How to reduce no-shows

How many appointments are missed?

There is no published figure for Mauritius. Elsewhere, the orders of magnitude are clear, but they vary a lot by trade and country:

• Healthcare, worldwide: 23% of appointments missed on average, 43% in Africa (review of 105 studies, Dantas et al., Health Policy, 2018).
• Dentists in France: 4.7% of appointments missed without notice, nearly 1 patient in 20; 5.4% among new patients; 1.5% for physiotherapists (Doctolib, June 2024).
• Restaurants: up to 10% of bookings are no-shows (TheFork, cited by Journal du Net, 2026); in the UK, 4.4% of online bookings and 4.6% of phone bookings (OpenTable, 2018).

Why customers don't show up

The studies cited don't point to a single cause. Three situations come up in practice: an appointment booked long in advance and forgotten; a last-minute problem; and the customer who doesn't bother to cancel because it means calling and waiting for someone to pick up. Each practice below targets one of these.

Seven practices that help

1. Send a reminder the day before. In a Cochrane review of 8 trials (6,615 patients, low to moderate quality evidence), attendance goes from 67.8% to 78.6% with an SMS reminder. In an NHS physiotherapy service, missed appointments fell by 47% after SMS reminders were added.
2. Ask for a confirmation, not just a notice. A reminder that offers to confirm, reschedule or cancel tells you in time whether the slot is about to free up.
3. Make cancelling easy. If cancelling means calling during opening hours, that's extra effort for the customer; a message or a button makes it simple.
4. Keep a waiting list, even on paper: customers who wanted an earlier slot. When a booking frees up the day before, you know who to tell.
5. Display your cancellation policy: for example “please let us know at least 24 hours in advance”. In your shop, on your profile, in your messages.
6. For long services, some businesses ask for a deposit. That's a business policy decision, to be explained clearly to the customer.
7. Write down no-shows. You quickly spot the regular forgetters, and can ask them to confirm earlier.

What it costs you

The sum is simple: average price of a service × appointments per week × no-show rate × 4.3 weeks. Each Riserv trade page has a calculator where you enter your own figures. Even a modest rate adds up over a month: work it out with your own prices.

What changes by trade

In healthcare, a missed appointment sometimes blocks a long treatment and equipment: reminders and confirmation matter most. In hair, nail and beauty salons, long services (colour, full set) cost the most when they stay empty. In a restaurant, a large table that doesn't show on a full evening can't be replaced: the day-before confirmation is your best information.

In a garage or a driving school, a no-show also ties up a lift, a car or an instructor for the whole slot. Here too, knowing the day before that the customer won't come gives you time to rearrange the day.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Dantas et al., Health Policy, 2018 (review of 105 studies)
2. Doctolib, press release of 3 July 2024 (missed appointments, France)
3. Gurol-Urganci et al., Cochrane, 2013 (SMS reminders)
4. NHS, East London NHS Foundation Trust (physiotherapy)
5. TheFork, cited by Journal du Net, 25 Feb 2026
6. OpenTable, United Kingdom, 2018