In association with WELCOME
Welcome to The Caterer’s Technology Prospectus 2016, produced in association with Hospa. As every operator is aware, technology moves at such a pace that it can be difficult to keep up. In fact, it’s often tricky to know where and if to make investment, for fear of backing the wrong horse. Throughout the following pages, we have compiled solutions that should
stand the test of time and make a significant productivity and profitability difference to your business. This new annual guide explores how it’s possible to future-proof
Technology Prospectus editor James Stagg
digital systems and processes through insight, opinions, case studies and supplier showcases. We have detailed the technology that will simplify and satisfy
throughout the entire guest journey, and asked the experts how it’s possible to deliver both a better level of service for customers and improved performance for businesses. All the elements of an enterprise are covered, from customer acquisition
to reputation management, and from revenue management to in-room media. We detail next-generation property management systems, which have become core to a hotel’s smooth running, as well as the latest in digital marketing methods that will help win back business from OTAs. Meanwhile, we consider which payment solutions are likely to
stand the test of time, and examine the best means of streamlining purchasing practices. We also speculate on the technologies that might change your business in the years to come. Consider this your comprehensive guide to technology in 2016.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH CONTENTS NO THANKS
For many hotel guests, a free, fast and easy-to-access Wi-Fi connection is now as essential as the bed. Rosalind Mullen takes a look at today’s Wi-Fi and in-room entertainment offer
4 | Technology Prospectus 2016 4 Why you need
digital marketing
16 | Technology Prospectus 2016 F
or hospitality operators, the brutal truth is that without reliable and free Wi-Fi access your guests will simply desert you. Stephen Minall, director at product inno-
vation company Moving Food, says: “Charg- ing for Wi-Fi or creating complicated sign-in procedures simply infuriates your guests. Get over it – find other revenue streams.” Hotel guests in particular expect to remain connected during the eight to 12 hours a day they spend under your roof. They see Wi-Fi as an amenity – just like they expect to find shower gel in the bathroom, says Carl Weldon, chief executive at Hospa. “We don’t ask guests on check-in how much water or electricity they will use, but we do ask about bandwidth and then try to charge for it. Hotels can cost-in rooms, food and as much drink as you can manage on some holidays, so why not Wi-Fi?”
More to the point, without decent Wi-Fi,
you can’t embrace the increasingly crucial guest-facing technologies for mobile check- in, ordering room service and so on. “Poor Wi-Fi will affect your business,” warns
Weldon. “Nothing else is possible before that in this digital age – not the menus on tab- lets, door keys on smart watches, the clever interactive digital media and signage, guest service apps, room service apps, upselling apps, Google Glass, service robots. You have to start somewhere and that is good Wi-Fi.” There are significant costs associated with providing good Wi-Fi, but operators need to see these as simply the cost of doing business.
How Wi-Fi impacts guest services Wi-Fi is not just necessary for the guest’s per- sonal use. Restaurants and hotels increas-
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ingly need it for their sophisticated revenue management and property management software, bookings and processing payment. Weldon points out that operators can use Wi-Fi to interact with the guest. Here are a few examples of Wi-Fi-based guest services: l Ordering and payment apps, such as Order- ella, PowaTag, Qjacker and Wi-Q, which all allow diners to beat queues in restaurants, bars and stadiums.
l Digital signage, which needs Wi-Fi to update offers and information about a hotel’s amenities.
l Customer relationship management (CRM) software, such as that provided by Digital Alchemy, which can drive revenue, commu- nicate your offers and amenities to guests, and gather feedback.
l Digital concierge apps such as Alice or iRiS,
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which let guests book dinner and spa reser- vations, order and track food, call a taxi, and buy tickets to a show, all without having to interact with a staff member. Their ability to provide real-time translation also lifts the language barrier.
