Managing a hotel is no easy task. Juggling staff schedules, room maintenance, the needs of an ever-rotating cast of guests, and now an almost crippling labor shortage - while pouring heart and sould into optimizing every aspect of guest experience. It's a labor of love to live and breathe hospitality.
.And with so much going on, it is easy to neglect smaller aspects of your operation, like the grab-and-go market that is at times tucked around the corner out of site, out of mind, out of water, chips, snacks . . .
While these retail outlets may feel like an after-thought break even amenity on a hectic day, they have the potential to make a huge difference to your guests' F&B experience and your bottom line!
Consumer trends show traditional hotel services, like room service and mini-bar, are declining in usage while Grab-and-go stations are picking significantly in terms of revenue and F&B quality when the store is managed as the profit center, Food and Beverage guest experience it should be. Grab-and-go sales for hotels rose 40% between 2020 and 2021, proving that this amenity is a significant revenue stream.
Fortunately, managing a retail outlet does not have to be one more task for you to shoulder. Introducing a retail management system to your hotel can grant you access to money-making data and the time-saving automation that will alleviate labor, increase revenue, and simplify front office operations.
What is a retail management system?
One might assume that retail management systems are only useful for traditional retail stores.
While it is true that this technology has proven incredibly valuable in the most successful retail chains in America, the cloud-based solutions are fast becoming an essential tool for hotels expanding their retail outlets to utilize significant lobby real estate or relying heavily on the store for onsite F&B offerings.
These custom software solutions typically include a point-of-sale feature, product and inventory management, pricing recommendations and robust reporting on retail performance to automate and simplify procurement, product mix optimization, and overall retail success.
Features of a retail management system
A retail management system will transform the way your hotel's grab-and-go food spaces operate. As you read over the different features that these devices offer, remember their magic: automation. All of the transformative data that retail management systems track is collected without you having to do a thing. Here are some examples of the information you can use to optimize your stations.
Robust retail reporting and analytics
A retail management system tracks every movement of a UPC from the time it enters the store, to its exit whether by sale, theft, department transfer, or guest giveaway. Managers can see what products are making them the most revenue and profit, which ones often disappear, how many service recoveries or preferred guest giveaways occurred.
With dashboards and sales history to indicate where your store is succeeding and where improvements to pricing, process, or product mix can be made, managers have transparency into what is working, what isn't and why!
Product performance reports
The reports generated by your retail management system will help immediately identify the best-performing products in your line and the underperformers that need to go!
With this information, managers can optimize product assortment to know and sell the Hotel Retail Best Sellers. This results in your maximizing your profits and your customers being happy with your product selection.
Real-time inventory management
A retail management system also automates inventory tracking. As products arrive from vendor, an associate or manager can scan the item, enter the amount received and adjust the cost of goods on hand, so managers know how much inventory asset they have on property.
As products sell, the system automatically updates counts, re-order points and replenishment needs - so managers know when to re-order the bestsellers BEFORE they run out. This means that you're never missing out on sales because you were unprepared for guest favorites and occupancy demands.
Causes of profits and losses
A retail management system also takes the guesswork out of losses and wins. With the clear reporting offered, managers have clear visibility into how much an Employee Discount or Giveaway program costs them.
The real-time reporting and notifications allow busy managers to immediately identify primary drivers of profits and what is contributing to both successes and losses for the store so they can adjust ordering levels, product mix, retail pricing and other profit driving factors.
Reduce Overhead. Increase Profit.
As you can imagine, all of these features translate into major time saved for you and your team.
Each unique product code (UPC) is tracked from the time it enters the store to the time it leaves. That means that you have instant data on what's sold, given away, or lost. You'll also get better insight into what's doing well on your shelves, and what needs to be swapped out based on sales velocity and profit. Under-performing products are automatically flagged for review.
This 2022 hotel retail guide playbook will help you ensure that you're taking advantage of all the features of your system. This guide is chalk full of information to help you increase revenue in your marketplace regardless of what systems you are using.
impulsify.
Check out Impulsify retail solutions to manage your store and improve guest experience.
Our technology products and retail services along with our hotel retail experts can assist you with pricing, merchandising, product assortments, and achieving your brand goals.
Give us a call. We love this stuff!
To automate and improve your grab-and-go, Contact Impulsify
Your guests and your bottom line will thank you!
