Durations change with the service. In a fast-turnover pizzeria a slot lasts 30-45 minutes; in a full-service trattoria, 90; in a medical practice or a salon, 15 or 30 depending on the treatment. The practical rule: the duration must cover the average service time plus the turnaround of the table or station — otherwise full slots collide with the reality of the floor. Cuts that are too big waste seats: with 90-minute slots, a table freed at 8:45 pm stays invisible until 9 pm; cuts that are too small fill the diary with commitments you can't honour.
Why serious booking thinks in slots and not in “do you do 6 pm?”: because the customer's request is flexible and the answer isn't. Someone writing “for two around 8” can take 7:45 or 8:30; a slot-based system offers the real free alternatives and closes on the spot, instead of opening a message-by-message negotiation that ends when the customer has already written elsewhere. The advantages add up: the diary fills without holes, the customer answers a choice instead of a quiz, and the data collected — slots requested against slots free — tells you where the real demand is, which “do you do 6 pm?” never does.
Frequently asked questions
- How long is a slot in a restaurant?
- It depends on the turnover: 30-45 minutes if tables rotate fast, 90 if the service is full. Measure the real average occupation time — bill paid, table cleared — and add the turnaround time before fixing the cut.
- Can slots overlap?
- In some businesses yes, by design: a salon with three stylists can sell three 30-minute slots in the same interval. In a restaurant with fixed tables no: every slot occupies a concrete resource, and overlapping is overbooking.