Page 34 - September 2020

RLI LEISURE INSIGHT

Embracing technology critical

for hospitality businesses

The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on
the UK’s hospitality industry. That much is glaringly obvious.
Here, Tsewang Wangkang, CEO and Co-Founder of Embargo,
discusses why embracing technology is now absolutely critical
for hospitality businesses.

he lockdown period essentially dried up entire revenue First and foremost, changes have had to be made to bricks and mortar
streams for hospitality businesses across the country. Tellingly, premises to ensure staff and customer safety. Restaurants, cafés and bars will
between April and June the sector recorded combined sales have been getting to grips with this transformation over the past month or two.
Tof just £4.6bn, which is a fall of £29.6bn (or almost 90 per Clearing tables and chairs to make more space, changing the layout of seating
cent) when compared to 2019’s figures. areas, implementing one-way systems, installing hand sanitiser pumps and
It poses some significant questions, not just for business leaders in the plastic screens – these have all become commonplace in such establishments.
hospitality space, but also for the UK economy as a whole. After all, the Other systems will have been put in place, too. For example, cleaning
industry employs around three million people (roughly nine per cent of efforts throughout the working day will have been intensified. All these
the workforce) and contributed £133.5bn to the economy in 2019. points were outlined by the Government in a document at the start of July.
The recovery of the sector is of utmost importance to the UK’s wider All these measurements mean that there will be less space to
post-pandemic revival. Indeed, the Government’s various economic generate revenues. Furthermore, working from home has also led to a
stimuli – VAT cuts, business rates relief and the Eat Out to Help Out significant decrease of business from footfall, meaning venue must now
scheme – indicate the state’s eagerness to support hospitality firms predominantly rely on locals to build their customer-base.
through this crisis. Positively, 96 per cent of customers who returned to restaurants in July
However, while it will hopefully enable many hospitality businesses to said they were satisfied with the new health and safety measures that had
remain afloat in the short- and medium-term, state intervention does been put in place.
not guarantee their long-term survival. It is up to the hospitality sector to
adapt to the “new normal” in which they are operating. WHO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS?
Who has eaten in your restaurant or drunk in your pub? Who has
ADAPTING TO THE “NEW NORMAL” bought a takeaway latte from your coffee shop? Who are your regular
The “new normal” is a term that has been bandied around readily over customers driving the majority of your revenue and how do you ensure
recent months. Essentially, in saying that we – as consumers, as businesses, that they come back? How do you communicate changes, reopening
as a nation – are entering a “new normal”, we are acknowledging that dates or additional offerings to your loyal customers? These are questions
day-to-day life will not go back to the way it was. that managers must now be able to answer; but in truth, it is something
From remote working to online shopping and more localised travel they should have already known the answer to.
patterns, trends that were greatly accelerated during the lockdown Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted hospitality businesses’
period will not be reversed easily. For hospitality businesses, this means out-dated approach to understanding their customers. Typically, they have
they can no longer rely on a “business as usual” approach. relied on footfall, online booking systems to capture email addresses,
paper loyalty cards to incentivise people to come back, and members of
staff to recognise loyal customers; all of which are highly flawed systems.

TECH-BASED LOYALTY PROGRAMMES
Embracing tech-based loyalty programmes could prove hugely valuable.
Contactless loyalty apps, for example, solve multiple problems; for one,
if linked to a customer relationship management (CRM) tool it enables
a hospitality business to easily monitor who has entered its premises for
track and trace purposes. But the bigger picture is that they can now
identify, reward and communicate with their loyal customers.
This is a hugely important point. If restaurants, pubs and coffee shops
are to thrive, they will do so through repeat business from a smaller
number of customers than before – despite it being so often overlooked,
this is the lifeblood of the vast majority of businesses.
During this period of change and technological transformation, now is
the time for the hospitality sector to embrace digital loyalty solutions. They
can no longer be complacent in assuming a great product or service will
drive loyalty; they must nurture their existing customers, offer rewards
and incentives, communicate with them effectively, and strengthen the
relationships they have with them.
Adapting to the “new normal” presents both challenges and
opportunities. The businesses that look beyond short-term answers and
instead seize this chance to adopt solutions that will bolster their offering
in the long-term will put themselves in the best possible position to
bounce back strongly and build a sustainable, successful business.

34 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2020