How applications are changing guest behaviour

Iris Software Systems COO and regional director UAE Chris Atkin says that with consumers hungry for mobile apps, hoteliers must learn to take advantage of user-friendly technology

Today’s consumer is an impatient one, wanting information and responses faster than ever before. Not only do they want information at their fingertips, they want it on their terms, which today is mobile.

Mobile technology is changing shopping behaviour. We now consume much of our information, sharing photos with friends, social networking, connecting to the internet etc, through apps — and the consumer is hungry for more.

According to Gartner, Inc. app downloads are forecasted to reach 17.7 billion in 2011, a 117% increase from 8.2 billion in 2010. By the end of 2014, Gartner forecasts that more than 185 billion applications will have been downloaded from mobile app stores, since the launch of the first one in July 2008. And by 2014 advertising will generate one third of all revenue from mobile apps.

There is no doubt of the future of mobile devices. However, in the hotel environment, hoteliers are still cramming tattered brochures and flyers into a brochure holder on an already cluttered desk in the hope that guests will read them, but never really knowing if they do.

And there are still hotels using the television as a medium to share information. When was the last time you read a book on the TV? TVs are designed for watching moving images, not lines of text, and trying to access hotel information or order room service via these devices is far too cumbersome.

Once upon a time hotels were putting keyboards in rooms to allow guests to use the internet on the TV. This, according to many sales and marketing directors, was a huge waste of time and money. Guests just didn’t use them.

It is critical that we align technology with natural human behaviour — we need to keep it simple. We have to look at how hotel guests are consuming information. What they don’t want is devices that are frustrating or difficult to use. Instead they want easy to use applications that they can instantly feel comfortable with.

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices such as the iPad there is an opportunity for organisations to engage with the customer like never before, and to provide guests with the opportunity to consume and interact with hotel information all on a single, easy to use platform.

The evolution of tablets has taken the world by storm. A recent iPad Effects study by Tomorrow-Focus found that 97% of iPad users utilise their device daily.

Apps, such as iRiS Personal Valet, which allows guests to book a spa treatment, browse menus and shop in their room, are becoming a reality and hotels need to switch on to this.

Using APPS
So, what can hoteliers do to take advantage of apps?

Firstly, use the right technology for the right purpose; secondly, do it before your competition gets their guest services application up and running; and thirdly, use mobile devices to deliver interactive information.

Guests are hungry for information, particularly the leisure visitor who wants to explore the city and experience more than just restaurants and bars. I know many GMs are reluctant to provide information on outlets other than their own, which they view as promoting competitors’ establishments, but the information is already available in the Time Out magazine that is sitting on the desk in the room.

Instead GMs should be asking themselves “what can I give my guests to enable them to make choices and respect me as a hotel for allowing them to do that?”
From the hoteliers’ point of view, one of the advantages of investing in mobile apps is business intelligence.

Hoteliers benefit from a clearer understanding of guest behaviour, and buying habits by having instant access to critical client data, which allows them to tailor the information provided on the app accordingly.

When we look at how apps influence consumer behaviour there is no doubt they will have major implications in future so it is up to organisations to engage consumers and provide the services they want.