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Industry News - December 24th 2010

 

RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

La Quinta Resort & Club Overhauls Website to Boost Web Presence

La Quinta Resort & Club, a member of The Waldorf Astoria Collection, has selected I-Sites to provide design expertise, content management and online marketing tools for the property, including a comprehensive redesign of laquintaresort.com. The new website, which will launch in early 2011, will fully leverage all of I-Sites’ proprietary solutions for websites, including HandsOn Web CMS, HandsOn Applications and HandsOn Mobile. These strategies are designed to further expand the historic Palm Springs resort’s online presence and provide increased functionality.
 
"We are thrilled to have selected I-Sites as our new website developer and online marketing firm," says Jim Pedone, vice president of sales and marketing for La Quinta Resort & Club. "I-Sites has clearly demonstrated their ability to create a ’sense of arrival’ with their innovative website designs, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for - not to mention their years of experience working with luxury hotels. It’s so important to find a forward-thinking partner in today’s fast-moving online world, and I-Sites is a perfect fit with our new marketing strategies and goals."
 
Along with a complete website overhaul and an all-new online strategy, La Quinta Resort & Club will also utilize I-Sites’ backend solutions and especially look to HandsOn Web CMS, to manage the content of the numerous products and services offered by the property. "Our resort has many online revenue-generating capabilities—golf, spa, real estate, meetings and leisure travel—each of which could warrant their own stand-alone websites and individual e-commerce strategies," says Bob Buttaro, director of marketing communications for La Quinta Resort & Club. "With I-Sites’ platform, not only will our team be able to easily manage our content in real-time across all of our revenue-generating areas, but more importantly, we can provide our guests with an ’experiential’ web-based tour and an in-depth understanding of all we have to offer."



 

Hilton Worldwide Partners with Tata Consultancy Services to Accelerate IT Strategy

Hilton Worldwide has announced a multi-year agreement with Tata Consultancy Services, an IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, to help accelerate and enhance Hilton Worldwide's technology strategy as part of the Hilton Worldwide Innovation Collaborative.
 
The Innovation Collaborative will evolve Hilton Worldwide's technology infrastructure and accelerate innovation across the company's portfolio of ten brands. TCS will leverage its extensive experience in running large transformational initiatives and modernizing legacy systems to help develop a platform that keeps Hilton Worldwide in the forefront of the business and technology landscape.
 
"Our goal is to continue our strong history of innovation by working with the best technology leaders," says Robert Webb, chief information officer, Hilton Worldwide. "As a partner in our Innovation Collaborative, TCS has demonstrated its commitment to help us meet our business objectives and continues to deliver world-class services."
 
TCS is spearheading the transformation and management of a core group of application platforms, which will deliver enhanced product offerings. To better align technology solutions to the businesses' needs and to ensure Hilton Worldwide remains the leading innovator in hospitality, TCS is managing the corporate suite of applications in the areas of property information management, learning management, quality assurance, business intelligence, financial systems and intranet applications.


 

When Booking a Trip, do Biz, Leisure Travelers Use Different Web Search Approaches?

Although many trips start with information gathered from Internet search engines and social media sites, two "old-fashioned" information sources are still heavily used by would-be hotel guests, according to a survey released by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). Based on responses of 2,830 recent travelers, the social media study confirmed differences in travelers' hotel search process depending on travel purpose. The study also outlines which types of Internet site people are most likely to visit at various stages of their hotel-selection process.
 
The study found that the information source most frequently used by business travelers is their company's hotel recommendations, while the top source for leisure travelers by far is the recommendations of family and friends. The study, "How Travelers Use Online and Social Media Channels to Make Hotel-choice Decisions," by Laura McCarthy, Debra Stock, and Rohit Verma, is available at no charge from the Center for Hospitality.
 
"We found a distinct difference in the way business travelers and leisure travelers search for hotel information," says Verma, who is a professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration and CHR executive director. "To begin with, most travelers cast a fairly wide net when they are gathering information for their trip. This early stage is where travelers consult social media and search engines, in addition to more traditional channels. When it's time to book, however, travelers most frequently used hotel websites and online travel agents."
 
In addition to the study results, the report also presents current best practices by numerous firms in the hospitality industry and related businesses, as presented at recent CHR Roundtables and the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit. Among other firms, the report presents Web initiatives by Forbes Travel Guides, Hilton Worldwide, J.D. Power and Associates, McDonald's, and Royal Caribbean International.

