How to pick the right POS system for your hotel
One thing’s for sure: The hospitality industry is back in action. But as exciting as this resurgence is, it has created significant competition among hotels. So as tourism, travel and vacations peak in demand, properties must stand out and provide exceptional, personalized service from check-in to the final key return.
And sure, beautiful facilities, five-star dining and hospitable employees greeting guests wherever they go play a part in this, but you know that a fair share of things go on behind the scenes to create that stellar guest experience. From taking reservations 24/7 to keeping up with quick-selling inventory, back-office operations are crucial to successfully running a hotel. When they lack efficiency, you and your staff spend more time in front of a screen instead of giving guests the high-quality experience that will keep them coming back.
One aspect of hotel operations that can streamline various hotel management processes? A robust, cloud-based point of sale (POS) system — and especially one that integrates with your property management system (PMS).
In this article, we'll dive into what that means, plus we'll share tips for picking the right point of sale for your hotel.
What’s the difference between a POS and PMS?
First, let’s define two types of hotel management software. A property management system or property management software (PMS) is used for things like bookings, room inventory, guest data and reservation management. It should integrate with a payment processor and accept deposits and final payments at the end of a guest’s stay.
A point of sale (POS) system — in the context of hotels — is a hospitality management solution that processes transactions and manages inventory, purchasing, customers, sales and other data for your non-room revenue streams, like an on-site restaurant, spa or gift shop. Most simply, a hospitality point of sale system processes any guest purchases beyond their actual room booking.
Generally, hotel POS systems are made up of:
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POS hardware
Including card reader/terminal to accept payment methods like EMV credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and contactless payments, a receipt printer and a cash drawer
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POS software
A database of functions, including reporting, inventory, customer profiles, loyalty programs and more
The most successful and efficient hotels have both a PMS and POS. The combo helps hoteliers focus on what they do best: provide hospitality experiences that inspire five-star reviews and encourage repeat visits. When POS systems are introduced, hotel managers and operators can spend more time training staff to establish a hospitality-based culture, instead of getting bogged down or distracted by time-consuming tasks.
Now, let’s dive into the necessary considerations for choosing a hotel POS system.
Identify your business needs
Whether you have an on-site eatery, bar, coffee shop, gift shop, spa or all of the above, you’ll want a solution that goes beyond what your property management system can handle.
Do you need…
Multi-location support?
If you have more than one property — or even multiple on-site restaurants or stores within one property — you’ll need a multi-location POS. This will give you a holistic view of all locations from a single point of truth, so there’s no need to log in and out for each revenue center. Plus, you’ll want the ability to quickly transfer items among locations and make universal menu updates with one-click menu management.
Inventory management? For how many SKUs?
The right POS will help you keep inventory organized and give you a quick view of how much you have on hand at any time (and where it is!). Plus, inventory data helps you prevent overbuying, eliminate inventory shortages and reduce dead stock levels.
Your store’s SKU quantity may influence your choice of POS plan. For example, Heartland Retail Essentials houses up to 1,000 SKUs, while Heartland Retail Complete supports unlimited SKUs.
Customer management?
We’ll answer this one for you: Yes, you want customer management tools. After all, without guests, you don’t have much of a hotel. With a CRM and customer profiles built into the POS, you can collect data that helps guide your marketing efforts and boosts customer loyalty (more on this later).
24/7 customer support?
Let’s face it: Hotels are always open! And even if your other revenue streams aren’t, there’s likely a chance you’re getting caught up on business after hours. If that sounds accurate, you’ll want to seek a solution partner with 24/7 [human] support.
Choose a POS that integrates with your hotel PMS
If you own or manage a hotel business, we’ll guess you’re rarely found twiddling your thumbs. The last thing you need is more work — especially tedious, manual tasks. So when you add a new solution to your tech stack, it should make your life easier, not harder.
What are we getting at? You’re going to want to look into a point of sale solution that integrates with your existing property management system. Doing so helps streamline your entire business, so you can trade hours on the computer for face time with guests or training staff.
Why to integrate your POS and PMS
1. Cut back on manual work
When guests dine or shop with you, they expect to be able to charge purchases to their room. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, it’s a convenience that doesn’t take precious moments away from their trip.
