How A Contactless Ordering Solution Increases In-Guest Revenue for Your Hotel
“Operators will implement contactless technologies like QR code menus, frictionless ordering payment options.”
– Junior Therriault, General Manager of About Last Knife, Chicago
Adversity is the mother of innovation, and a contactless ordering solution may become a deal-breaker for customers of hospitality businesses.
Innovative technologies such as QR menus, dynamic ordering applications, and commission-free delivery modules have rapidly been integrated into restaurants and hotels. With staff shortages and reduced revenues, hotels are looking to hospitality tech solutions to grow their in-guest revenue.
Starting with the advantages of contactless menu solutions, this article addresses how adopting a no-contact ordering system will help hospitality businesses increase revenue for both guests staying at the property and walk-ins.
Why Should Hotels Implement a Contactless Ordering Solution?
The benefits of a contactless ordering solution are:
1. Guests Can Instantly Access & Order Your Hotel’s Services
With the help of a contactless ordering system, you enable your guest to explore all of your offerings – such as dining options, tours, entertainment, and anything else you offer – easily on their mobile devices.
2. No More Apps, Please
QR code contactless solutions do not require your guests to download an app. All you need is the camera on your iPhone, Google Lens on Android, or any other QR reader-enabled device to access the hotel’s services.
3. Do More With Less
Utilize your workforce’s full capabilities with the options you get with contactless ordering solutions. The smartest option for hotels is to outsource food and beverage (F&B) services because such integrative technologies serve guests in a better way than having a full-service restaurant on-site. Hotels can minimize their F&B costs by delegating this to local restaurants while still offering world-class in-room dining. From late night food delivery to high-class room service scheduled by the hotel guest, all is taken care of by the service partner. This way, you can align your hotel staff to serve the guests in a better way!
4. Keep Your Guests Informed
Guests can keep themselves updated by opting-in for updates about routinely provided services such as yoga classes, happy hours, and restaurant ordering hours. Your guests will never miss out again!
The advantages of a no-contact ordering system open new pathways to capitalize fully on your in-guest revenue.
How a Contactless Ordering System Can Help Your Hotel Maximize In-Guest Revenue
“Enabling technologies such as digital check-in and check-out solutions, bringing the status of room cleanliness to a guest’s fingertips, delivering location-driven availability and rates, and offering upsells enabled by AI/ML technologies.”
– Laura Calin, VP, Strategy and Solutions Management at Oracle Hospitality
Here are some ways that contactless ordering systems help hotels maximize profits in terms of in-guest revenue.
1. Give Future Guests a Taste of Your Food and Beverage Offerings
Contactless ordering applications are web-based so there is no app for guests to download. Simply add the link to your booking confirmations so your guests can view the dining options and any other services you offer before arrival. They can glance at your food menu, tour packages, spa services, etc.
You can also share it on your social media pages and entice current as well as future guests with your various services.
The best part is, if a guest sees anything they want to order or join, they can INSTANTLY book and pay.
QR menus are a part of the contactless ordering solution offered by dynamic applications such as Butler Hospitality, Bonee, Orderlina, and mydigimenu.
2. Mobile Payments & the Rise of Walk-In Guests
The majority of hotels all over the globe have implemented an online booking and check-in system but have not tapped into the walk-in guest or day pass market.
You can make it more convenient for the walk-in customer by implementing contactless a mobile ordering and payment system. The contactless ordering solution by Orderlina features seamless payment integrations that allow your guest to make mobile payments for room bookings, dining, and other services they might desire as a walk-in.
Insights mentions that hotels experience an 8-17% decrease in guest wait time when using mobile payment systems in their QR menus so guests can complete the full ordering process via their smart phones.
3. Hotels Are Looking to Increase Revenue From Local, “Drive-To,” & Co-Working Guests
With fewer people traveling now, hotels are more and more reliant upon guests within driving distance. This includes walk-in guests using the hotel space for co-working.
Contactless menu solutions can provide your local guests access to your services in advance, allowing en route guests to choose the services they’d like from the hotel even before arriving, including booking and paying for their co-working space. Orderlina’s menu demo shows you how to set this up.
Walk-in Guests
Walk-in guests for hotels are one of the best assets for generating maximum revenue. For instance, co-working spaces are experiencing a yearly growth of 21.3%. Adding a no-contact ordering system further increases the odds of achieving the best profits by offering a co-working space option displayed on the hotel menu’s home screen.
It’s worth mentioning that hotels may not be prepared for daytime walk-in guests – just look at the reviews for any hotel in places such as Dubai. As per a survey conducted by Oracle, 76% of guests said they would be more likely to utilize a hotel that offers self-service technology like a contactless menu with your facility’s offerings, and this frees up your staff to focus on other tasks.
