In recent years, pubs have been closing at an alarming rate due to a convergence of rising costs across all aspects of the business, intensified by changing customer habits and the cost-of-living crisis. In 2024, it is reported that six pubs a week closed down, with major changes coming into play this year, such as the extra £650 million in costs due to the Budget playing a big part in pub owner decisions.
However, there is still demand from consumers for eating and drinking out, as a recent survey suggested that people dine out 1.6 times a week on average, and their spending has increased by 13.3%. However, with a significant growth in the pubs with rooms accommodation sector, it is bringing additional revenue options for pubs to tackle their financial challenges. So, how can technology help traditional pubs take the next step into the modern world?
At Access Hospitality, our mission is to help pubs take on the new generation of technology and use it to strengthen their services to boost profits, streamline operations and see their sales reach new heights. In this article, we will unpack the main ways pub-friendly technology will help your business generate more revenue and keep guests coming back.
Transform your data into confident forecasting decisions
There are many ways pubs lose revenue opportunities, such as overstaffing during quieter seasons, high food waste due to inaccurate forecasting and being unprepared for sudden busy periods. This can cause more issues for your teams as you are missing out on extra income from rooms, food and drink sales due to inaccurate reporting.
Using integrated technology will help you handle everything from bookings to payments, as you gain access to a huge amount of data that is generated in real-time. This can give you important focal points to help you forecast and plan your revenue management, as it will tell you when to expect busy periods, help create accurate rotas and steer inventory decisions. Knowing this information in real-time will help you make quick and informed decisions that will help you boost profits.
Turn real-time reporting into happier guests
Relying on sporadic visits from customers is not a secure plan for running a pub business. Pubs can play a key part in communities, as they lead to loyal customers, repeat business, group bookings and an appetite for overnight stays.
A central part of creating a community is looking at customer satisfaction; what are the most popular dishes? Which menu items have high profit? What reviews are customers leaving? Your PMS platform will pull together data that can give you insights into these areas to enable you to refine your offers, create new dishes and give your customers what they want.
Drive revenue-focused campaigns for instant results
Reaching and engaging with the local community to keep them coming through the door can be difficult, as no-shows can cause issues for your overall profitability. For pubs with rooms, it can be a struggle to maximise occupancy levels as the focus is primarily on the day-to-day service rather than the accommodation.
By using smart hotel software, you can target local promotions, themed nights, stay packages and loyalty incentives with personalised offerings and experiences that entice your audience. Tailored campaigns and hotel channel managers help bring back guests who have previously visited, as well as new customers who may have seen your business through OTAs, wholesalers and metasearch.
Regain control and reclaim hours of lost productivity
Inefficient operational processes are a drain on pubs that are already struggling, as manual bookings, outdated systems and time spent grappling with rotas take up huge amounts of time.
For pubs with rooms, managing reservations using separate systems eats up yet more staff time and makes reconciling guests’ spend on food and drinks harder. This can prevent your businesses from being proactive about generating revenue and exceptional customer experiences.
By digitising key processes with intuitive, pub-friendly tech, you can free up more time to deliver a good customer experience and give staff the opportunity to focus on other areas of the pub business. This helps drive a positive cycle of repeat business from engaged customers who enjoy the service you are providing, as well as generating positive reviews that future customers will see. The right tech can do the hard graft for staff, making them more productive and focused on the things that can secure the future of the business.
Ready to take your pub with rooms business into the Next-Gen?
At a time when operating costs are high and profit margins are tight, it makes sense for pubs with rooms to get smart with technology. Next-Gen pubs don’t wait to be discovered; they attract visitors by using powerful software solutions that drive results. In this article, we have explored the ways pub-friendly technology can help pubs with accommodation generate more revenue by leveraging real-time data to make informed decisions, tailor customer offerings and streamline booking processes.
At Access Hospitality, we offer a suite of smart software products powered by Guestline to help you boost profits and increase your revenue opportunities to tackle the rising costs of the hospitality industry. With a single system that helps you understand real-time business performance while handling day-to-day operations, you can easily spot trends, tap into opportunities and maximise customer spend by delivering what they want when they want it.
Explore our pub-friendly technology solutions so that you can become a Next-Gen pub with Access Hospitality.