We announced an exciting new integration in January with Clover that puts our NoshList waitlist app directly in front of restaurant operators across the country. NoshList was one of the first apps to appear in Clover’s newly developed app marketplace. This is new and exciting for us because technology such as the Clover POS is leading the way for restaurant operators to efficiently update and integrate their front-of-house and back-of-house operations. Never before have waitlist apps been able to sync up with a restaurant POS, providing sales analytics based on waitlist names and phone numbers. Now, they can.

Clover, owned by First Data, is going after restaurant operators with modest businesses in an effort to treat them like large brands by giving them what they’re asking for: something more from a technology provider without the high price tag to match.

Clover is answering this call is by offering a merchant-driven technology tool based on the Android operating system. It’s smarter, more flexible and secure than what many of these operators have been using, and the fact that NoshList is featured as a tool within this technology makes what Clover is doing that much better.

For Clover users, the toolkit is future proof and includes a printer, cash drawer and credit card terminal. Additionally, it includes preloaded apps such as ours intended to give restaurant operators the ability to control and customize the tools best suited to their needs.

Additionally, we have recently made several new enhancements to our NoshList waitlist app. These updates let restaurant owners and management define pre-set notes, such as dates of birthdays and anniversaries, in the Quick Notes feature. The notes can be viewed in the wait list for easy reference and can be synced across each device used in the restaurant. The new app features a seating history display below the current list and people that add themselves to the list show up at the top with special highlighting to alert the hostess.

In addition to the new app features, the NoshList website now has several powerful analytical reports for paid premium users. The reports include an activity overview that highlights diner trends seated by the day, week or month, a visitor breakdown by age and gender, activity logs for custom analysis and loyalty metrics comprised of guests who visit your place when, how often, and their average length of wait.

The NoshList and Clover technology is based on flexibility and is a valuable tool restaurant operators can leverage to make their operations more efficient. And integration is easy!

When someone installs NoshList from Clover, it immediately pulls their merchant account information and links table orders directly to the table numbers entered into the POS. Restaurant staff can then view the customer’s name, order and visit history, giving them an opportunity to elevate the guest experience through rewards and direct marketing campaigns.

Here is a summary of the latest features that will be on display:

New Free features available to all:

• Quick Notes – Easily create a list of common notes to use when adding and seating parties.
• ETA – Choose an estimated arrival time for same-day reservations and larger parties.
• Seated View – View notes and parties seated in the main waitlist view.

New Premium features:

• Rich Analytics – Download activity, demographics, party size, and loyalty reports.
• Table Management – Customize and assign table numbers when adding and seating parties.
• Customizable Public Waitlist – Add information on daily specials, loyalty programs, coupons, and more to the public waitlist that guests can check from their phones while waiting.

With partners such as Clover, we will continue to push the boundaries of waitlist technology because we believe in doing things differently. We are a team of professionals focused to innovate an antiquated aspect of the industry,one we understand, appreciate and are passionate about.

Let your customers check themselves into your waitlist or reservations from your website or when they arrive at your restaurant.  It is convenient for customers and will save your business time and money.

Waitlist Me makes it as simple as pasting our widget on your website or using a unique page we host for you.  And it is seamlessly integrated into our waitlist and resource management service that has been proven to reduce walkaways and improve customer satisfaction.

We have had our add yourself features available for some time, but we recently added some new features, simplified the customization and settings, and created this new video to show how it all works:

Here is an example of how it can be used for self check in at your business

Or it can be easily integrated into a website like in the example below

If you’re just getting started with Waitlist Me Pro or Platinum, you’ll want to go through these steps to set up your tables, sections, and layouts.

Set up tables – In the settings, navigate to Assignments. (In the app this will be under the gear icon > Manage Assignments.) Enter in the names of all of your tables, as well as their sizes. Each account defaults with assignments 1 – 30; delete any you do not need.

Name sections – When you’re done with the Assignments, go back to the previous screen and then choose Sections. Add the names of every section you will be using in any layout.

Name layouts – Enter the name of all the layouts you have. For example, Weekday Dinner & Weekend Dinner, or 4 Servers, 5 Servers & 6 Servers. If your sections never change, simply create one layout and name it something like Main or Dinner. 

Set up layouts – For each layout you’ve named, press Edit to set it up. Put a check in the box for each table that belongs to your first section. Then press the +Section in the middle of the row, and assign that section. If you want to use the color coding for your sections, choose the color at this time too. Continue this process until you’ve assigned all of the tables to the sections that belong in that layout. (You don’t have to use every table in every layout.) Then go back and repeat the process for other layouts. 

Once finished, Pro users can see more on how to utilize the grid view for table management here.

Place tables in rooms – With a Platinum subscription you’ll be able to create a spatial floor plan. To do this, go back to the main waitlist screen and then press the circle with the line in it on the upper left. From here, follow along with this video tutorial to set up your room(s) and place your tables:

FACTORY GIRL is a breakfast & lunch restaurant in Amsterdam and in Berlin.  The concept of FACTORY GIRL was founded by Sofia D Sözen in Berlin in 2009 to become a hip and stylish culture serving healthy breakfast & lunch all day long. The atmosphere bursts with warmth, friendliness, coolness and charm. FACTORY GIRL is an exciting and homey culinary experience built on values of being cruelty-free to animals. 

