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Contactless Ordering and Payment for Hospitality

From air conditioning to the first electronic keycard, technical innovation has come to define the major milestones in the hospitality industry. Great hoteliers are savvy entrepreneurs, guiding their businesses into the future through the leaps and bounds of new technologies.Today, contactless ordering and payment is the best technical solution operators can adopt to build the hospitality business of tomorrow.This article will detail exactly why contactless ordering and payment is an important breakthrough for the hotel business. Get ready to revolutionize everything from customer service to revenue generation by going contactless, and don’t worry—it’s an important leap forward but we’ve found the easiest way to do it.

Contactless Ordering Maximizes Your Efficiency

Hospitality is a numbers game. The number of guests, multiplied by the size of the bills, divided by operating costs. Why not bring those numbers up by maximizing your efficiency in several areas with contactless ordering?Going contactless can increase your business’ efficiency by helping you:

  • Save Time – The average contactless transaction is about 12.5 seconds, less than half the amount of time it takes for a credit card transaction, and about a third of the time it takes to handle cash. Saving time means saving money—boost transaction speeds and allow for more transactions by going contactless.
  • Save Money – You know those unavoidable business costs? They’re not so unavoidable anymore. Save big on paper expenses with digital menus and cut down on staffing costs through implementing contactless ordering and payment.
  • Save Energy – The typical and tiring back and forth of hospitality staff can be instantly eliminated with contactless ordering. Save your staff energy by offering your customers contactless options, cutting down trips to tables, rooms, and computers. Your staff won’t be overwhelmed, allowing them to bring their customer service to the next level.

You Can Create New Ways To Increase Revenue

Bringing up the bottom line is key to longevity and growth in the hospitality industry. We’ve talked about saving money, but what about finding more ways to generate revenue through contactless ordering and payment?Here are just a few ways contactless payment can be an important tool to increasing revenue at your hotel:

  • Let Your Guest Spend Freely – Ordering room service no longer involves an awkward phone call, and dine-in guests can add another round and dessert to their dinner without flagging down a busy server—these days, things are just plain easier. Your guests can let their whims guide them, spending more and more frequently when their late-night chocolate decadent cravings can be satisfied at the tap of a button.
  • Suggestions and Pairings – How about a smokey bourbon cocktail with your steak tartare? Recommendations and pairing options are a great way to increase bill sizes. That’s why we suggest adding them to your digital menu. Now, instead of encouraging your staff to upsell, your contactless ordering system can do it for you.
  • Customize Your Services – By going contactless you’ll have access to one of this century’s most important resources, data. By keeping track of guest data you can provide customizable services, tailor-made for your guests. Offer them everything from dining coupons to massage discounts, all your efforts will distinguish your hotel as their favorite getaway.

Contactless Technology Can Expand Your Guest Services

Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten the old adage, “the customer is always right.” In fact, with contactless ordering it might really be the case. If you’re interested in giving your guests a personalized and interactive dining experience, contactless is the most important option on the menu.Contactless ordering means no mix-ups, no staff errors, and no need for apologies. Guests can experience top-of-the-line hospitality service without the common hassles that occur when using traditional POS systems.With contactless ordering guests can:

  • Get Empowered – All the power is in the palm of their hands. With digital menus, they can order what they want, when they want.
  • Stay Informed – Has an item run out? What’s the daily special? Contactless ordering means all the menu information is up to date and easily accessible. If they have any more questions they could always contact the kitchen.
  • Track Their Order – Sometimes guests can get a little antsy. Put their minds at ease by allowing them to track their order. It’s hard to be patient when you’re hungry.

Plus, make your guests repeat customers by offering loyalty programs directly through your contactless payment system. They’ll feel like they’re at home the minute they step into your hotel.

Jump Into The Future With Contactless Payment From GoTab

Now that you’ve heard exactly why contactless options are important for operators in the hospitality industry, we know what’s coming next.How do you make it happen?Head on over to GoTab to find the quickest, easiest, and most affordable way to upgrade your hotel with contactless ordering and payment.We’re talking about:

  • Real-time analytics
  • Automated cross-selling
  • Custom digital menus

And a whole lot more. There’s no better way to discover the importance of going contactless than with GoTab.Check out GoTab today and join us in building a beautiful future for the hospitality industry.

Sources:

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Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.

The Situation

Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.

The Solution

Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience

Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.

“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group

Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.

The Benefits

Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.

Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.

Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
  • Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.

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