World of opportunity But these are all more than just services for guests. For operators, the possibilities opened up by Wi-Fi are exciting. Minall says: “Prepay- ment apps from JustYoYo to iPay now allow customers to pay faster and pre-order, and most have sophisticated CRM/loyalty built-in.” The norm now is for guests to expect quicker transactions, so electronic point of sale (EPoS) technology is slowly disappearing and customer flow-through is accelerating. Many systems have built-in CRM to help with
bespoke and targeted marketing campaigns, which in turn get you a higher redemption rate and a closer link to your loyal customer. You need Wi-Fi for high-speed internet access, smart TV and even tablet room controls for lighting, air-conditioning, audiovisual and hotel services. Experts see these moving onto guests’ own mobile devices and tapping into the internet of things to create a seamless and personalised guest experience. That level of connectivity is going to become an expecta- tion, rather than an extra. However, although the consensus is that
Wi-Fi has to be provided free, operators of smaller properties can still make money. “Bandwidth and access plans can be put in place,” says Mark Teasdale, chief technol- ogy officer at hospitality technology supplier Acentic. “For instance, lower-level access can
Technology Prospectus 2016 | 5 IN ASSOCIATION WITH
CASE STUDY Manorview
Manorview Hotels & Leisure Group started up in 2007 and operates six hotels in central Scotland, each with a restaurant and bar. Customers include locals, wedding parties, corporate guests and international tourists. Group services and standards manager Scott MacIntyre introduced the HowYa
REPUTATION MAKERS — AND BREAKERS
Hotelied is a hotel booking site “Flashing up that only two rooms F
Rosalind Mullen discovers how to market your hotel in a digital age – from making it easy to book a stay using a smartphone to winning back direct business from the OTAs or custom apps that can feed back valuable customer data
www.thecaterer.com www.thecaterer.com
are left keeps the pressure up” Martin Evans
or managers of small or mid-range hotels, digital marketing may be daunting. “But, the first thing you need to know,” stresses
Martin Evans, managing director at consul- tancy the Tourism Business, “is that digital marketing is very important to your business.” Like all marketing, it sets out to promote
your brand and increase sales. However, because it uses interactive channels, such as mobile phones, SMS, MMS, websites, email, social media and so on, it has a massive reach – particularly when it comes to engaging with the Generation Y market. It’s also a must-have for reducing what you
marketing organisations, ask around for recommendations and look at your competi- tor’s websites.” Steve Lowy, co-founder of Umi Digital, adds
that it is important to use agencies with hospi- tality expertise. “Avoid using a local agency that either doesn’t understand hotels, sets you up and then leaves you to it, or sends complicated reports that you don’t understand.”
pay online travel agents (OTAs). Digital market- ing is what gives the OTAs their muscle, but you can do it just as well. “Hospitality businesses should be spend-
ing 5%-8% of turnover on generating sales – some of which will be commission-based,” says Evans. “But you need to spend more of that budget on digital marketing each year as that is what customers are using.” Few hospitality operators are technical experts, so make use of agencies. But beware: it is easy to get bamboozled by jargon and overcharged if you don’t have a basic under- standing. Evans says: “Speak to experts at
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Web design in 2015 Websites are an essential digital marketing tool. You need to do two things: first, pull as many visitors as possible into your website; and second, hook them and compel them to make a direct booking rather than slide off to an OTA or a competitor. At the very least, you need a professional-
looking website with large photographs that reflect the brand of the hotel. You also need rel- evant information so that nothing discourages the potential guest from making that booking – for example, availability, room rate, room types, menus and so on. More importantly, there should be a clear
call to action, such as a ‘book now’ button on every website page. Choose a simple booking engine that guides the guest to payment in just
Technology Prospectus 2016 | 17 46 | Technology Prospectus 2016
Rosalind Mullen explains how to harness the immense power of reviews and social media
engage customers and boost revenues. Social media users are forecasted to num-
Y
ber 2.5 billion by 2018. Its biggest fans are in the USA, where more than 70% of citi- zens had a social networking profile in 2015. Recently, social networking has shifted towards mobile platforms, with users increasingly logging onto them via smart- phone and tablet apps. “The explosion of social media means that
people can share positive and negative expe- riences, influencing others, 24/7, 365 days a year,” says Thomas Martensson, chief execu- tive of app provider GoFindIt. “The hospitality industry has had to step up its game to make every potential customer feel important.” Blogs and video blogs (vlogs) are a way of
driving visitors to your website. You might use newsy stories about local attractions, or a mini-film about making a new cocktail. The right keywords can boost a property’s rankings in search engines.
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ou resist social media at your peril. A vibrant social media profile is needed to help generate positive reviews and so
that offers big discounts to guests with a large number of friends and follow- ers on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Insta gram. To get the discounts, mem- bers have to link their social media profiles to Hotelied. The website uses social media to profile each member – where they go, how often they fly and so on – and hotels will offer guests a bespoke deal tailored to their social media profile.
Gen Y Your target social media audience is Genera- tion Y (typically defined as twentysomethings and those in their early 30s). Social media offers more interesting ways of reaching them and boosting your reputation. Encour- aging selfies, for instance, is a simple, cost- free way to generate content about your venue. Similarly, vlogs are a great way to show as well as tell customers what you are doing. And it showcases your brand’s personality. Some hotels are even designed with social
media platforms in mind. Edition Hotels uses Instagram and Twitter to tell stories and communicate. Ovolo Hotels in Australia flags up its 1888 hotel as “only a stone’s throw from Darling Harbour in Sydney and designed with Instagrammers in mind”; guests are encouraged to get involved and become a part of the hotel experience through photo sharing. And Marriott Rennaissance offers a Selfie Package complete with a Blue- tooth-enabled selfie stick and guided spots for great selfies.
www.thecaterer.com You can also
use social media to show what the company stands for and what it supports. Gen Y tend to align with brands that reflect their own ethics or lifestyle. It is wise to keep the management of social media within your business so you can control the tone throughout and ensure that response is quick. It is worth appointing dedi- cated members of the team to do this.
