The Importance of Digital Experience and Direct Customer Relationships in Hospitality

In a world with iOS, Google Maps, TikTok and (dare I say) Tinder “digital experience” is no longer a nice to have, it’s a part of daily life.

In the fast evolving hospitality industry, the significance of digital experience has never been more pronounced. The right use of technology tools can allow a restaurant to convert new customers from web visits and drive first time visitors to become loyal guests.

After a first visit there’s generally a 40% chance of a customer returning to your venue, this remains the same on their second visit, but shoots up to 70% once you can secure a third visit. The vast majority (62%) of people discover new venues on Google. These stats should underpin the strategy of any hospitality business looking to succeed in an ever more competitive market.

From the initial search of “italian food near me”, making their first visit to your website, coming to the venue then to a direct marketing strategy post visit, a strong set of software tools is what will set apart successful venues in the next 5-10 years.

Every touchpoint has the potential to be enhanced by digital tools:

Seamless booking experience

This is where the journey starts. Your booking experience should tell the story of your brand and allow customers to book and instantly confirm in seconds. Bonus points for allowing pre-ordering, upselling experiences and allowing guest invites.

Bookings should be handled on your website directly and not via a third party page. This helps with site authority and SEO ranking.

Guest WiFi

Often overlooked, an efficient and slick guest WiFi login journey is not only the leading source of new marketing opt-ins. It’s an opportunity to upsell to guests when they are in your venue.

In-venue experience

Your table management system used by staff should be highlighting the key information about guests to allow an unforgettable first time visit, or the warm welcome a loyal customer deserves.

Further understanding how guests are engaged with the rest of your ecosystem really helps here also. For example, are they a member of your loyalty scheme? Or are they visiting after engaging with a birthday campaign?

Post visit marketing

Email marketing is still one of the highest ROI (32x return) strategies to drive repeat visits in hospitality.

Using this wealth of visit data, hospitality businesses should at minimum be running campaigns to reward loyalty, encourage visits after disloyalty and reach guests at key events such as birthdays.

By reaching guests directly and generating more backlinks/visits to your website you can further optimise for SEO where, as mentioned, statistically the majority of people are looking for a place to eat and drink.

Feedback

Finally, if you know your guest has just left the venue. It’s a perfect time to ask them about their visit. Systems can also give you the opportunity to act on negative feedback and respond directly before it’s posted to the public.

Reviews should never be siphoned to a third party platform. As we know, the majority of customers are looking on Google, so your public reviews should be there.

This probably isn’t an exhaustive list, but should be the cornerstone for any physical venue operating now and into the future. Hospitality is increasingly competitive and you must adapt to survive.