The Monthly Recap Email: The Cafe Report That Comes to You

Most reporting tools ask you to come to them. The monthly recap email does the opposite: on the 1st of every month, it lands in your inbox with last month's tables and menu views, written in your own language, with nothing to log into. You read it between wiping down the espresso machine and unlocking the door.

That's the whole idea. The owner panel is where you go when you want numbers. The recap is the number that comes to you.

What's actually in it

Two things, and we're not going to pretend otherwise:

• Tables created last month — every game table someone started from your venue page or your QR poster.
• Menu views last month — every time a guest opened your menu.

That's the cafe monthly report in its entirety. No engagement score, no vanity index, no chart that needs a legend. Two honest counters, sent automatically, every venue, every month.

If you're on the free plan, there's also one line about Pro at the bottom. We're telling you that up front because you'd notice it anyway, and pretending it isn't there would be weird. It's one line. Scroll past it if you like.

Zero activity means zero email

Here's the part we care about most: if your venue had no activity last month, the recap is skipped. On purpose.

A venue summary that arrives saying "0 tables, 0 menu views" isn't information. It's a small monthly disappointment with a subject line. Maybe you were closed for renovations. Maybe January was January. Maybe the poster is still sitting in the back office in its envelope, and you already know that, and an email reminding you of it on the 1st doesn't help anybody.

So we don't send one. A recap should be a nudge, not a guilt trip. When there's something to report, you'll hear from us. When there isn't, silence is the more respectful answer.

Use it as a ritual, not a receipt

A single number is just a number. A number next to a decision is feedback.

So when the recap lands, take thirty seconds and ask: what did I actually change last month?

• Did you print a new poster and move it from the counter to the tables?
• Did you finally shoot real photos for the flat white and the cheesecake instead of leaving those items image-less?
• Did you add English to your menu because half your summer traffic doesn't read the local language?
• Did you switch the QR card style from mono to brand so it stops disappearing into the wood?

Then look at the two numbers and see whether the change moved them. Menu views tell you whether people are finding and opening the menu at all. Tables tell you whether anyone's actually playing at those tables instead of scrolling in silence.

One change per month is plenty. Two numbers are enough to notice it. Twelve months of that and you'll know your room better than any dashboard could teach you.

Write it in the back of the reservation book if you have to: June — moved posters to tables. Then next July, the recap has something to talk about.

When you want more than two numbers

The recap is deliberately thin. When you want depth, that's what the panel is for — the Dashboard tab is the same two counters live, and on Pro it also opens up the hourly activity chart for the last 7 days (so you can see which hours are genuinely busy versus which hours just feel busy), your top 5 games by tables created, and your gift wheel stats.

Pro is $19 / €19 a month, or $190 / €190 a year — the yearly price is ten months, so two are free. There's no trial, and no credit card at signup. The recap email itself is free forever, on every plan.

And if you want to see what a fully-loaded venue looks like before deciding anything, the demo venue is a real example Pro venue — menu, wheel, campaign, branding, all of it live.

Getting on the list

There's no list to join. Register your venue, and the recap starts arriving on the 1st. No passwords ever — you get a 6-digit code by email when you need to log in, and that's the extent of the ceremony.

Add your menu, download a poster, put it on the tables, and let the 1st of the month tell you how it went.

Register your venue for free →

While you wait for your first recap, browse the games your guests will actually be playing — Taboo is a reliable table-warmer — or read the rest of the blog.