Group Sizes

Creating custom Group Sizes is one of the most flexible and powerful features of the RKd platform.  In order to accommodate the operational requirements of any facility, there are quite a few options available for each Group Size in order to allow the user to achieve the goals of the Package.  Keep in mind that each group size is completely independent of the others in the package, users can create as many group sizes as needed for each package (at least 1 is required) and they can be edited as needed after being created.

Nearly all packages will be created to include several different group sizes with small differences between each one in order to complete the setup of the package.  

For example, your venue may want to create a small group package to accommodate groups of 1 to 12 guests.  However, you may NOT want to allow 1 person reservations to be made online but you DO want to allow 1 person walk-in reservations to be made by your front desk staff. This will require at least 2 group sizes using the settings shown in the screenshot below. 

• The first Group Size you would create will have a 1 person minimum and 1 person maximum and then also be sure to select the “For Internal Use Only” option. This combination will allow your staff to make a 1 person reservation for walk-ins but the 1 person option will not be displayed to online customers.
• Next, in order to allow groups of 2-12 guests to book online, for the second Group Size you would set the min participants field to 2 and the max participants field to 12 but do not select the “For Internal Use Only” option.  This allows for both staff and online customers to make reservations for 2 to 12 guests  All other settings can be exactly the same between the two group sizes. For this example the resulting Group Size settings would look like the screenshot below.

Minimum Participants

The “Min. Participants” field is used to indicate the smallest number of participants allowed for this group size range.

Maximum Participants

The “Max. Participants” field is used to indicate the largest number of participants allowed for this group size range.

Resource Occupancy Override

This setting is used in special circumstances where the user wants to increase or decrease the default occupancy of the reservable resources (set in the resource setup).  A common use of this field is for creating Full Facility Rental packages where the maximum participant count exceeds the total occupancy of all reservable resources.  

For example, let's consider a venue with 6 indoor golf bays and each bay has as an individual occupancy of 6 guests.  For standard packages, this venue has an effective total occupancy of 36 guests (6 bays x 6 guests each).  However, many venues that offer a full facility rental option will choose to increase the maximum occupancy to account for guests who are eating, drinking, and socializing (and in-turn, increase revenue).  

Let's say this business wants to allow Full Facility Rentals to have a maximum of 48 guests instead of their standard maximum of 36.  This means that each of the bays would need their default occupancy increased to 8 guests instead of 6 to accommodate this use case (48 guests divided by 6 bays = 8 guests per bay).  In this example, the user would enter “8” in the Resource Occupancy Override field in order to increase the maximum occupancy of each bay.  If the user does not override the occupancy, this group size will never be able to be booked because the RKd scheduling tools will be looking for space for 48 guests while the venues resources only allow for 36 by default.

For Internal Use Only

Sometimes you may want certain group sizes to only be bookable by your staff while also allowing other group sizes to be booked on your website and that's where the “Internal Only” option comes in.  One such example is detailed above at the beginning of this article where the venue does not want 1 person reservations to book online but they do want their staff to be able to make 1 person walk-in reservations.  Another example would be just the opposite where a venue does not want very large groups to book online while also allowing their staff to make those reservations.

• For example, some venues find that very large group sizes (with an accompanying large price tag) are less likely to book on their own online even when given the option to pay just a deposit.  In order to avoid this “sticker shock” and to give venue management the opportunity for a little salesmanship, you can mark large Group Sizes as “Internal Only” and you and your staff will have the option to create those large reservations while online customers will not.  When employing this strategy, it is important to also have strong messaging on your website and the RKd booking modal explaining that large groups should contact you directly for “white glove” service and customizing their experience (or similar messaging).

Pricing Type

Per Person Pricing - Reservations will be priced on a per person basis and can employ either Uniform Pricing or Customer Type Pricing depending on the option selected in the package settings.

Group Pricing - Reservations will be priced on a Per Group basis regardless of the number guests who actually arrive (within the selected range).  This is also commonly referred to as “Ranged Group Pricing” because the person making the reservation will select the range that their group fits into and the group will be charged a flat rate for the reservation.  This option usually means that the package will have several different group size ranges in order to accommodate different sized groups.  This helps the online customer confidently make the reservation (and pay the deposit) without having to worry about finalizing an exact headcount ahead of booking.  An example of this type of set up is shown in the screenshot below.  Notice the change in Price Type as the group size ranges gets larger.

Keep in mind that individual Packages can be designed to include BOTH pricing types when needed like in the example above.

Deposit Type

Percentage of Total - This is by far the most common type of deposit option and typically ranges between 25% and 50%.

Amount Per Participant - Again, pretty straightforward but it is important to remember that if you are using Customer Type Pricing for the package, the deposit amount per participant must not be more than the lowest priced Customer Type.  Keep in mind that this deposit type can not be used in tandem with the Group Price pricing option.

Flat Fee - This option appears simple on the surface but in practice there are a couple important scenarios to consider.  When using a Flat Fee deposit option in tandem with per person pricing, the Flat Fee deposit can not be higher than the lowest cost participant.  For example, if your Flat Fee deposit is $25 and a "Student" only costs $20, the deposit has potential to be higher than the total balance of the reservation.  We largely recommend avoiding this option except for in very special circumstances due to the much more flexible nature of the “Percentage of Total” deposit type.

Deposit Amount

This is simply the percentage or dollar amount of the deposit.  Be sure to check and re-check your math!

Auto-gratuity Percentage

Throughout the RKd platform, “Gratuity” and "Tip" have very consistent definitions where “Gratuities” are automatically applied, depending on Group Size settings, while “Tips” are voluntary additions by the customer for excellent service.  Please be sure to consult your CPA and/or tax advisor about potential tax and accounting implications and differences between the two.

If you choose to, Automatic Gratuities can be added to individual group sizes and are typically only added for groups of 8-12 or more depending on what is typical in your local market.  This is another great reason for creating multiple Group Sizes to accommodate different setting combinations.  If we expand on our first example in this article and decide that groups of 10-12 should be charged an auto-grat of 18%, then we will need a 3rd Group Size.  Instead of a single group of 2-12, we will create a Group Size of 2-9 and then one with 10-12 where the only difference between the two is the addition of Auto-Grat.  For this example the resulting Group Sizes would look like the screenshot below.