Managing your reputation When guests search an online travel agent (OTA), they often see a list of properties in a similar price range. They narrow them down by consulting review sites such as Trip Advisor. More than 160 contributions a minute are posted on TripAdvisor from travellers, and more than 85% of questions on its English- speaking forums are replied to by other travel- lers within 24 hours. For this reason, hoteliers should respond quickly to reviews – positive or negative – and follow up on comments by a guest on Facebook or Twitter. A hotel’s Twitter page should also strive
to follow brands aligned with its image. A hip hotel might follow a trendy or organic goods company, for example. That way, you scoop up people you might not have reached otherwise. Address guest complaints quickly:
at-table rating system. Staff hand the diner a tablet device along with the bill and the guest can give feedback on how they enjoyed their meal, service and so on. The restaurant manager can see the ratings and customer review in real time, and act on any concerns or negative feedback before the customer leaves. The guest can opt out of providing contact information or provide some. The tablet also captures geographical and demographic data and comments that can be posted direct to social media. “Our trial ran for three months and has been a fantastic business tool,” says MacIntyre.
“Customers have responded positively to the feedback system, with 85% choosing to rate their experience. Some 80.1% offered demographic details and 91.5% shared geographic information.” One of the biggest benefits of the system is that it highlights staff who perform
well. “It creates good-natured competition among the teams, enabling us to run bonus incentives, employee of the month based on positive feedback, or instant reward vouchers to spend in the group,” says MacIntyre. He adds that there has been a far bigger response with HowYa, which is easy to use, than with traditional comment cards and online surveys. Managers can spot trends and make adjustments to nudge ratings higher, including amending how they operate bookings to help workflow in the kitchen during peak periods. The group has also installed a kiosk version in the reception area for hotel residents.
l By the time a negative review is posted, you are in the arena of dam-
age control, not reputation management, and it is difficult to remove a negative review from a site once it has been posted.
l Digital tracking is not a time-consuming task for guest or staff and happens in real time.
l Only 4% of dissatisfied customers tell a brand about what was wrong, and 70% of customer defection is down to a poor experience.
l The repurchase probability for dissatisfied customers rises from 32% to 89% if you acknowledge and recover the situation, according to research from Bain.
46
l A brand’s advocates spend three times more than other customers and influence up to 50% of new customers. Ranters tell 16 or more people about a poor experience – and with social media their influence is even more wide-ranging.
l Gartner research shows that feedback col- lected at the point of service is 40% more accurate than that collected 24 hours later.
l A 5% reduction in customer defection can push up profit by 50%, according to Harvard Business School.
How to do it Relax. There are technologies to collate reviews, manage Twitter, collect data about guest preferences – you name it. HotelRez, ReviewPro and Reevoo are just three tech providers that can let you search social media and review sites to see what guests are saying about you.
Technology Prospectus 2016 | 47
4 No Wi-Fi? No thanks Why fast and free connectivity is now the norm
10 The hotel’s beating heart Smoothing the check-out with PMS
16 Why you need digital marketing Mobile tips and tricks to lure hotel guests
22 Accounting for the future Why operators should ditch their spreadsheets
28 Settled in seconds Apps to help speed up payment for diners
34 The power of e-procurement Bring the buying power back into the kitchen
40 Making revenue management work for you How to set the right rate for your rooms
46 Reputation makers – and breakers Using social media to help spread the news
Technology Prospectus editor James Stagg Art editor Chris Russell Senior sub-editor Kirsty Utting Junior sub-editor Suzie McCracken Digital production editor Louise Clissold Group sales manager Rob Adam The Caterer editor Amanda Afiya Publisher Mark Lewis Chief executive Duncan Horton
Technology Prospectus 2016 | 3
NO WI-FI?
▲
UPSELL VIA YOUR WEBSITE
Websites give you a prime upselling opportunity. Here are some ideas:
● Offer guests a free welcome drink if they reserve dinner when they book the room, using a clear call to action.
● Send guests a pre-stay email and make them feel they are getting something extra with offers on booking a spa treatment or afternoon tea.
● Create hotel packages around what differentiates you, rather than a cheap deal. Promote it through your own website, social media following and so on, rather than a third-party site.
● Identify when bookings tailed off in the previous year, then flag up an offer or event to address that this year.
● Find out what’s going on in the local area and what you need to be capitalising on.
● Engage with your followers and create a personal relationship with them.
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