Co-working Space
Chiang Mai, Thailand is the perfect example that offers co-working space, cafes, and hostel facilities. To streamline everything for guests, they’ve integrated their ordering system with Orderlina’s contactless QR code menu.
Lily Bruns, Country Manager of Draper Start Up House states, “Having a day full of meetings sometimes means going way too long without food or water – Orderlina to the rescue!”
QR Code Menus Simplify Day Use Guest Services
By placing a QR code in every hotel room and in restaurant outlets, the guest gets a sense of everything the hotel has to offer its customers. The walk-in guest may be looking at spending the night or having brunch or dinner before leaving. They may also choose your co-working space in the future as a means of working remotely – which a lot of people now seek – thanks to seeing it via your contactless menu.
The Oracle data also shows that 43% of the hotels surveyed have already implemented a no-contact payment system for their guests, and 27% are turning to self-check-in. Many are also opting for digital messaging for guest services, digital room keys, and expanded dining options.
A contactless ordering solution enables self-servicing for all your guests. This in turn means a higher order basket from your walk-in guests and more upsell opportunities from guests who are staying at the hotel.
4. Feature Partner Kitchens & Restaurants
Butler hospitality encourages hotels to “ditch the kitchen” and partner with local restaurants to serve their hotel residents high-quality food.
“Hotels no longer have the demand for on-site restaurants, and most are finding it hard to justify the costs – or more accurately, the losses – associated with restaurants. If a hotel is struggling to stay open, closing its on-site restaurant and investing in Room Service by Butler instead is an obvious panacea.”
Incorporate your contactless menu with partner kitchens and restaurant options for your guests. Give them a variety of eateries as well as dishes to choose from, and ditch the in-house kitchen. Moreover, not only do hotels save on F&B overheads, but they also grow their local economy by partnering with local restaurants.
5. Showcase Tours & Events in Your Contactless Menu
Reaching a potential target audience to showcase their unmatched services has always been one of the worst hospitality business dilemmas. But guests already at your hotel for one reason or another are a captive audience for you to advertise an overnight stay, dining in, or using one of your other services.
Put your in-guest promotions on autopilot by promoting the following within your no-contact ordering system:
- Happy hours
- Spa treatments
- Events
- Tours
- Dining options
Enabling self-service options for booking events as well as tours puts your hotel’s unique selling points right on the guest’s phone. Also, adding extra features via concierge apps to maintain 360-degree interaction with guests makes your guests feel valued and maybe even pampered.
6. Integrate Your No-Contact Ordering Solution With the POS & PMS
The property management system (PMS) lies at the heart of every resort handling reservations and client bookings.
Integrating with a contactless ordering solution has several main benefits:
- A single source of truth for the guest’s end-of-stay bill.
- Guests can view, order, and pay for the hotel’s food and service offerings before arrival as the menu link is included in the booking confirmation emails.
The point-of-sale system (POS) is always important to integrate into your no-contact ordering system:
- No data entry for staff as mobile orders are sent directly to the POS.
- Better reviews. Guests do not need to wait for service and can order from anywhere, increasing guest satisfaction.
- Hotels can operate with fewer serving staff.
- Additional sales channels such as pick-up, delivery, and drive through may be offered. Commission-free delivery options for hotels are available.
Oracle is an industry leader in providing cloud PMS as well as POS services. Also, it houses multiple contactless operation options for its hospitality clients. Moreover, in one of their blogs, Oracle mentions a conversation with one of their clients about moving their POS system to Oracle MICROS Symphony.
The client said, “Symphony’s ability to interface with third-party systems helped us quickly and easily enable new sales channels like online ordering and delivery.”
Conclusion
HotelTime Solutions, a cloud-based solution for hospitality businesses, mentions that the hotel tech industry should focus on enhancing the guest experience. By developing tools that automate all internal tasks, the hotel concierge and staff can concentrate on attending to guests.
“Orderlina’s contactless ordering solution fits this perfectly – not only [is it] contactless, but it allows guests to place the order themselves, more quickly and from their own devices. On top of that, thanks to the POS and PMS integration with our systems, HotelTime and Orderlina together can also improve the efficiency of staff and the F&B operation.”
– Jan Hejny, CEO & Founder – HotelTime Solutions
Visit Hotefy by Orderlina to get started on your hotel’s no-contact ordering solution. Hotefy has subscription plans ranging from their free plan to a complete multi-property solution in your hotel’s brand.
This post was commissioned by orderlina.com. If you would like to appear on this post, have your details updated or removed, please contact support [ at ] orderlina.com
