SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten is a renowned Neapolitan pizzeria that opened in March 2023 after relocating from the former SAVOY Azabu-Juban location. Supported by a broad customer base centered around guests in their mid-30s, the restaurant has also seen a steady year-on-year increase in overseas visitors. However, the restaurant had been facing challenges: the operational burden of managing reservations by phone and paper reservation book, and reception errors stemming from mishearings and missed details. With Respo, the restaurant has halved its phone-based reservation handling and eliminated reception errors — establishing an environment where the team can focus on truly essential work such as welcoming guests, cooking, and service, while sustaining strong reservation volumes.
Challenges Before Adopting Respo
SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten had been facing the following on-site challenges.
■ The operational burden of phone-based reservations and paper reservation book
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The manager took reservations by phone and managed them by hand in a paper reservation book
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Depending on the time of day, the manager was often unavailable, forcing less-experienced part-time staff to handle calls
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Reservation handling required a lot to remember, placing considerable psychological and practical burden on young staff
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Phones felt like they rang every 5 minutes, and during busy periods it was often difficult to respond adequately
■ Reception errors from mishearings and missed details
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Handling reservations by phone and by hand made it easy for details such as name kanji, party size, and reservation times to be misheard or missed
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When inquiries or confirmation requests arose, off-duty staff sometimes had to check photos of the paper reservation book via LINE
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Missed details on items like celebration plate messages sometimes led to problems
■ The burden of handling no-shows and last-minute cancellations
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With a high volume of reservations, a certain number of no-shows and last-minute cancellations always occurred
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Staff had to contact guests directly to request or follow up on cancellation fees, which placed a significant psychological burden on the restaurant
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The risk of lost revenue from cancellations remained a persistent challenge in day-to-day operations
Key Features of Respo
"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello Inc., with its core functions available free of charge in Japan. It brings reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering together on a single platform, and can be flexibly combined to match each restaurant's scale and business format.
■ What Respo Offers
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Reservation book: Integrates with multiple reservation platforms, eliminating manual transcription from each platform
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Channel manager: Centrally manages inventory across the restaurant's own site and other reservation platforms
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POS / Payment terminals: Complete checkout and payment in a single device, streamlining store operations
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Mobile ordering: Enables guests to order from their smartphone or tablet, reducing wait times
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Guest information management: Accumulates visit history, preferences, allergy information, and more, supporting tailored service for returning guests
Outcomes After Adopting Respo
■ Outcome 1: Halving phone-based reservation handling while sustaining strong reservation volumes
Phones that had felt like they rang every 5 minutes have dropped to roughly half that frequency since adopting Respo. At the same time, reservation volumes have not declined — the restaurant's 19-seat reservation slots continue to fill without issue. The staff time and effort that had been consumed by taking reservations can now be redirected to truly essential work such as welcoming guests, cooking, and service.
■ Outcome 2: Elimination of reception errors caused by mishearings and missed details
Details previously confirmed over the phone — such as allergies, special occasions, and celebration plate messages — can now be gathered in advance through the reservation form. Guest inputs are preserved as records, making confirmation errors and miscommunication far less likely. Combined with required-field settings, reservation-related mistakes have dropped to nearly zero since adoption. All staff can now view the same information in real time, eliminating the need for off-duty staff to check photos of paper reservation books during breaks.
■ Outcome 3: Automated cancellation fee collection, reducing revenue loss risk
For restaurants with high reservation volumes, a certain number of no-shows and last-minute cancellations are inevitable. Previously, contacting guests directly to request or follow up on cancellation fees placed a significant psychological burden on the restaurant. With Respo's automated cancellation fee collection mechanism in place, the restaurant no longer needs to reach out to guests directly for collection, and the risk of lost revenue is now properly protected.
■ Outcome 4: Smooth adoption by young staff and positive evaluation from headquarters
The simple workflow of "checking notifications and approving reservations" was quickly embraced by young staff who are familiar with iPad and smartphone operations. It requires less onboarding than teaching phone-based reservation handling from scratch, and staff have expressed that "things have become easier since adoption." Headquarters, initially cautious, now takes a very positive view of Respo after confirming that online reservations are coming in steadily and the site is operating smoothly.
Comments from Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager of SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten
We received the following comments from store manager Mr. Kikuchi.
"To be honest, at first I felt that 'we can't build real relationships with guests unless we speak with them directly by phone.' But once we actually started using the system, we found that by exchanging detailed information through the reservation form in advance, we could spend more time on more meaningful communication when guests arrived — conversation and welcoming them. Digitalization doesn't push the restaurant and guests further apart; if anything, it brings us closer together." ── Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager, SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten
"The biggest reason we decided to adopt Respo was their stance of 'thinking together with us,' close to our own operations, rather than treating deployment as the finish line. Because their sales representative came to visit us multiple times to address our questions and concerns in person, the system took root smoothly on-site — with young staff naturally saying things like 'it's much easier than learning phone-based reservation handling' and 'we're glad we adopted it.'" ── Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager, SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten
Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director, Hello Inc.
"What impressed us most about SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten was their commitment to building 'a system that upholds a certain standard of taste and quality as an organization,' rather than relying on any single artisan's skill. Their signature pizza requires staged training and a test administered personally by the president — an uncompromising approach to technique and quality expressed not through individuals but through systems. We are deeply moved by this stance. In restaurant operations, reservation handling too tends to become something 'only certain people can do.' We hope that Respo, by functioning as 'an operational foundation anyone can use' that doesn't depend on individual skill or experience, can create more time for front-line staff to focus on the work that truly matters. As SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten takes on new challenges as a group, we will walk alongside them so that Respo can serve as one of the foundations supporting their journey."
About the Case Study Article
The full story has been published on the official Respo website as an interview with store manager Mr. Kikuchi. We invite you to read it.
▶ Case Study Article: "Sustaining Strong Reservations While Halving Phone-Based Handling: How SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten Chose Respo to Create Breathing Room On-Site" URL: https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/savoyazabujubanhonten
