The hospitality industry has become quite competitive recently, especially when it comes to meeting the customer’s demands, and among those demands includes food and beverage services. They play quite a critical role in the success of your hotel or restaurant, which then also leads to an increased experience for your guests and an eventual increase in your profits.
Unfortunately, as times change, so do the expectations of your guests. They now want more convenience, speed, and personalization, which might sound like a lot of work, but do not fear since there is a solution —mobile ordering.
Mobile ordering has transformed the way you deliver your F&B services in your hotel. Your guests can now easily browse through the menus of your hotel or restaurant and place an order with just a few tabs on their screen, which naturally also results in the payment being sent directly through their phone.
As a hotel operator, you can use this opportunity to make ordering not only easier for your guests but also more convenient. This allows them to order food from anywhere on your hotel property. To make this concept even clearer, let’s explore significance of F&B, and eight practical ways mobile ordering can help you increase your F&B revenue.
Understanding The Significance Of Food & Beverage (F&B) & Revenue Generated
The Food & Beverage (F&B) department is more than just providing meals; it is about curating memorable dining experiences that resonate with guests and reflect a hotel’s brand identity. From gourmet restaurants and cozy cafes to banquet services and room dining, F&B offerings significantly influence customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and competitive positioning. A well-executed F&B strategy can transform a hotel from a place to stay into a destination in itself, blending culinary artistry with impeccable service to leave a lasting impression. Let’s explore some strategies that could increase the significance of F&B in hotels.
Providing Offers
The hotel F&B department can enhance guest experience and drive revenue by crafting enticing room service promotions. For instance, a personalized room service menu can be offered, featuring a curated selection of dishes based on guest preferences, paired with a limited time offer such as “Order within 30 minutes of check-in and enjoy a complimentary dessert.” Another example, to cater to late-night cravings, the department could introduce a special after-hours menu, such as “Midnight Bites,” offering comfort food like sliders and milkshakes, with a discount on bundled items. One more example, for guests departing early, pre-departure breakfast specials can be promoted, such as “Grab & Go Gourmet,” where freshly prepared breakfast boxes include croissants, fruit, and juice, like the Four Seasons’ “Early Bird Breakfast Box” concept, ensuring convenience without compromising quality. These innovative offers align with guest needs while fostering loyalty and satisfaction.
Pre-orders and Suggesting Items as Alerts
The revenue generated from a hotel’s Food and Beverage (F&B) department can be significantly boosted through strategic pre-orders and intelligent upselling techniques. For instance, a hotel hosting a wedding banquet can capitalize on pre-orders by offering curated meal packages tailored to the event, allowing for efficient preparation and higher margins. On the other hand, dynamic in-the-moment suggestions can enhance guest experiences and increase sales. Imagine a family dining with a child—if the F&B team suggests a tempting chocolate pastry through a vibrant image displayed on the menu or tablet, it not only delights the child but also leads to an additional purchase, turning a small gesture into a profitable opportunity. These approaches blend convenience, personalization, and psychology, driving incremental revenue growth.
Courses Order, and Missing Courses
The hotel F&B department is a significant revenue generator, and optimizing the dining experience can further boost profitability. For instance, strategically designing a prix fixe menu that includes an appetizer, main course, and dessert encourages guests to order multiple courses, increasing the average spend per table. A guest who might only order a main course is enticed to enjoy a full dining experience, driving higher revenue.
Additionally, using technology to send alerts for missing courses enhances revenue potential. For example, if a table orders main courses without appetizers, servers can receive a prompt to suggest starters like a shared charcuterie board or salads, filling the gap and elevating the dining experience while boosting sales.
Suggestive Selling
Suggestive selling leverages trends and past sales data to offer tailored recommendations that enhance guest experiences and boost revenue. For example, during the winter season, offering warm and comforting items like spiced mulled wine or a chef’s signature soup aligns with guest preferences for cozy fare. Highlighting these seasonal options as limited-time specials encourages guests to indulge.
Another approach uses historical sales data. If last year’s summer saw a surge in demand for tropical cocktails and seafood platters, these items can be strategically promoted again this year. Bundling a best-selling cocktail with a popular appetizer from the previous season creates a compelling offer that resonates with proven guest preferences.
8 Ways to Boost F&B Revenue with Mobile Ordering
Mobile ordering has revolutionized the food and beverage (F&B) landscape, offering unparalleled convenience for both guests and operators. By integrating this technology, hotels can streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new revenue streams. From personalized upselling to faster service delivery, mobile ordering empowers F&B teams to engage guests more effectively and maximize profits. Here, we explore the top 8 innovative ways mobile ordering can help increase F&B revenue and elevate the dining experience.
