Why you need hospitality software to get ahead in 2020

Hospitality software will improve spa operations and increase your bottom line. Here’s how it can help and why you need it.

The hospitality industry is changing rapidly. New technologies, globalization, and an increased consumer interest in wellness are just a few of the elements that are driving this change.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought major changes and challenges to the industry. There has been a huge drop in international travel demand, resulting in massive revenue loss. Fortunately, however, research has found that consumers are eager to travel and plan to do a lot of it when restrictions are lifted.

That time will come. In the meantime, resorts, hotels, and casinos are having to pivot and shift focus while managing decreased occupancy and lower staff numbers. 

Ways of tackling these challenges include, but aren’t limited to, turning to a local client base, focusing on retail, and making better use of space and amenities, which may mean creating day passes or renting spaces to small groups.

One thing that will help you manage these things and better your chances of overcoming the challenges the industry is currently facing is hospitality software.

The right hospitality software to manage your amenities and activities, like spa, fitness, classes, and workshops will dramatically improve your business operations and guest experience, increase revenue, and free up time for you and your team to focus on important things. Here are just three things hospitality management software can do for you. 

Facilitate your booking and intake process

Online and mobile booking for spa, fitness, and other activities is no longer a nice to have, but a necessity in 2020. People expect to be able to book at their own convenience and are less likely to make phone calls and leave voicemail messages – and may just hang up and decide to do something else if their call is not answered immediately. Booking software allows you to easily book fitness classes, yoga or other activities at the front desk or online.

A stunning statistic: of the 148 million online travel bookings in 2018, 82% were made via a mobile app or website.  

Also, recent developments have increased the importance of proper scheduling. You want to maximize your available bookings while keeping walk-ins to a minimum in order to balance occupancy and staff availability. Software will help.

Software will also allow you to send digital intake forms for guests to fill out before they arrive for an appointment, reducing use of paper and time spent at reception.  

Increase usage

Software will increase the usage of your facilities and amenities, and adoption of your course or program offerings. Online and mobile booking alone will help with this, and yield management and turn-away tracking will also help you make the most of what you have to offer. Yield management helps you fill quieter times and increase your occupancy. Turn-away tracking helps you learn where and why you’re losing revenue from turning away and how to recoup that loss.

For example: an average spa loses about 15% of a day’s business from turning away guests. Out of 50 appointments a day, that’s about eight appointments at $150 dollars on average. If you’re open year round and closed only for Christmas and New Year’s, that’s a total revenue loss of $435,600. Tracking reasons for turn away helps you regain that revenue.

Memberships, and loyalty programs can also be managed with hospitality software, increasing sales and customer acquisition and retention, which will also increase usage.

Boost retail and gift card sales

As mentioned, with reduced occupancy, hospitality companies are ramping up retail sales and courting local customers to recoup lost revenue. Proper inventory management is a key element of retail, as you never want to run out of a popular product or wind up with too much of an unpopular one. Software will help you stay on top of this.  

And, if your hotel, resort, or casino doesn’t have an integrated gift card platform, a software that allows you to sell cards online and electronically from anywhere there is a point of sale will make a big difference. This will help streamline the guest experience and sell more cards, which are key to attracting new and local customers. Electronic gift card sales will also save time, as writing them manually is laborious and time consuming. Plus, cards can be used for retail items as well as services, making them versatile and doubly attractive.

The results of a survey released in October, 2020, found that consumers planned to purchase twice as many gift cards on average during the upcoming holiday season as they had in 2019. 

 

That’s not all. To learn more about what hospitality software can do for you, your team, and your business, download our guide: 6 things hospitality software can do for you.