Capacity Analysis is the latest addition to the Distil Diagnostics tool. The Capacity Report forms part of the Availability Scanning feature, which helps restaurants identify and solve periods of non-availability for online reservations.
About Capacity Analysis
Availability Scanning already continuously checks online reservation availability for all restaurants connected to the Distil Diagnostics tool, across all party sizes for the next five weeks.
Capacity Analysis adds deeper visibility into the causes of any blocked availability at specific times for specific party sizes, so operators can fix issues faster and avoid losing revenue.
This release introduces a Capacity Report slide-out, which contains a detailed capacity chart that splits out the different settings contributing to online reservation availability.
Key Benefits of the Capacity Report
- Capacity insights that highlight the drivers behind availability issues
- Quicker and easier resolution of blocked availability
- Detailed capacity information per restaurant
- In-books covers, reservations, and revenue shown in 15-minute intervals
- Scroll controls for quick navigation across time periods
How to access the Capacity Report
Go to Distil Diagnostics, select a week from the horizontal menu at the top of the window and click on ‘Availability’ in the sub menu.
Click on any part of the timeline of any site, and the pop up will be displayed showing the party size and the reason for a block, if one exists.
On the right hand side of the pop up is a link titled ‘Capacity Report’ (highlighted in orange below) - click this link to launch the Capacity Report slider.
What the Capacity Report Shows
The Capacity Report uses a combination of metrics to assess availability per floor plan.
Online Reservability % Consumed
Shows the percentage of your bookable tables that are already booked online.
For example, if your restaurant only allows 50% of tables to be bookable online, and 60% of those are already booked, your online reservability is 60% of that online-available.
Flow Control % Consumed
Indicates what percentage of your seating plan is blocked due to flow control settings. Flow control limits the number of covers that can arrive in a given 15-minute window to manage guest flow and kitchen pacing.
For example, if your pacing settings restrict guest flow so that 30% of potential seating capacity is blocked for a time period, the flow control metric shows 30% blocked.
Table Occupancy % Consumed
Shows what percentage of tables are currently occupied based on active reservations aligned with your seating plan.
For example, if half your tables are booked, then the table occupancy is 50%.
The Capacity Report can be switched between covers, reservations and revenue. In-Books figures exclude cancellations and no-shows.
An example Capacity Report
In the screenshot below, you’ll notice that at 6:30 pm no tables are available to book, yet the total covers show 0. This usually indicates that a large party is scheduled at that time. After confirming the party, take a closer look at the report: you’ll see flow control at 180%, meaning the party size has been fully counted toward your pacing.
If you switch on “Exclude party from pacing count” in OpenTable, the system will free up some smaller booking slots without increasing the actual pace. Large parties rarely arrive all at once or exactly on time, so while the kitchen prepares for them - often with pre-ordered items - the FOH team can still comfortably manage a few smaller tables.
Questions about the Capacity Report
If you have questions about how to use the Capacity Report, contact your Distil representative or raise a support ticket (link in the header menu if you’re logged in).
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