 
 

Royal Caribbean 'Preps for Future' with POS Partnership

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in Miami has again selected the InfoGenesis POS system byAgilysys. The solution will be deployed on an additional seven Royal Caribbean ships — Allure of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, Azamara Journey, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Millennium and Celebrity Summit. This brings the total to 30 vessels that use Agilysys software solutions.
 
"We looked at several point-of-sale solutions, and the InfoGenesis POS system continues to be ideally suited to our needs," says Bill Martin, vice president and chief information officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "It is among the most versatile point of sale solutions on the market, combining an accessible user interface with a variety of reporting tools. With this technology in place, we are well positioned for the future, with a comprehensive POS system that will increase efficiency, enhance guest service and give us a competitive edge."
 
The InfoGenesis POS system combines powerful reporting and configuration capabilities in the back office with an easy-to-use touch-screen terminal application. Designed for multi-unit operations common in hospitality environments, the system can manage any combination of dining, bar, cabin service and gift shop operations. Features include real-time reporting capabilities, packages and prix fixe menus, signature capture, multi-language capability and advanced sorting, filtering and grouping options.
 
Two Royal Caribbean ships — Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas — also use the DataMagine document management system by Agilysys. The DataMagine electronic waiver solution allows the ships to electronically capture guest signatures on a tablet device so that activity waivers can be consolidated for easy archiving and retrieval. The DataMagine export module enables all electronically captured documents, such as waivers and point-of-sale receipts, to be sent to shore for permanent storage. The solution not only streamlines operations but also decreases the ships' dependence on paper.


 
 

Darden Automates Seating at Olive Garden via Hostess Tech, Eyes Red Lobster

Darden Restaurants, Inc. has begun rolling out a new seating and wait list management system at its largest brands designed to enhance the guest and team member experience. The new system uses software to automate guest wait times and provide more efficient guest seating, enhancing the overall level of service restaurant teams can provide to their guests.
 
After a successful test, Darden has completed introducing the software in all Olive Garden restaurants this month. Darden also is currently testing the solution at Red Lobster.
 
QSR Automations, a leading provider of in-store, online and mobile connected technology solutions for hospitality businesses worldwide, is providing the ConnectSmart Hostess software solution to Darden. Darden is a long-time user of QSR's advanced kitchen automation software and hardware solutions.  
 
ConnectSmart Hostess provides and manages restaurant wait time quotes and ensures effective server rotation and suggested seating – all based on rules that are designated by the restaurant operator. The software also helps manage large parties, building tables that meet guest preferences and ensure seating efficiency. Team members can view the real-time status of each table in the restaurant on an intuitive, graphical interface. A colorful icon automatically updates as each table nears completion of the meal, signaling to team members that a table soon will be available for seating.
 
"Darden takes great pride in successfully leveraging innovative technologies to allow our restaurant teams to focus on delivering an exceptional experience for every guest," says Patti Reilly White, senior vice president and chief information officer for Darden Restaurants. "The ConnectSmart Hostess solution enables us to grow guest confidence in wait times and seating efficiency, which enables us to enhance the overall guest experience in our restaurants."

 
 

Restaurants Rate "Attract Customers" Above "Business Efficiency" in Live Polling

If you attended one of Hospitality Technology’s educational conferences in the past year, you may have participated in a live polling survey. These surveys ask our audience of hospitality executives to respond to multiple-choice questions via text message; the results are then broadcast live and in real-time at the conference.
 
At the 2010 Restaurant Executive Summit, held September 29 – October 1 at The Grand Del Mar Resort in San Diego, Calif., HT asked its audience of senior-level restaurant executives to identify the initiative that is most important to their companies in the coming 8-12 months. Thirty-seven percent indicated that their companies are most focused on attracting more customers. A quick scan of current news reveals that a number of restaurant companies have invested in technologies that are designed to attract and engage customers. The launch of the Starbucks’ (www.starbucks.com) Digital Network (an in-store program designed to enhance the guest experience across 6,800 company stores by offering customers access to hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content) and Maggiano’s Little Italy’s (www.maggianos.com) decision to test location-based marketing and mobile wallet technologies, are just two recent examples. In the same vein, and at a close second, 34% of attendees are concentrating on new revenue generating opportunities.
 
Coming in third, 24% are streamlining operations and seeking out business efficiency. There are again multiple examples of companies that have recently invested in technologies that can help meet this goal, including: McCormick & Schmick’s (www.mccormickandschmicks.com) labor management tech;
 
La Madeleine’s (www.lamadeleine.com) integrated catering and sales efforts; and Newk's Express Café’s (www.newkscafe.com) labor management initiative. Only 5% are looking to invest internally to build company resources.


 

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