compared to the beginning of January. As mentioned earlier, the highest brunt on the reservations was observed on the weekend of 3/28 & 3/29 after the announcement by the Governor.

*Contact Mikako Mochizuki at pr-jp@tablecheck.com for more information about those data.

*The data collected and represented above has been sourced by restaurants who are currently using TableSolution.

To all restaurant owners and those in the hospitality industry that have been impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19

Both the government and privately-owned businesses have announced their will to support restaurants. We strongly believe that it would be essential for restaurants to receive the support and assistance they need as early as possible.

Please read “METI’s Support Measures for Companies Concerning the Impacts of the Novel Coronavirus Disease” which can be found on the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

You will be able to find valuable information to maintain your business.

Various management consulting services are available and support measures for financing and improvement of business environments Have been set forth.

We are all experiencing difficulties in our lives with uncertainty. However, we would like to provide support for restaurants that need it. We are praying for things to turn around and go back to how it was before. We sincerely wish the safety of those who work at restaurants as well as our diners. We want to stay resilient and come out strong by the time we defeat this pandemic.

Lastly, to consumers,

What we can do for the food-service industry during these “extenuating circumstances”.

We should follow through safety management and think about what each of us can do, and let’s support our beloved restaurants together so that they can continue their businesses.

Yu Taniguchi,
CEO
TableCheck