Top 10 F&B ordering features to serve more satisfied guests
With ever-changing guest expectations and staff shortages, hoteliers are faced with a myriad of challenges. One unpleasant experience can put a guest off returning and potentially spread bad reviews.
On the other hand, a stay that meets or exceeds guests' expectations, they are likely to book with you again, spend more and even rave about their unforgettable experience online and with friends.
So, the question looms: What do guests want from their stay, how can hoteliers serve more guests with less demands on staff and how can digital solutions satisfy their requirements?
One trend that is obvious in recent years – guests want everything at the click of a button. Guests want to manage their stay online and adopt a digital, self-service experience they have in other areas of their lives.
In this article, we will spill our secrets about how hoteliers can meet this demand through their food and beverage offerings. It's simple: reach guests in a way that suits them, with a digital ordering system.
How will this help my hotel?
F&B apps can do many things, from simply allowing guests to see the menu right down to booking tables or ordering food to their rooms. Guests can personalise their choices at a time that suits them from the comfort of their device.
They not only improve your guests' experience but also deliver a raft of business benefits e.g.
Serve more guests with fewer staff – with guests self-serving, you can operate with fewer demands on staff. No need to run checks to tables or take people's orders – all these things can be done through the app.
Increase in F&B sales - by making menus more accessible online, you can reach 100% of your guests wherever they are. You can upsell, cross-sell and offer promotions that would typically get missed on printed out menus.
Top ten features that every F&B digital ordering system should have
There are plenty more benefits F&B software can offer hoteliers. The only thing worse than NOT offering an F&B app is offering one that is sub-par or has terrible usability.
If you have or want to have an F&B app, make sure you can tick every box on our checklist:
Availability
F&B apps must be easily accessible via a QR code, on the hotel website or a downloadable link. They must provide a quick and easy way to view, order and pay for food and drinks across all property outlets from the comfort of the guest’s device– along with the ability to get orders delivered to a location of their choice.
This feature allows guests to start a tab, add multiple rounds of food or drinks and then pay in a single transaction at the end. Orders can be added to the check from multiple devices, making it easy for groups to place orders on a single check or even by waiting staff on the POS system.
Online Payments
Allowing guests to review their bills and pay online increases table turnover and enables staff to serve more tables. It also keeps guests happy, allowing them to pay and leave when they’re ready.
Digital Menu
Reduce costs on paper menus and show your guests you are committed to sustainability. Guests no longer have to look for a menu or flag down a waiter, they can access it on their phone. Make sure your software allows you to easily update images, menu items and prices so you can keep the content fresh and accurate.
Time Slots for Orders
Regulate the pace of orders and prevent your staff from getting overwhelmed with time slots for orders. Time slots also help manage guest expectations, giving them a time when they can expect their order.
Multi-lingual
Ensure all guests can use your F&B digital ordering system by offering language switching on your app. Guests have a better experience when they can view content in their own language.
Item Lead Times
If you have items that need a bit more time to prepare (hello paella!), you should be able to assign lead time to these items. This will show up when a guest views that item, and it sets their expectations for the dish avoiding annoyance down the line.
Promoted Items
Draw a customer's eye to a particular popular item with a promoted items feature. This allows you to promote specific items and you can even disable items that are no longer available or in stock. Maybe you have a dish that’s a Chef’s special or is limited time only? Put it up as a promoted item to draw attention!
Table Reservations
Drive up your table reservations across all your outlets by embedding your restaurant booking engine into your F&B software.
Data Analysis
This is one of the most important features any F&B software should include. A clear data-driven dashboard will help managers analyse performance, identify trends, forecast demands, and optimise resources to capture more revenue and improve efficiencies.
Future proofing for streamlined operations and happy guests
Offering guests an F&B online ordering experience is a must for hoteliers in 2022. It’s no surprise that operators are planning to ramp up investments in online/app ordering, reservations, and mobile payment technology this year by spending 45% of their IT investments on digital ordering technologies this year (the Restaurant Technology Study).
Enabling technology to handle certain processes and operations will help hoteliers become more efficient (especially in these times of staff shortages), serve more guests and satisfy guest’s expectations for a seamless, digital experience.
Ensuring your platform includes all the optimum features from our checklist will allow you to:
Increase order value and revenue
Turn tables faster and enable staff to serve more guests
Free up time and resources
Manage guest expectations and avoid disappointment
Increase upsells
Boost tips
Enhance guest experience, make for a more memorable and personalised stay
Prevent throttling
Ready to drive orders, enhance the guest experience, and reduce staff reliance through guest self-serving? Get started building your F&B digital app with IRIS®.
IRIS provides a set of highly configurable modules allowing restaurants to deliver outstanding digital experiences to their guests and staff. Integrate with your POS to fully sync your menus and manage your F&B orders all in one place.
Book a discovery call today to see our F&B ordering software in action.