But, it’s also a feature that should save your staff time — not put more on their plates. If you’re inviting guests to charge purchases to their room but don’t have an integrated POS and PMS, you’ll have to manually add those meal and shopping charges to their final bill, extending the checkout process and increasing the risk of errors.
2. Get a 360° view of guests
The better you know your guests, the better your chance of retaining them. Why? Customers respond to personalization: Personalized marketing, experiences, communication and other touch points.
Over 70% of guests say they have a more positive experience at hotels that use personalization techniques.
As you know, the room and facilities are only part of any hotel stay. The time guests spend shopping, dining and getting other on-site services absolutely influences their experience. And their actions there — including how many times they visited, what they purchased and ordered and how much they spent — paint a clearer picture of who they are. When your hotel restaurant pos system/retail point of sale connects to your PMS, you get a 360° view of customers. That insight can help you continue personalizing their experiences, while increasing customer lifetime value.
3. Ditch unsightly hardware
When you couple a cloud-based POS with a cloud PMS, that’s less hardware to worry about. Imagine clogging your front desk, small shop or elegant spa with a clunky cash register or multiple servers. It’s not ideal. Integrated cloud-based solutions are more discreet and let you access data and run your business from any single device, like a sleek touchscreen iPad.
Consider the rest of your technology needs
Even though you want to bother with as few pieces of software as possible, a solution that handles every single aspect of your hotel operations just doesn’t exist yet. So, the next best thing is limiting the number of providers you work with. Consider which of the following you need, and then look for a solutions provider that offers it all:
Payment processing
Payroll processing
HR software
Recruiting tools
Time and attendance tracking
Billing and invoicing
Keep your staff in mind
If your staff is unhappy, your guests can feel it. To give your guests the best possible experience, you must offer your employees the same. As you search for a new POS, consider your staff’s technology comfort levels. Look for one that is intuitive, user-friendly and quick to train on.
Ever heard of "enlightened hospitality"? Legendary restaurateur and hospitality guru Danny Meyer’s customer service strategy puts employees above customers. Learn more about it and hear from Danny directly in his The Entrepreneur’s Studio episode.
Another thing to consider regarding your staff: How many are there? If you’re strapped for help, technology may be able to take on some of that burden.
Don't worry — this isn’t a call for robot waitstaff or salespeople. We’re talking about modern tech that speeds up both the dining and retail checkout experiences and boosts your staff’s efficiency. Things like scan to order, scan to pay and handheld mobile POS solutions all help you serve more customers with less staff, so look for a provider that offers each.
Read more about how next-gen restaurant staffing can help you overcome labor shortages, while improving the customer experience.
Automate tasks to save time and money
Here’s another way to reduce the headcount needed for daily operations: a POS that takes manual tasks off your plate. We already mentioned how an integrated POS and PMS reduce tedious reconciliation tasks, but you’ll also want to consider POS software with automation features.
For example, Heartland Retail allows you to set automatic reorder points for your inventory. Think about your spa shop: Is there a shampoo you’re constantly reordering? You can set up reorder points (quantity at which you will reorder) and target quantities (how many you want to have on hand). When inventory hits those numbers, the items are auto-added to a purchase order.
Choose a point of sale system that helps you make better decisions
A point of sale should help you do more than process payments and manage inventory. As you search for your hotel’s new POS, look at its reporting features. Software with real-time custom reporting helps you collect the data most relevant to your hospitality business. You can use it to spot trends and make better business decisions. They may be as simple as removing a menu item that doesn’t sell well, or something more significant, like a total restructure of the room service amenity.
Determine your budget
Though every hotel has a different budget, everyone desires transparent pricing without hidden fees or surprise add-on charges. You deserve a provider that offers flexible, clear and upfront pricing and lets you make changes as you grow or your business needs change.
The good news? We can help with that. Whether you’re on the hunt for a hotel POS system for your on-site cafe, boutique, spa or something else, we’ve got a solution for you. Here’s a quick way to see if Heartland POS fits your budget!
Heartland is the point of sale, payments and payroll solution of choice for entrepreneurs that need human-centered technology to sell more, keep customers coming back and spend less time in the back office. Nearly 1,000,000 businesses trust us to guide them through market changes and technology challenges, so they can stay competitive and focus on building remarkable businesses instead of managing the daily grind. Learn more at heartland.us