“We serve extremely rich, luscious vegan & vegetarian food with beautiful presentations,” says Sözen. “We change the menu often to keep the excitement alive and the ingredients we use are mostly organic.” 

The concept of FACTORY GIRL is a place where you can begin your day or take a break in style or just drop by for a coffee or quick Vegan Coco Anjela treat. FACTORY GIRL believes in a healthy lifestyle with a planet-friendly attitude. That’s why the restaurant provides daily fresh, healthy vegan and vegetarian food with an infinite amount of ingredients, spices and herbs. 

“We try to create distinctive recipes that still have conventional tastes. And above all, FACTORY GIRL welcomes everyone with different preferences!” says Sözen.

There are a lot of dishes that are customer favorites, but a couple that stand out are the Vegan Dessert Coco Anjela, Shakshuka, and Gluten Free Pancake and Benedict. The menu contains many options, so it provides a great way for guests to create their own meal. 

“We have a lot of caring and love for our brand,” says Sözen. “We enjoy our work as a team. We play good music, provide a high level of service, and make fine and healthy food in a friendly environment. We support kindness and we love animals as much as we love bringing people together.” 

FACTORY GIRL’s commitment to quality service and spotless management was what originally led them to try Waitlist Me.  When the restaurant was busy, they would have to write down the names of the waiting people and it wasn’t easy to keep things in order.  They were having difficulties due to the long wait times.

“Waitlist Me allowed us to communicate with our guests by letting them wait from anywhere then telling them it’s their turn with an SMS,” says Sözen. “Our guests can check in online, they can see the wait times and we can keep everyone informed. It’s a new way to not wait in line. We can also control the number of customers inside at any given time. Waitlist Me lets us create an awesome customer waiting experience.”

FACTORY GIRL’s previous system of using paper was also throwing off their internal system and processes. Often guests had to wait too long, especially on weekend nights when things could get chaotic. Switching to Waitlist Me gave better tools for their management and team to help run things more smoothly when things got busy.

“We are now able to monitor our lines in real-time,” says Sözen. “We can see how different locations compare, the number of guests waiting, current wait times and other metrics that help to empower our team and streamline how our business operates.”

FACTORY GIRL’s flexibility in trying new things has been part of their ability to keep the personality of their brand consistent as they continue to make improvements within their core concept.  They are driven by the passion for making people happy and making strong connections with their customers and within their team.  These values have also helped them through the past year, which has been particularly challenging for restaurants because of COVID.  In their Amsterdam location they adapted and modified their service to allow for pick up. “FACTORY GIRL has strong founding pillars,” says Sözen, “We prefer to re-form ad re-sculpt our projects and plans for the current situation and needs. People still want to eat good food, and we always try our best to please our customers.”

Locations:

FACTORY GIRL Berlin – Auguststraße 29c, 10119 Berlin, Germany

FACTORY GIRL Berlin – Saenredamstraat 32, 1072 CH Amsterdam, Netherlands

Efficiency is key to a profitable restaurant, especially during peak hours. Waitlist Me’s “Capacity Utilization” feature is an advanced scheduling tool designed to solve a common headache for hosts and managers: the inefficient use of tables.

Here is a breakdown of how this feature helps businesses optimize their seating automatically.

What is Capacity Utilization?

At its core, this feature is an automated gatekeeper for your table assignments. It allows you to set “minimum party size” rules for specific tables. When a customer schedules a reservation online, the system checks these rules in real-time to ensure that small parties don’t block large tables.

Key Benefits:

1. Prevent Inefficient Seating: Stops a party of two from booking an eight-top, saving that inventory for larger, more profitable groups.
2. Reduce Manual Work: Hosts no longer need to play “table Tetris” or manually intervene to move reservations around; the system assigns the best-fit table automatically.
3. Smart Self-Scheduling: If the only tables available are too large for a requested party size (based on your rules), the system will simply hide that time slot from the customer, preventing a bad booking before it happens.

How It Works in Practice

Imagine a busy Friday night between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM. You have two large tables (Table 1 and Table 2) that fit up to 8 people, but you’ve set a rule that they require a minimum of 5 guests.

1. Scenario A: A customer tries to book for 5 people. The system sees Table 1 is free and fits the criteria, so it instantly confirms the booking and assigns them to Table 1.
2. Scenario B: A second customer tries to book for 2 people. The system checks the inventory. While a large table is free, the customer does not meet the “minimum party size” rule. The system shows no availability for that time slot, preserving your large tables for big groups.
3. Scenario C: A third customer tries to book for 8 people. The system sees Table 1 is taken but Table 2 is free, so it assigns them to Table 2.

Why You Should Use It

This feature is ideal for restaurants with predictable table layouts who want to “set it and forget it.” By automating these decisions, you protect your revenue-generating large tables, stabilize kitchen flow, and ensure your staff can focus on service rather than reservation management.