Virtual queue for walk-ins. Waitlist for full days.

How the walk-in queue works at the door

Your host adds each walk-in with a name, mobile number, party size and, if they want to give one, a quoted wait in minutes. Leave the wait blank if you would rather not promise a time. The Waiting now tab lists every party with how long they have waited against what you quoted, and the time turns red once a party has waited longer than you said.

When a table frees up, Seat now lets you pick one of the tables that are free right now, or seat the party without a table. Gaplessly creates the reservation from the waiting party, carrying their name, contact details and party size across, so nobody retypes them on the floor screen.

Your team keeps the queue, and you can also let guests join it themselves. Switch on the online walk-in line in Waitlist settings and a QR code, or a full booking page, takes a guest to a short form for tonight's line. They follow their place on a status page, can leave the line from it, and get an email when their table is ready. Online guests land in the same Waiting now list as the parties your host adds at the door, first come first served.

A virtual queue: guests wait anywhere until their table is ready

A guest who joined the online line can take a walk or wait at the bar down the street instead of standing in your doorway. They follow their place on the status page and get an email when their table is ready.

For a party your host added at the door, Table ready sends a text when your plan has SMS access, which comes from Venue Growth up, at A$0.09 per text. It starts with your business name, then their name and "your table is ready. Come back to the front desk when you are." A Texted badge shows on the entry so whoever is on the door next knows it has gone. Without texts the rest of the waitlist works the same, and the Table ready button is switched off.

A restaurant waitlist for nights that are already full

When a guest picks a date on your booking page that has no tables left for their party, they can ask to be told if something opens up. They leave their name, email, phone number, an optional time window and a note, and the request lands under Future dates with everything you need to decide whether a new opening suits them. You get an email about it too.

If a reservation for that date is cancelled, by your team or by the guest, Gaplessly emails the people on the list whose party fits the freed table and whose time window matches. You can also offer a table yourself at any time. Either way the guest gets an email saying a table has come free, with a Claim this spot link that opens your booking page with their date and party size filled in.

• Offers go by email only, never by text.
• It is first come, first served. The request and the offer hold nothing, and availability is checked again when the guest books.
• Requests for a date that has passed drop off the list on their own.

A waitlist for salons, clinics and other appointment businesses

When a day has no times left for a service, your booking page offers to put the client on the waitlist. They leave their name, email and a contact number, with an optional time window and, if they prefer one, a team member. An entry is for one service on one day.

When a booking is cancelled or moved, Gaplessly asks the same question your booking page asks: can this service really be booked that day, inside that window, right now? If it can, everyone who fits is emailed a link that opens your booking page on that time. A freed half hour never goes to someone waiting for a 90 minute colour.

• Offers go by email only, never by text.
• It is first come, first served. Nothing is held, and the first one back gets the time.
• Your team sees everyone waiting on the Waitlist page, can add a client who rang, offer a time by hand or remove an entry, and can switch automatic offers off.

The appointment waitlist comes from Growth up.

Waitlist or group enquiry: which to use

At a venue, walk-ins and online requests share one Waitlist screen but keep separate tabs and actions. A phone number taken at the door is for the table-ready text, and an online request is for an email that sends the guest back to your booking page, so the couple outside your door and someone planning next month each get the right next step.

Group and function enquiries are a different tool, for larger parties where your team holds tables while the details get sorted out. A party bigger than your online limit is sent to the enquiry form instead of the waitlist. The waitlist records interest without holding any tables, which suits an ordinary party waiting for a gap.