In this article, you will find how to set up, customise and optimise your experiences (menus, events, special offers).
Contents
- Setup from the web application
- Setup from the iOS and Android application
Common issues & FAQs
Support & related articles
What you need to know
Experiences allow you to offer your customers specific offers (menus, set menus, items etc). They are visible online on your booking module and can include detailed information (price, times, conditions).
Each experience is independent: you can activate several simultaneously, each with its own rules.
1. Setting up from the web application
1. Create a new experience
- Go to the Settings of your Zenchef account, in the Service tab then Operations and finally Experiences.
- Click on the "New Experience" button
- Name and describe (in several languages if necessary) the experience you want to offer.
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Add an image/photo representing the experience. For an optimal result, the recommended format for the image is:
- Ratio: 16:9
- Resolution: 1600 x 900px
- Maximum size: 5MB - Adjust the price of the experience and decide whether or not to display this price on the booking module.
- You can choose to activate prepayment for online bookings. Follow this article for prepaid experiences.
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Then click on the "Create" button.
2. Define the services and relevant days
For this second step of creating an experience, you will be directly redirected to the management screen for relevant services and periods in order to define on which occasion(s) to offer it.
Define the visibility of the experience:
Regular – The experience is visible to customers after selecting the corresponding day and time.
Featured – The experience is displayed directly on the homepage of the booking module.
Private – The experience is hidden on the booking module and is only accessible via a shared link.
Duration and booking limits:
Custom duration – Define a fixed duration or per person for this experience. This replaces the default booking duration of your tables.
Limit late access to bookings – Prevent bookings in the last hours before the service.
Limit early access to bookings – Prevent bookings too far in advance to reduce cancellations.
- If necessary, restrict the days and/or period on which you want to offer this experience.
Relevant services:
- Select the services for which you want to offer this experience by ticking the blue button next to the name of your services.
- A dropdown menu with new settings is now offered. They allow you to define more precisely the availability rules of the experience.
Adjust the desired fields from the following:
Limit the selection of an experience to the number of covers in the booking:
Example: Prevent a booking for 2 covers from selecting 3 menus
Require the selection of the experience for the whole table for this service:
Example: Prevent a booking for 2 covers from selecting 3 menus
Experience availability
Example: Only show your group experience starting from 6 covers
Limit the number of experiences available for this service
Example: Only 10 "Chef's Table" experiences available per evening
Require a minimum / maximum number of experiences per booking
Example: No more than 2 "The Chef’s Recipe Book" experiences per booking
Limit the number of experiences per time slot
Example: Only 2 seats at the "Chef's Table" per time slot
Limit the selection of the experience to one or more rooms
For this, you must have activated the table stock and room selection. If you do not limit the experience to one or more rooms, all rooms will be activated by default. If you limit the experience to one or more rooms and then add new rooms afterwards, these will not be activated on the experience automatically.
To manage the availability of your experience stocks by time slot, click on “List of time slots”.
3. Create an exceptional service with a dedicated experience
Create your exceptional service How to open/close bookings exceptionally?
Create your experience by following the steps in Chapter 1 explained above: Create a new experience.
Select your exceptional service by following the steps in Chapter 2: Define the services and relevant days.
4. Manage the display order of experiences
The ranking of your experiences is reflected on your online booking module. Click and drag the available experiences to change their display order.
5. Require a service to select an experience
By default, your experience is always offered as an option for your customers on your online booking module.
However, you can choose to remove this option for a specific service:
Go directly to the relevant service (from your service calendar)
Activate the field "Require online booking to select an experience"
(Optional: Choose a number of covers from which the booking will be required to select an experience)
The customer will have to select a number of experiences greater than or equal to the number of covers. As a result, classic booking (without experience) will be impossible.
Thus, if no experience is available for this service, it will no longer be accessible for booking.
(Optional: The selection of experiences will only be mandatory if the number of covers is greater than or equal to the set number.)
6. Bonus chapter: Disable an experience without deleting it
Need to temporarily remove an experience from your booking module? Want to keep the experience settings for next year (Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, etc.)?
It’s possible with one click! Uncheck the blue button next to the name of your experience.
2. Setting up from the Zenchef iOS app
This setting is not yet available in the Zenchef iOS app. Access your account from the Web application to configure it.
3. Common cases & FAQs
Common cases
My experience does not appear on the booking module
Check that it is activated and that there are no blocking settings in its configuration. Check in particular the detail of the list of time slots.
My experience is not offered on Google Reserve.
Experiences are not yet compatible with Google’s booking module. Therefore, they will not be visible there, indeed.
FAQ
How do I offer my experience only on certain days?
Configure the specific days and dates in the "Relevant periods" section of the experience.
What image format should I use to illustrate my experience?
The format should be square, the display will be in an area of about 350px x 350px).
4. Support & related articles
Contact our support team
For any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Zenchef support via the Chatbot available in your client area or by visiting our help centre.