The technification of hospitality
Before we get into the guts of what I’d like to talk about in this post, a little bit about me.
Confession time - I am a nerd, have always been a nerd and will likely always be a nerd. And when I say “nerd”, I mean somebody who used to stay up all night as a kid playing video games, has always been fascinated by Microsoft Excel and remembers when computers ran on cassette tapes.
Literally.
Thank you, post-Soviet childhood!
A more conventional, adult, and contemporary word for nerd is ”tech optimist,” and I also plead guilty to this.
I’m a tech optimist in the sense that I love a gadget that solves a problem I was not aware I had, and that I have a generally positive attitude toward the march of technological advancement. Because overall, I think that tech is a net positive for the world and our future.
Note the word “overall”.
Don’t take that optimism as absolute, I also have a healthy dose of “tech scepticism” to add for flavour. Because sometimes, just sometimes, I look at whatever latest innovation is being floated as the next breakthrough and think: “Who the hell asked for this, why is it here, and how quickly can we make it stop…” or “Do we really need AI built into our dishwashing machines…?”
As a native of the hospitality industry, it’s been super interesting to see technology start to permeate our sector in the same way that it has spread through the rest of the world. Front and back of house, there are new ways to interact with your consumer, automate your venue, and introduce a bit of tech magic to your business. To the point that it can be confusing for an operator to make an effective decision on which systems will work for them and which will not.
For the purpose of this post, I won’t get into a long itemised list of hospitality tech concepts and my opinions of them, but I would like to talk quickly about the first one that comes to mind — QR code or tablet ordering.
Let’s get straight into the deep end with this one. Come on in, the water’s fine!
What I’m talking about here are online ordering systems that allow customers to order and pay directly from their devices, or from a device given to them by the venue. Made increasingly popular by our aversion to physical interaction and staffing shortages during COVID, there are many versions of this that I won’t list here, but we all know what I’m talking about.
Here is my dilemma with this type of tech. Depending on the context, I absolutely love it or completely hate it.
If I’m in a casual venue, a quick service restaurant or a large group, this can really streamline the ordering process, take a lot of pressure off the FOH team and keep things moving as efficiently as possible. On the flip side, if I want to spend more time in a venue, really exploring and interacting with the concept, that type of point of service makes things feel rushed, like the venue wants me to spend my money and move on as quickly as possible.
Not that it’s impossible to have great customer service from your FOH team if you use this type of self-service, but I find that it creates a barrier between your team and the consumer.
Like with most tech solutions, there is a downside to the upside.
But what I find even more interesting is how this type of tech becomes integrated into a business. Once you have recalibrated your whole service model and business plan around this type of service delivery, it can be really hard to roll it back if you find that things aren’t working out as envisioned. It can also confuse your customers when you cycle through concepts, potentially eroding your base.
Not to mention that these platforms take their cut straight from the top of every transaction, a cost that operators are pressured to pass through to the consumer.
To clarify, much like food delivery platforms (more on those at another time), these companies usually get paid based on a percentage of your revenue, meaning they cash out whether your business is profitable or not.
To wrap up, if you’re trying to make a decision on whether you should introduce a tech solution to your business - take a tech approach to your decision-making. As the saying goes - “go back to first principles” and ask yourself the following questions:
Does this solve a problem that I genuinely have?
Is it in line with my vision, my mission and my values?
Is there a return on investment?
It may sound simplistic, but you’ll be surprised how quickly you will find that the shiny new app you were about to introduce into your business can start making less and less sense.
As always, thank you for your time and have a great service!
AK