Glossary
What is a no-show?
A no-show is a guest who books a table but never arrives and doesn't cancel, leaving the seat empty and unsellable.
Definition
A no-show is a confirmed reservation where the guest neither arrives nor cancels. Unlike a cancellation — which releases the table in time to resell it — a no-show is discovered only when the slot passes, so the cover is lost entirely.
Why no-shows matter for restaurants
Every no-show is a table that was promised, held, and never paid for. On a busy night a handful of no-shows can erase a shift's margin, because the lost seats can't be recovered after the fact and other guests were turned away to hold them.
No-show rate and how it's calculated
No-show rate is the share of bookings that fail to arrive: no-shows ÷ total bookings, over a period. A venue with 200 weekly bookings and 20 no-shows runs a 10% no-show rate. Tracking it is the only way to know whether your prevention is working.
Related terms
- Cancellation — a booking released by the guest before the slot.
- Deposit / card hold — a guarantee that lowers no-show risk.
- Table occupancy — how fully your seats are used over a service.
How to protect against it
Reminders, easy cancellation, and deposits on high-risk slots cut no-shows sharply — see the guide on reducing no-shows, or how Goboblo's reservation software automates it.