Automatic

📝 Venita Yelley, Operations Manager at MCM Elegante Hotel and Suites, reports a 1.5-point increase in online reviews within three months of implementing a guest experience management platform. By utilizing real-time feedback mechanisms with the hotel PMS, hotels have reduced wait times by 40%, leading to higher guest satisfaction. Hotels need to adopt effective guest messaging strategies through their PMS, such as SMS, to meet guests' communication preferences. Maintaining consistent operations and listening to guest feedback are crucial for hotel success and differentiation in the market.

📊 Tillster's 2025 Phygital Index Report indicates diner loyalty to fast food and casual brands is declining. An independent survey of 1,500 U.S. diners revealed 33% changed their favorite restaurant due to better food (46%) and value (40%). Cost-conscious diners (45%) visit less often due to rising prices. Kiosk popularity continues, with 61% wanting more, up from 57% in 2024. Convenience stores are visited by 24% of diners, outpacing QSR (18%) and fast-casual (16%) growth. Comfort with voice AI at drive-thrus is high, at 60%.

💸 Brands in hospitality risk losing business when customer experience fails. Personalization is key to fostering loyalty, with consumer data enhancing satisfaction. Predictive personalization, going beyond manual inputs, anticipates consumer needs. Location data helps personalize offers, while mobility data, with consent, tailors experiences based on travel patterns. A mobile-first approach is essential, as consumers spend 5 hours a day on phones. Hospitality brands can deliver personalized experiences meeting consumers' immediate needs by utilizing this data.

💾 B&G Food Enterprises, Taco Bell's largest franchisee in Louisiana with 150 locations and 3,000 employees, faced a challenge managing thousands of invoices weekly among franchises in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi since 1982. The AP department processed 700 invoices per week manually, a time-consuming task with complex tax rates and formats. They adopted Ottimate for invoice automation, which resulted in a 92% reduction in processing time, saving 46 hours monthly. Now, 90% of their old imaging system is obsolete, and invoice processing dropped from 60 seconds to 5 seconds per invoice.

📊 Square introduced Square Kiosk in 2024, a solution combining hardware, software, and payments for fast-moving restaurants, along with features like Bar Tabs and Instant Payouts. Tabit in 2024 enhanced its POS with smarter tools for multi-location restaurants, while in 2025, plans to expand its Loyalty platform and integrate AI-powered insights. Toshiba's ELERA, also in 2024, advanced POS with AI, IoT, and computer vision for intuitive transactions in hospitality venues. TRAY enhanced its POS in 2024 for flexible transactions and seamless operations, even offline, and aims to introduce richer in-kitchen capabilities and AI assistance in 2025.