Smartphone apps have opened up new ways for brands to communicate with and engage their customers. It is no longer a convenience for brands; rather, it is a necessity. The hospitality industry cannot escape this reality, as it is primarily service-oriented, hence the need to prioritize customer experience using mobile apps. To underscore the importance of mobile apps to the hospitality sector, let’s imagine this story playing out:
Matt gets a new assignment to a region he hasn’t been to in a while. Brian, his colleague, recommends a hotel he stayed at when he traveled to the same area. Matt decides to check if the hotel has an app on the App store and finds that the hotel does not. He heads to Google to search for details about the hotel. He gets a customer care number and calls. He spends about 5 minutes waiting on a queue before he connects with an agent. He speaks to an agent, books a room, arranges airport transfer and gets payment details. He makes a payment and has to call back to confirm said payment. He gets to the hotel extremely tired, and heads to the front desk to get his room number and access card. There’s a queue, so he has to wait. Finally, he has his key card and gets directions to his room. Phew!
Now imagine the same scenario, but where the hotel has an app; perhaps the story will go like this:
Matt downloads the hotel’s app with the tap of a button, makes his reservations, makes a request for an airport transfer, and makes payments on the app via his favorite payment channel — PayPal; all in a matter of minutes from the comfort of his own space. Through geolocation technology, he gets a welcome message when he enters the hotel, coupled with all the information he needs such as his room number, directions, and digital access card embedded in the app. There’s absolutely no need to go to the front desk. Throughout his stay he receives notifications regarding discount prices for meals and spa services. Through augmented reality, he can preview what meals will look like on his table before ordering. Once he’s done with his trip, he arranges for a car to come pick him up and take him to the airport via the same app.
Benefits of App Development for the Hospitality Industry
From the two stories above, one can make the following deductions with regard to the benefits of hotel app development for the hospitality industry.
- Reduced waiting time and overall customer experience:
According to a report by Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research, a 5-minute wait before receiving the required service results in a 47% decrease in customer satisfaction, irrespective of how stellar the service turns out to be. In the scenarios painted above, it’s clear that Matt will enjoy a better overall experience by using the hotel app to perform actions that would have otherwise required interfacing with humans.
- Convenience:
As a result of smartphones, this is a generation of on-demand requests. Mobile apps are a fast and convenient way for a user to make said requests. A user would rather request extra towels and toothpaste with the push of a button than pick up a phone and call the front desk.
- Gathering data and providing a personalized experience:
As users interact with your app, you can track the kind of notifications they react to, and the kind of offers they prefer, and begin to tailor your offerings toward them based on this data. Not only that, hotels and restaurants can map out ordering patterns and act accordingly. For example, if a guest always orders the same meal or drink when they arrive, wouldn’t it be fantastic if they are welcomed with what they enjoy? That’s the power data presents, and mobile apps are the surest way to get it directly from the users themselves. As this data also includes feedbacks and reviews, hospitality brands can deal with issues quickly and nip unwanted situations in the bud.
- More revenue:
With notifications and various prompts in the app, restaurants can nudge users into taking up offers they would otherwise not have given much thought to. The trick is to make sure there’s enough value to prompt the user to follow through on the special promotions. We have already established that mobile apps help engage customers more, and this report by Gallup says that a fully engaged customer spends $185 more than an ‘ordinary’ customer, further buttressing the theory that building mobile apps for the hospitality industry is an avenue to increase revenue. As well, a satisfied customer translates to recurring visits, as well as probable recommendations to friends and family, which ultimately leads to more customers and revenue.
- Brand loyalty and customer retention:
By creating unique experiences and catering to customer needs efficiently and swiftly through the use of mobile apps for hospitality industry, brands can earn customer loyalty as well as increase customer retention.
Learn about app development trends for the hospitality industry in the full article on MLSDev blog.
