Over the past few years, hotels across the world have experienced a decrease in in-room dining orders. In response to the steady decrease in in-room dining orders, several hotels have started to discontinue offering room service, but a recent study shows that 43 percent of guests still view room service as “very important” and 28 percent of guests say not offering room service is a deal breaker.
These results show that in-room dining is still a crucial part of the in-room experience for many guests. So how do hotels make sure they’re satisfying their guest demands without operating at a loss? Enter in-room technology and mobile ordering. By implementing technology like in-room tablets and mobile guest apps, hotels can provide guests with more services and access to mobile ordering.
Use Mobile Ordering to Increase In-Room Dining Orders
Digital menus and mobile ordering provide an effective solution to the decrease in in-room dining because it allows the customer to peruse the menu at their leisure without feeling rushed to place their order to a busy staff member over the phone, creates a more responsive atmosphere, and reduces the chance of error in in-room dining orders.
Offering a mobile ordering solution creates a smoother, more successful relationship with the customer because it streamlines the process and places the control in the hands of the consumer. Mobile ordering allows the hotel to keep its guests updated on the status of their orders and give them an estimated food arrival time. Not only does mobile ordering provide a more efficient, streamlined in-room dining process for the guest, it also improves the guests’ overall experience at the property. A 2016 study by Zebra Technologies found that 70 percent of guests want to use technology to decrease their wait times and improve their overall experience.
Aside from improving the overall guest experience, offering a mobile ordering option for in-room dining can also help hotels increase their bottom line by providing upselling opportunities throughout the ordering process. Studies have also shown that consumers are more likely to place larger orders when making a mobile order, especially when the menu features images of the food offered. Not only does including imagery of menu items lead to larger orders, but it can also dictate what the guest orders. In a study conducted by Iowa State, researchers tested displaying an image of a salad to kids at a YMCA camp. Campers who saw the salad photo were 70 percent more likely to order a salad for lunch than those who didn’t see the salad photo.
Conrad Indianapolis Experiences Success with Mobile Ordering
Conrad Indianapolis recently experienced the effectiveness of using mobile ordering for in-room dining. Just three months after launching INTELITY’s in-room tablets, the hotel saw digital dining orders increase by 444 percent and an average in-room dining check increase of almost 15 percent.
Mobile ordering is clearly an effective solution for the decline in in-room dining orders, especially when associated with an integrated back-end solution that automatically tracks the entire transaction. INTELITY has created a fully integrated, enterprise platform that allows hotels to improve their operational efficiencies and enhance their guest experience. Our cutting edge platform offers hotels the ability to seamlessly connect service industry workforces to their guests and enable hotels to improve their operational efficiencies and revenue.
Are you ready to incorporate advanced technology into your daily operations and work towards increasing your in-room dining orders? Contact us today to schedule a demo.