1) Increase Upsells and Order Volumes with Complementary Items
By using a mobile ordering system, the hotel management will be able to integrate complementary items and suggestions into their mobile menus–which can significantly help them increase their hotel revenue. As an example, when a customer orders a burger, suggesting fries or a drink can help increase the hotel’s overall sales.
2) Enticing Images & Detailed Descriptions
Visual appeal can be crucial for capturing the attention of your potential customers who might want to try new dishes and/or add extras to their orders. Hotel operators can achieve this by adding high-quality images and detailed descriptions of their menu items–which can also aid in boosting the guest’s overall online experience.
3) Expand Mobile Ordering Across Multiple Outlets Within Your Property
Implementing mobile ordering in different hotel outlets, like bars, pools and restaurants, can make sure that your guests are able to place orders whenever and wherever they are on the hotel’s property. This simple leisure can increase the likelihood for the guests to order additional services.
4) Multi-lingual Capabilities
By offering mobile ordering in multiple languages, hoteliers will be able to diversify their services. It will allow non-native speakers to browse through the menus and place orders without requiring the assistance of a third party–leading to enhanced customer satisfaction, which will then also drive more sales from international customers.
5) Incentivize Loyalty
Hotel operators can also use this as an opportunity to create loyalty programs–that will reward guests/customers for using the hotel’s mobile ordering services, which will then lead to repated business. For instance, hotel operators can provide discounts or free items after their guests have ordered a certain number of items–motivating them to order more and use their mobile ordering services more frequently.
6) Report and Review
Among its many tools, mobile ordering also provides hotel operators with an insight into their customer’s preferences and spending habits. By checking this valuable information, they will be able to adjust their menus and prices more strategically and effectively, creating a much more optimized revenue generation.
7) Communicate Convenience
Management can also encourage their guests to use mobile ordering by highlighting the convenience of the app like quick access to the menus and easy payment options–allowing you to encourage your guests to use its services more often.
8) Implementing It with Your PMS
Hotel operators who want to make their mobile ordering run more smoothly can also implement the app in their existing smart hotel systems like Smart Hotel PMS or Hospitality Management System. This simple step will make sure that your orders are routed correctly–so it won’t matter where your guests are ordering from. Furthermore, it will also help reduce, if not completely remove, common human errors like billing mistakes and miscommunication and sending the order directly to the kitchen, which will also reduce the cost of manual labor.
mycloud PMS: The Ultimate Hotel Software for Boosting F&B Revenue
Choosing the wrong hotel management software can not only hinder your operations but also result in lost revenue and potential guests. mycloud PMS addresses these challenges by providing cutting-edge technology and a vast library of over 200 interfaces, including door lock systems, EPABX, interactive TV, SMS, payment gateways, and High-Speed Internet Access (HSIA). Its excellence is reflected in winning the prestigious Certificate of Excellence HTR award in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and receiving stellar reviews—50% of which come from luxury hotels.
Luxury properties trust mycloud PMS for its ability to seamlessly integrate sophisticated tools while maintaining ease of use. Integrated point-of-sale (POS) and user-centric approach have made it a preferred choice for upscale hotels aiming to enhance their guest experience and F&B revenue streams. Investing in a solution like mycloud PMS ensures that hotels are equipped with the tools they need to excel in a competitive market, especially in managing hotel property anytime, anywhere.
Conclusion
Mobile ordering is changing the way hotel operators like you manage their F&B operations. It has made it easier to deliver great service and increase your revenue–Just by offering user-friendly systems, using your guest’s data, and promoting exclusive offers, hotels can stay ahead of guest expectations, and its seamless integration with Hotel Management Systems ensures smooth operations.
About The Author
Deepak Chauhan
Deepak Chauhan is responsible for marketing and positioning of “mycloud” platform and is a veteran in the hotel software industry with over 25 years’ experience giving him a strong understanding of the product requirements in the industry. He has very rare mix of working in operations of various hotels and chains for over 10 years and then co-founding a software product and service company, servicing 5 star hotels and chains for 14 years.
Deepak has led the development and marketing of cloud based hospitality systems to meet the specific, business objectives of small and mid-size properties across the globe and has worked closely with a diverse group of hoteliers and hotel technology vendors.
