Innovation

🔍 Beef 'O' Brady's collaborates with SoundHoundAI for AI-powered phone orders, active in all corporate locations and available to franchises. SoundHound's voice AI handles 100% of calls, even during busy times, taking multiple simultaneous orders. With the 2024 Summer Olympics approaching, customers can order meals with SoundHound's AI for quick, accurate service. SoundHound’s AI is deployed in over 10,000 restaurant locations and recently acquired the ordering platform Allset to expand its reach.

💳 Chicago-based Sertifi partnered with Davidson Hospitality Group since 2015, introducing e-signature and payment solutions. In 2017, Davidson adopted Sertifi’s card authorization. Most recently, they enabled ACH payments through SertifiPay. Davidson saves on processing fees and time, enhances fraud detection, and simplifies internal communications. Tim Debruin, Davidson’s corporate director, stresses the substantial time and cost savings realized. Sertifi CEO John Stojka celebrates 50 years of Davidson's service, looking forward to ongoing collaboration.

🏨 OTAs like Booking.com and MakeMyTrip adopt 'Buy Now, Pay Before Check-In' (BNPBC) to increase direct bookings for hotels. BNPBC allows guests to reserve a room and pay any amount before check-in, boosting revenues by nearly 20%. It mitigates risks compared to 'Pay at Hotel' options, encouraging commitment and reducing no-shows. The system automates payment collection, prompting guests to complete payments, aiding hotels especially during off-seasons. Article by Tarun Goyal, CEO of Simplotel, published on Jul 16, 2024.

🏨 In the hotel industry, AI-driven personalization is transforming shopping experiences with tailored discounts and unified shopping. Eddie Deyo, CTO at GK Software, highlights the importance of efficient, integrated POS systems and loyalty programs to meet high guest expectations. Personalized offers incentivize spending and foster loyalty, while the key to effective AI implementation is a connected experience across all hotel touchpoints, allowing for diverse payment options and seamless access to loyalty rewards.

📊 Forwrd.ai acquired LoudnClear.ai to enhance its no-code data science automation for RevOps, integrating with platforms like Salesforce Service Cloud and Zendesk. Forwrd.ai's CEO Kobi Stok highlights the platform's ease for RevOps leaders to deploy predictive models without a full data science team. Organizations incurred $104 billion in costs due to data science complexities in 2023, with the market expected to grow to $776 billion by 2032. LoudnClear.ai's CEO Shaked Izrael anticipates furthering their vision post-acquisition.

✈ Journey Mentor secured a five-year contract with Bangladeshi travel agency Time Travel BD, integrating their SalesMentor and LoyaltyMentor solutions into Time Travel's IT infrastructure. Bangladesh's travel market is expanding, with monthly international passengers rising to 800,000 in 2021 from 500,000 in 2019, and domestic passengers reaching 170,000, up from 100,000 in the same period. Kazi Shah Arfin, CEO of Time Travel, emphasizes enhanced service, while Paul Sies, CEO of Journey Mentor, highlights revenue growth and profitability.

🍝 The food delivery industry adapts to wage increases and fee hikes, impacting customer satisfaction. The National Restaurant Association reports 110,000 restaurant closures in 2020. Robotics is a growing solution, with the food robotics market projected to reach $5 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research. The Association for Advancing Automation states robotics can cut costs by 17.71%. Embracing robotics for efficiency, cost savings, and customer experience is essential for industry growth.

🍴 Introducing a restaurant reservation system app can attract more customers and level the playing field for small businesses, streamline operations, reduce no-shows, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase profitability for medium to large businesses. A mobile-optimized app can improve convenience, accessibility, and offer custom features such as loyalty rewards. To develop an app, research competitors, design for user-friendliness, consider app builders for a drag-and-drop solution, and promote your app using market research insights. Rohan from London, SVP of Engineering at Builder.ai, suggests these strategies.

🏨 In a 2023 Rackspace survey, nearly three-quarters of hospitality IT decision-makers view AI as a core business strategy. Marriott employs generativeAI in its Homes and Villas search tool, enhancing personalized booking experiences. Turtle Bay Resort's use of AI-powered CRM resulted in a 70% email engagement rate and a 40% revenue increase. Consistency in guest experiences is improved by AI through standardized housekeeping and fast support via tools like Hilton's chatbot Connie. AI requires problem-focused application and continuous refinement. Jon Wolfe, President of Global Systems and Services at Light & Wonder, emphasizes AI as a means to an end, not a standalone solution.

💻 Workabout offers flexible workspace bookings in the UK without memberships or contracts, featuring over 500 local and city-based options like hot desks and meeting rooms. Sign up is free, with pay-as-you-go flexibility. Partners include Landmark, Runway East, and others. The self-funded start-up, led by CEO Jeffrey Davidson, will add Teams and HQ management tools and expand globally. The platform supports hybrid work models, evidenced by a 2024 Nature study showing such arrangements increase happiness and productivity. A remote-first company, Workabout practices flexible working internally, catering to diverse needs and locations.