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Pinpointing Missed Opportunities: Today, most hotels are also food retailer, creating great convenience. A thriving food market excels in innovation, differentiation, service, retail strategy and "dynamic merchandising". Leaders must solve hurdles like:
- Is my retail concept optimized for success?
- Are visual factors limiting food presentation & sales?
- Does my product mix & pricing = desired financial results?
- Are we losing the battle managing to fresh product shrinkage?
Retailers knowingly struggle managing the factors limiting their own success.
Hospitality market projects are time consuming and often fail to reach their potential: Eateries and grab & go concepts. Modest success selling to captive guests often creates extra revenue missed by hotel investors, owners & operators. Too common recurring hurdles limiting greater profits.:
- Store Layout & Design Issues
- Queuing & Guest Bottlenecks
- Weak Impulse & Cross Merchandising
- Ineffective Merchandising Techniques
- Poor Usage of Space
- Product Mix & Packaging Selection
- Inventory Storage Challenges
- Limited Internal Skillsets
Retail Strategy & Merchandising Assessments
Merchandise Food can provide a strong line-up of services custom tailored to included everything from basic retail snack & sundries "closets" to full-scale made-to-order markets with grab & go components. Many of our clients have corporate or store level responsibility for food & beverage sales in a variety of food outlets. We advise those engaged in:
- Planning an opening of a new hotel or resort food market
- Reviewing existing successful hotel food markets for new opportunities
- Advancing under-performing locations
Some foodservice operators report sales increases of at least 50 percent after they switched to an open front grab-and-go display from a door unit.
Onsite Market Opening Support & Merchandising
Whether planned, or not, your displays are telling a story. Let us help you tell the desired story that drives business. Implementing strategies to minimize visual distractions combined with colorful and compelling product presentations can drastically affect your financial results. Learn display building principles and philosophies to help your team succeed in driving incremental impulse food sales.
Our teams can optimize or oversee project components remotely and/or onsite as needed. Every project is different, however, here are sample project examples below:
- Product Mix (List) Development
- Market Layout & Space Allocation
- Vendor Research & Recommendations
- Merchandising Techniques
- Operational Documents
- Training Development
Other clients desire to perform tasks themselves in a do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) approach and can engage us in a less intensive advisory capacity to bolster internal teams. By Coaching (See Below) your employees through a merchandising reset or retail "evolution" process you can gain expert guidance while simultaneously building and broadening retail & merchandising skill sets within your organization. In our experience, two to six (2-3) months to plan, prepare and implement a successful small market, department reset or opening merchandising plan is necessary but varies for each unique circumstance.
Hoteliers across the country have adjusted their menus in on-property restaurants and cafes to cater to the demands of today’s travelers for unique F&B options while they’re on the run. But this trend isn’t exclusive to on-site dining outlets—it also extends to lobby stores, particularly when guests are looking for quick bites to keep their hunger at bay and their thirst quenched.
Easily accessible lobby retail stores should be a guest’s first choice for snacks—not the convenience store down the street. Hoteliers must be mindful of the food and beverage selection in these on-site retail spaces. Adding the right variety of items makes all the difference in guest satisfaction and increased profits for the hotel.
1. Grab-and-Go Items
2. Locally Sourced Food and Beverage
Whether staying at a hotel for business or pleasure, many modern travelers want to feel like they are experiencing the place where they are visiting. Giving these guests the opportunity to try local favorites plays into that guest experience. Hoteliers should be cognizant of this trend and strategize with local vendors to stock lobby stores with locally sourced produce, snacks, and beverages. Adding these items to the lobby retail store may also enhance local opinions on the hotel.
3. Unique Displays
In addition to providing uniquely curated food and beverage options, hoteliers must highlight and be mindful of how those items are displayed throughout the lobby retail store. Showcasing distinctive items in ways that immediately attracts guests can drive sales. Merchandising specialty items in places near more common items could eliminate the amount of time it takes for guests to choose their purchases and keep them coming back to try out other new items. Incorporating these three F&B elements will make for a more intriguing hotel lobby retail store and could, ultimately, lead to increased sales.
