The rise of AI demand tools in hospitality, the EatClub–CommBank partnership, and seven trends reshaping Australian dining

A growing number of Australian venues are turning to AI-powered demand management tools to fill empty tables during quieter trading windows and to attract new customers.

Industry analysts say mounting pressure across Australia’s hospitality sector is pushing restaurant operators to rethink how they attract customers and protect margins.

Rising costs, unpredictable trading conditions and cautious consumer spending are forcing venues to look for new ways to generate demand in a tougher market.

According to CreditorWatch Business Risk Index data, food and beverage businesses continue to face some of the economy’s highest failure rates, with trading volatility and cost pressures likely to persist through 2026.

As hospitality operators seek smarter ways to fill tables and maximise revenue, and as AI increasingly shapes how people discover value-driven experiences, Australian-founded restaurant technology platform, EatClub has partnered with CommBank to explore an integration that brings AI-powered dining offers to the 8.8 million Australians who use the CommBank app.

In the past 12 months alone, EatClub has helped fill more than 5.5 million restaurant tables that may otherwise have sat empty during off-peak trading periods, generating significant incremental revenue for hospitality operators across its network.

The CommBank partnership has the potential to further accelerate that impact, creating a powerful new customer acquisition channel for restaurants by using real-time demand signals and dynamic offers to drive diners into venues during quieter trading periods.

For EatClub, the partnership marks a significant scaling opportunity for its restaurant network of thousands, building on the momentum of its recent oversubscribed $27 million pre-Series B raise.

EatClub CEO and Co-Founder, Pan Koutlakis, says the collaboration is designed to deliver meaningful commercial benefits for its nationwide restaurant network.

“This initiative represents a major opportunity for restaurants that are looking for smarter customer acquisition channels to fill quieter trading periods without relying on broad-based discounting,”

“EatClub leverages booking patterns, historical trading data and real-time demand signals to pinpoint underutilised trading periods,” said Koutlakis

“This enables our restaurant partners to attract diners when they have capacity to spare, driving incremental revenue in a highly targeted and efficient way,”

“Right now, a restaurant can be half empty at 5pm and turning customers away at 7pm, all while charging the same price. Our technology helps solve that imbalance,”

“Together with CommBank, we’ve embarked on a program that brings this capability to millions of Australians who dine out every week, delivering direct bottom-line benefits to our restaurant partners,”

“The concept is similar to the yield management models that airlines and hotels have successfully used for decades. The goal isn’t simply to offer discounts; it’s to better match demand with available capacity and generate revenue from tables that might otherwise sit empty,”

“This is a genuine win-win. Diners gain access to great restaurants at better value when they’re flexible with timing, while venues can fill more tables during quieter periods without eroding margins through blanket discounting,”

With CommBank’s scale and digital reach, they are a natural partner to help bring this vision to life,” said Mr Koutlakis.

CommBank EGM Consumer Finance, Joel Larsen, says the partnership with EatClub forms part of the Bank’s ambition to deliver real value to customers through Australia’s most-popular banking app, which now records more than 14 million daily logins.

“CommBank already offers customers access discounts and offers across banking, shopping and travel from CommBank Yello. Working with EatClub is just another way we’re looking to help our customers get more value and save money,” says Mr Larsen.

Now one of Australia’s largest dining marketplaces, and also operating in the UK with more than 5,000 restaurant partners and over two million app downloads, EatClub was co-founded by globally renowned celebrity chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White.

Venues using EatClub see an average 10x uplift during targeted off-peak windows, equating to approximately a 12 per cent increase in annual revenue.

On the consumer side, active users save more than $330 per year on dining, and dine out 70 per cent more frequently, increasing overall category spend across the industry.

Seven Data-Driven Trends Redefining When, Why and How Australians Dine Out, according to EatClub CEO and Co-Founder Pan Koutlakis

1. Target the shifts that hurt most, not your busiest services: The most effective demand tools focus on underperforming trading windows, not across-the-board discounting.

Across Eat Club’s network, the quietest periods remain 2pm–5pm and 9pm–10pm. The goal should be to generate incremental revenue during these low-demand periods, rather than sacrificing margin during peak trading times.

2. Protect your peak periods and adapt to changing dining habits: Busy services should retain full pricing power. Importantly, operators should recognise that consumer dining behaviour is shifting.

The traditional 6pm–7pm prime dining window has declined from 53% to 49% of bookings over the past year, while the 3pm–5pm window has grown from 30% to 34%

Diners eating before 6pm are up 12 per cent, highlighting the growing importance of early-evening and afternoon demand strategies.

3. Focus on the days where capacity is hardest to fill: Many operators instinctively focus on weekends, but the real opportunity often sits in the middle of the week. Monday remains the quietest trading night, while Monday to Thursday accounts for 51 per cent of all dine-in occasions.

AI-driven demand tools can help operators stimulate demand during these periods, where even modest increases in covers can have a meaningful impact on weekly revenue.

4. Read your demand patterns properly: Use data to identify consistent quiet periods, seasonal fluctuations and emerging behavioural trends that aren’t always obvious from day-to-day operations. Understanding when customers want to dine is increasingly important as consumer habits evolve.

The rise of early dining and changing booking patterns demonstrate why historical assumptions about peak periods can no longer be taken for granted.

5. Understand who is actually sitting at your tables: Customer mix is changing. Solo dining has increased from 26.6% to 30.2% of bookings in the past year, meaning almost one in three reservations is now for a single diner.

While tables of two remain the dominant booking type, their share has declined from 49% to 46% Operators should ensure their seating plans, offers and demand strategies reflect the reality that the average dining party is now just two people.

6. Use demand data to identify growth opportunities: AI platforms provide valuable visibility into changing consumer preferences. Across EatClub’s network, Chinese, Korean, Modern Australian, Japanese and Middle Eastern cuisines have all significantly outperformed overall platform growth.

Operators should use this type of demand intelligence to inform menu development, venue positioning and future expansion decisions.

7. Prioritise new customer acquisition, not just fill rates: The strongest demand platforms don’t just fill empty seats but furthermore, they introduce venues to new customers.

Operators should focus on tools that drive incremental visitation, build awareness and convert off-peak diners into repeat guests. The long-term value comes not from a single booking, but from creating future loyal customers.