Hospitality In The Digital Age

Forging strong relationships with customers is more important than ever before, and the hospitality industry is no exception. According to new research by one of the leading restaurant management platforms, SevenRooms, 46 percent of UK consumers are focusing more on the quality, rather than the quantity, of their dining experiences due to economic pressures. With the arrival of the digital revolution in restaurants and events spaces, however, there is an invaluable opportunity for us to provide our guests with hyper-personalised, memorable experiences. Restaurants that can provide meaningful, stand-out service through tailored offerings will undoubtedly win when it comes to retaining guests and securing repeat business in this new age.

Improving Guest Experiences With Data

Making use of guest management platforms that enable the ownership and capture of data is vital in making the guest experience more memorable for guests. Everything from preferred dishes, previous experiences, table seating requests, allergies, and average spend can be noted and leveraged by both front and back-of-house staff upon each visit. Having this important knowledge can help staff proactively shape their experience based on what they know, rather than guesswork. For a guest, too, feeling welcomed and recognised can go a long way to making a dining experience feel special – it’s a great feeling for a waiter to remember your name or your favourite cocktail, for example. In fact, according to a recent data report from SevenRooms, consumers are so keen to have staff adapt their experience to their preferences that almost 1 in 5 will book direct for that specific reason. What’s more, almost two-thirds (61 percent) will give their contact information to a restaurant if it guarantees them a more personalised guest experience during their visit.

Sharing notes across multiple restaurant locations is crucial too - should a repeat customer with a specific seating preference visit one of our other locations, the staff there should be empowered to maintain the level of experience they would have become accustomed to. Considering that it’s up to seven times more expensive to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one, the importance of repeat visits for a successful long-term strategy cannot be overstated.

Crucially, the best technologies work seamlessly behind the scenes to flag up the right data, at the right time, to the right person, without staff having to lift a finger. This data can take many forms - from custom auto-tags that surface up data crucial to the guest experience, to other important insights like allergies and dining preferences, all stored within a guest’s profile. With a 360-degree view of each diner, we can curate experiences that inspire loyalty and drive revenue. And consumers, too, are certainly happy to impart relevant information: 37 percent will share personal data with a venue if it's used to create tailored experiences for them.

UK’s oldest events caterer and hospitality company, Searcys, joined forces with SevenRooms during COVID-19, migrating its entire restaurant estate to help them capture and leverage approved data to provide their guests with the top tier experiences they expect.

Searcys marketing director Anna Fenten shares, “Searcys has been part of UK hospitality for over 175 years, being set up by a brilliant confectioner John Searcy in 1847. John was an inspirational character, who identified a niche in the market - the need of the emerging British middle class to entertain. Thus our roots are very much in catering for wonderful occasions, so personal, sleek service has always been part of our DNA. In the 21st century, Searcys can be found at some of the most iconic locations in the UK, from the gateway to Europe - St Pancras International (with our stunning Searcys Champagne Bar and Brasserie), to the top of most popular London’s skyscraper - the Gherkin. Just this year, we have opened a beautiful Portrait Restaurant at the world-famous National Portrait Gallery and are going live with our Champagne bar at the must-visit retail destination in the capital – Battersea Power Station later this autumn. Working with SevenRooms has allowed us to deliver that personalised service and also monitor the quality of our delivery in real time. Quality performance is vital for such a fast-paced consumer business like Searcys. Having business information in real time, at our fingertips, is vital.”

Making Marketing More Seamless

Furthermore, we must leverage this data to stay connected to customers after their dining experience. Following up with a well-timed and relevant marketing email after a visit keeps us top of mind for customers looking to enjoy the experience again or to recommend to friends and family. A substantial 63 percent of UK diners will give their contact details to restaurants in order to receive special offers, event invites and promotions – this opportunity must be capitalised on.

While we could, of course, send the same email to everyone in our database, this one-size-fits-all approach has proven to be a thing of the past. Nobody wants to be made to feel like a number – everyone has unique preferences, needs, and relationships with their favourite restaurants. Yet, of course, there is no time to send every customer a hand-crafted email every week, and personalisation at scale is nearly impossible for brands with multiple restaurant locations like Searcys. Modern email marketing tools give us the power to segment and personalise messages so that every message feels relevant. Key audiences can be grouped according to specific criteria, such as the date of their last visit, their most-visited location, or their level of loyalty, so that communications can be tailored.

Just as guests are more likely to return and recommend when they’ve been made to feel appreciated throughout their meal, the same applies with marketing emails. Personalised marketing efforts have been shown to increase return visits for restaurants by 6 to 12 percent.

The digital revolution has provided us with endless opportunities to personalise the dining experience to drive loyalty, repeat business and revenue. With more and more operators utilising technology to capture valuable insights and build direct, meaningful guest relationships, it is clear that it will continue to play an integral role in the modernisation of our brilliant industry.

Anna from Searcys adds: “This includes our application of SevenRooms software for ticketed events and even online meeting room bookings. This a truly innovative product extension allows us to create original events – from champagne masterclasses to book launches, music concerts with afternoon tea upsells, and even a consumer sparkling wine show. This development, which we introduced in partnership with SevenRooms, has given us a market-leading capability to add such varied experiences (with 70+ in 2022 alone) that can be marketed in an effective way. Please check what’s on at www. searcys.co.uk.”