Point of Sale (POS) technology is evolving quickly and hoteliers are constantly trying to keep up-to-date with market developments — a fact that is perhaps testament to how important POS is to the lifeblood of a profitable hotel.
But why has POS become so important? Perhaps it boils down to the region’s focus on performance data to increase revenue — something which POS is naturally very good at.
| Advertisement |
POS has become the primary conduit for data throughout the business. It connects the front of house to the back of house, it collects sales data from the physical world for analysis and also integrates seamlessly into the hotel’s many other software applications.
New technologies can only enhance these qualities, so suppliers are quick to incorporate new technologies into their POS systems as soon as they emerge in a bid to stay ahead of the competition.
“POS technology is evolving at a rate of knots,” said Intellect Data Systems regional vice president for operations, R. Chandrasekar.
“POS has quickly evolved from basic cash registers to PC-based billing systems, to touch screen interfaces and finally to PDA devices. The focus is now shifting towards empowering the customer through iPad-based interactive systems and kiosk-based self-service systems.”
Initially, POS facilitated a hotel’s operation, but more recently technology has advanced at such a rate that POS now actually informs the operation and has changed the way hoteliers perceive their business. This is particularly true for a hotel’s F&B operation, as Oliver Menzel from POS solution provider, Micros-Fidelio, suggests.
“I think that F&B in hotels was historically less important in terms of revenue,” he said. “But when new central POS solutions were introduced, better business intelligence suddenly became available.
It started with the big international food service operators, but now all hotel F&B revenue can be sliced and diced as never before. Hoteliers can now analyse the spend of individual guests to better understand and manage their F&B operations.”
More importantly, a good POS system is capable of improving the efficiency of the F&B operation and increasing the productivity of employees. If a system is fine-tuned to the specific needs of the organisation, then it can save time and minimise errors.
“A good POS system can improve the efficiency and the speed of communication between service, the kitchen and the bar during a busy F&B operation,” explained Grand Millennium Al Wahda general manager, Michael Sorgenfrey. “Furthermore, mobile, hand-held units can be used to save time by inputting the food order directly into the system while at the table.”
In Sorgenfrey’s example, POS can relieve some of the logistical burdens on staff and enable them to concentrate on food preparation or front of house customer service.
“A good POS system should let you focus on your customers, not your POS system,” explained Ròya International hospitality consultant, Turab Saleem. “It should be flexible, scalable, and modular for a customised solution that’s right for your business.
“On a practical level, high-tech applications of POS have already helped operators improve their bottom line because, as POS technology evolves, suppliers are integrating more and more key business operations into the system.
This includes workforce management, productivity monitoring, cost control, customer tracking, incentive payments and sales forecasting, among others. All in all, these features have been developed to enhance profitability.”
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
Sep 13, 2011
can i please know the name of the author of this article