It makes sense when the problem is visibility: new businesses, areas with tourist traffic, venues that need to fill the slow days. The platform brings customers who would never have looked for you, and for those €2 per cover is a legitimate marketing cost, comparable to a promotion. The pact to accept with open eyes: that customer belongs to the platform, not to you. The contact — number, email — stays with the platform, doesn't reach your diary, and the customer who returns a second time often rebooks through the platform, paying the commission again. The platform sells covers, not clientele.
It doesn't make sense when the clientele is regular: paying €2 per cover for someone who would have called you anyway is a tax on loyalty. On 50 covers a day of neighbourhood people the bill tops €30,000 a year: the same money pays for a year of direct booking. The mature practice is the two-speed approach: platforms switched on for the empty days and the new customers, the direct channel — site, widget, WhatsApp — promoted everywhere: on the menu, at the till, in the confirmation message. Those who run the two-speed approach see the share of direct bookings rise by 20-30%: customers follow the easiest path, if you show it to them.
Frequently asked questions
- How much do platforms keep per cover?
- The most popular ones in Italy hover around €2 per cover, with higher peaks at weekends and in tourist centres. Some also work with a monthly subscription. The number that matters is the yearly one: average covers per day times days open times the unit cost.
- Is depending on platforms risky?
- If it's the only channel, yes: commissions and rules change and you control neither the price list nor the relationship with the customer. The risk drops a lot when the platform is one of the channels and not the channel: better three sources of bookings than a single one, whichever it is.