Point-of-sale systems are important in the hospitality industry. A point-of-sale system, sometimes simply called a POS, is a computer system that serves several purposes. On the surface, they are there to help with customer payments.
However, they also ensure the accurate collection and management of data including sales information. When implemented properly, a POS system will help to improve the profitability of your hotel. Below, you can get a closer look at the top five benefits that will come from using a good hotel point-of-sale management system.
Benefit #1: Expand Your Business
You should start to think of the other ways that using a point-of-sale system can help to grow your business in ways you might not have thought possible. Let’s look at a few of the ways you can do this in your hotel. You could add new elements to the hotel’s site, which can be made accessible to the visitors, so they can pay in those locations in the moment. This might include a bar, gift shop, spa, gym, restaurant, etc.
The payments can be processed through the sorts of devices that people tend to have on them just about all the time today, such as smartphones and tablets. Not only does this make things more convenient for the guests, but it also allows for automatic synchronization with the rest of the hotel’s sales data. The automation of the point-of-sale system can reduce the amount of time wasted on so many of those little tasks that it can result in some nice savings.
Benefit #2: Improve Upselling and Cross-Selling
One of the other nice benefits that can come from a point-of-sale system is that you can augment your upselling and cross-selling. It can do this in several ways.
First, the system can be integrated into an online booking engine. This will allow for intelligent recommendations made at the moment, which can boost sales and ensure greater success with cross-selling and upselling. They can make it easy to upgrade a room, get some extra services or features in the room, offer special deals, and more. It can also be integrated with self-service kiosks to recommend items to buy and pair in a hotel restaurant, for example.
The system can even help to give you a better idea of which employees are doing well with cross-selling and upselling. This could be a way for you to track how well the employees are doing and to provide rewards to those who perform well. By having something of a friendly competition between the employees, they have a greater incentive to work in their cross-selling and upselling efforts.
Benefit #3: Customize and Automate the POS
Today’s hotel point-of-sale management systems tend to be easy to use and have robust features and options. This includes customization and automation. Of course, not all POS solutions allow for customization. Therefore, it’s important to make sure you are choosing the right system from the start.
Customization can vary from one system to another. In some cases, the system might allow for the use of branding on the interfaces, receipts, and other documents. Having the business name and the logo on that paperwork might seem insignificant, but it will help with your branding.
The software may be able to be integrated with other business processes, too, allowing for more to be done all through the same system. This can help to reduce the learning curve if the interface is similar to different modules, for example. Automation is often possible through the point-of-sale system, too. It may allow for messages to be sent to employees, peers, and customers as needed.
Benefit #4: Dealing with the Post-Pandemic Reality
Although things are slowly starting to return to normal, you have to realize that our world’s reality after the pandemic is far different from what it was before. As you know, the hospitality industry was hit hard and needed to learn how to adapt quickly, so they could still generate some cash flow.
Improvements to the point-of-sale system have helped with this. When it is designed properly, it can provide some added flexibility that can allow for new revenue sources added to the hotel. Let’s look at a few of the ways this technology could help.
The point-of-sale system and devices can be used to make guests feel safer when staying with you. Instead of the traditional means of paying for meals at the restaurant, or for other services, it can be done through a tablet or phone. This reduces the amount of contact the guests have with employees, which is something that many guests are still looking for in a hotel. You may offer more in-room dining options, as well.
Some hotels, even when they weren’t taking in a lot of guests, still had a working restaurant and started offering food delivery. This allowed people in the restaurant to keep their job, and it was another way to add a bit more revenue.
Even though that service might not be as needed today, continuing to offer those services could be a good move for those hotels that had restaurants that were successful in this endeavor. They need to be sure their point-of-sale can allow for online ordering, while still performing all of the other standard hotel functions.
Benefit #5: Improve Customer Satisfaction
The use of hotel point-of-sale management systems can provide customers with a higher level of satisfaction, as well. They have more options when it comes to how they make payments, for starters. However, those systems capture data from the customers, and the POS can be integrated with other systems. This provides you with more data about those customers, so you can then create better and more personalized services for them. For example, if you find that the customers were using the spa the last time they were at the hotel, you could upsell them by offering a discount on the spa the next time they visit.
When you tailor the stay to their needs, they will be happier and will feel more valued as a guest. This can help to increase their loyalty.
What to Consider When Choosing a Point-of-Sale System for Your Hotel
The hotel point-of-sale management systems available on the market tend to have a range of features and functions. However, before choosing one of these pieces of software, it is a good idea to understand some of the most important features you should look for.
As mentioned, a POS that offers customization of the system will be a key component to look for when buying. Additionally, you will want to find one that can integrate easily with a range of different tools and systems. It should be cloud-based and easy to use. Look for one that can automate customized deals for the guests and that offers updated information in real-time.
Always check the features available and see if you can get a trial of the software to see how it works. This should give you a stronger understanding of how to use it and whether it can meet your hotel’s needs or not. Researching the hotel point-of-sale management system will help to ensure that you get a system that’s right for you, your employees, and your guests.