Ecommerce (Tables)- Setting Up a Promotion for a Specific Restaurant or Area

Ecommerce (Tables)- Setting Up a Promotion for a Specific Restaurant or Area

⏱️ Estimated time: 10 minutes
👤 Role: Ecommerce Administrator, Revenue Manager

What you'll learn:
  1. How to set up a basic promotion in ResDiary with specific validity times and days.
  2. How to enable a ResDiary promotion for the Journey Travel Guest Portal channel.
  3. How to assign specific areas to a promotion so correct tables are allocated (e.g. a Jazz night on the Terrace).
  4. How to create and link a new restaurant configuration in Ecommerce to feature promotional menus on your storefront.
When should I use this?:
Use this process when you want to offer targeted dining promotions (such as a "Grill Night" or a "Friday Night Jazz" on the Terrace) for a specific area or venue on your Ecommerce storefront (/tables URL). Assigning a specific area ensures tables are correctly allocated in ResDiary, while linking ResDiary promotions to dedicated Ecommerce restaurant configurations ensures guests only see available time slots and menus tailored specifically to that offer.

Before you start:
Verify you have administrator access to both ResDiary and your Ecommerce platform backend.
Prepare your promotional details including display names, descriptions, running dates, and valid time windows.
Info
If you require assistance with core ResDiary configuration, please consult the ResDiary Help Centre or contact ResDiary Support first.

Step-by-step

1. Create the basic promotion in ResDiary
Log in to ResDiary and click Promote, then click Promotions.
Click Create a Promotion.
In the Info tab, complete the required general information fields:
  1. Name: Enter the title of your promotion (e.g. "Friday Night Jazz").
  2. Description: Provide a brief summary describing what customers are booking.
  3. Advertisement period: Select the start and end dates when the promotion is visible and available for booking online.
  4. Click the Validity tab, then click Create Validity Period.
  5. In the Details pop-up window, define when your promotion can actually be used:
    1. Enter the Start Date and End Date.
    2. Enter the Start Time and End Time, or check the Valid All Day box if applicable.
  6. Under Days, check the specific days of the week the offer applies to (e.g. tick Fr for Friday), or click Select All Days.
  7. Click Add in the modal window, then click Save to complete the basic setup.
Warning
Important Notice: You must select at least one day and enter valid start and end times in the Validity window before you can add and save the promotion.
2. Enable the promotion for the Journey channel
  1. Locate your promotion in ResDiary and click Edit Promotion.
  2. Go to the Channels tab.
  3. Under the Group section, check the box for Journey Travel Guest Portal.
Info
Key Logic: Marking the promotion for the Journey channel ensures ResDiary releases the promotional time slots and availability data to your Ecommerce storefront.
3. Assign specific areas for table allocation
  1. Within the promotion settings in ResDiary, navigate to the Areas tab.
  2. Locate the specific dining area or venue for this promotion (for example, "Terrace(Normal Operations)").
  3. Select your area availability settings:
  4. Option A (Available): Check Available if customers can choose this promotion in this area, but can also skip it to proceed with a standard booking.
  5. Option B (Required): Check both Available and Required for the specific area.
Info
Key Logic: Marking an area as both Available and Required forces ResDiary to allocate tables exclusively within that designated section (e.g. the Terrace), preventing special menu bookings from spilling into unapproved areas like the main restaurant.
4. Create a new restaurant configuration in Ecommerce
  1. Log in to your Ecommerce admin dashboard.
  2. Navigate to Tables - Restaurant - Add New Configuration.
  3. Enter a clear name for the new configuration (e.g. "The Grill" or "Terrace Jazz").
Info
Key Logic: Setting up a distinct configuration creates a dedicated booking pathway or menu filter on your /tables URL, making special dining offerings crystal clear to prospective guests.
5. Link promotional menus to the configuration
  1. In the Selected Menus section of your new restaurant configuration, choose the specific ResDiary promotions you enabled (e.g. Friday Night Jazz).
  2. Click Save.
Info
Key Logic: By selecting only these specific menus, your Ecommerce storefront (/tables URL) will filter time slots so guests are only shown availability that matches those specific promotional offerings.
Idea
Common mistakes to watch out for
Advertisement Period vs. Validity Period: A common mistake when setting up a promotion is confusing the advertisement period with the validity period. The advertisement period refers to the date range during which the promotion is visible and bookable online. The validity period defines the actual dates, times, and days of the week when the reservation can take place. For example, for a Valentine's Day dinner, set the advertisement period from today until 14th February, while setting the validity period strictly to 14th February.

Notes
Troubleshooting
"I need this to only book certain areas of the restaurant."
Ensure you have navigated to the Areas tab in ResDiary under Edit Promotion and marked the target dining space (such as the Terrace) as both Available and Required. This forces ResDiary to only allocate tables within that specific area.

"Why isn't this showing in Ecommerce?"
It can take 10-15 minutes for new ResDiary promotions and configurations to update and synchronise across to the Ecommerce platform. This sync process cannot be overridden, so please allow up to 15 minutes before testing again on your live storefront.

Idea
Best practice:
Test the storefront URL: After waiting 10-15 minutes for the system update, open your live /tables URL in an incognito browser window to verify that time slots, menu details, and area table allocations display correctly.
Maintain clear naming conventions: Ensure promotion titles in ResDiary match the titles used in Ecommerce configurations so your team can easily manage and audit active dining offers.

If you need a hand setting up channel links or restaurant configurations within Ecommerce, the Journey Support Team is available via live chat on our support portal or at support@journey.travel.