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In this article, it basic discussed some of the key points of business switching to a point of sale system and why it would be beneficial. One reason was to prevent shrinkage. With a POS system, sales are automatically recorded during every checkout which help to maintain inventory numbers. Another key point is that POS systems are beneficial to owners who may have more than one store. This allows for business owners to have accurate pricing across all locations and it improves customer service as well. For example, if your store is out of particular product, you can sue the POS system to check which nearby locations have the product that the customer may be looking for. Lastly, POS systems have also been proven to be a great asset for making sure your business is operating effectively and efficiently. While away, POS systems allow for owners to monitor activity such s store performance and sales activity, in addition monitor the performance levels of employees to ensure everyone is staying on task and being productive. So all in all, switching to a Point-Of-Sale system is beneficial and a great move for businesses.

The author of this article targets entrepreneurs and explains the need to implement point-of-sale systems in businesses. The author explains that POS systems help businesses to track promotions more successfully and improve customer service, and thus, enhancing customer satisfaction. Besides, the system improves employee management.

Luis, I like this read. It makes some great points of how the investment of a POS is profitable for the establishment. One thing I did not realize that it is great for is to better track sales and promotions. This is an area that could really assist on driving sales with an establishment. If they analyze the data collected, the owner can know if the promotion was worth their wild OR a waste of time. Did it drive business and bring in new and repeat guests? Did it attract loyal customers? Did it help make new customers loyal? This is all information that is collected and can be very useful when using the POS. Thank you for your share.

Brendan Ciecko is the founder of the Cuseum software. This software was created because Ciecko identified a problem with the technology that museums have or lack thereof. "I was working with a number of museums and was constantly hearing of the frustrations when it came to providing a certain level of experience to visitors on site" (Ciecko). The technology or procedures used in the museum were generally outdated. Now with this new software, guests can download the app on their phone and are able to navigate through different tools and options that the particular museum has for them. The guests will be able to select tours through exhibits that are available at the museum once they walk in. The article also mentions the new product that Ciecko has invented, digital membership, which makes the membership process for the museum more convenient. This makes the process of any application type service in the museum digital. It not only makes all of these processes faster but it also saves paper. In my opinion, I think this a great app. I currently work at a museum and I believe that creating an app that enhances customer experience right when they walk in is worth investing in. It provides guests with highlighted tours and exhibits that are available. Though people at the museum can simply tell the guests where to go and give information about the exhibit, they can easily find it on the app to locate what they are mostly interested in. The app also works as a great marketing tool for museums. It allows visitors to share their favorite items or exhibits on their social media sites and allows them to participate on interactive discussion boards. I think this will help promote specific exhibits, especially if there are tags on the post like #AviationExhbitit or #GizmoCity. Those "tags" are exhibits that I have in my current workplace. With adding a guest's location to the app, it prompts the guests to sign up for a membership. The guest will no longer have to go

Smaller properties such as independent hotels don't need an elaborate PMS (property management system). They can go by with some advanced ones without having to pay an outrageous cost. The ones listed in this article are Opera, Ezee Master, Roommaster, Hotelogix PMS, MSI Cloud PM, Frontdesk Anywhere, and Rozlynx PMS. The property's needs have to be compared with what the systems have to offer and from there, the management can select the best one. Larger properties that belong to corporate companies usually have their own PMS systems that they use at every brand that has their corporate logo. For instance, Hilton has OnQ PMS system, which whether you are at a large Hilton property such as a resort or a small Hilton property that is a franchised property, they will use the OnQ PMS system.

This is a very important feature. Where the system can go either work off the cloud or can be installed.

I found this article to be very interesting. This article gives us a walk through 9 different software solutions for small hotels. This article made it very clear to me that in the hospitality industry it is crucial to find the right software that best matches your hotel. Software has an immense impact on the overall experience of the guests and that brings credibility and customer loyalty. The articles gives us the positive and negatives of each of these systems. This made me realize, that as an aspiring hospitality industry employee and manager, it is crucial to learn about these programs and use them properly.

Technology is in the hands of nearly every person this day and age, so why not take advantage of it? When it comes to hospitality people love to see pictures to see both the venue and the experiences people are having. it lets them imagine their own personal experience and creates a ideas to set up their own personal experience. Digital Marketing also allows to build relationships with clients an is a great place to advocate. It also allows for influences. On top of that, it will allow for people to see exactly what functions, features, attributes, etc. is going on without the hassle of having to call and find out. Technology also allows for easy work for the employees. They are able to use smart watched or portable tablets so they can be mobile with assisting clients and guests with their needs and questions. Digital marketing allows for testimonials of the great place it is.

This article introduces 2017 digital marketing trends for the hospitality industry. The first trend is visual content. Instead of the explanation contents, pictures will influence more to catch customers' attention considering the characteristics of the hospitality industry. Second, social media becomes a great intermediate between potential customers and the business. The business in the hospitality industry should be involved in social media to expose their brand and build client relationship. Third, virtual reality becomes popular to demonstrate the various functions and features lively. Also, adopting wearables or using storytelling production can be a new trend as a marketing tool. It can produce ancillary revenue and get customers more engaged in brand concept. Lastly, digital marketing should be monitored and evaluated for sales trends, supplier orders and employee overtime in a real time to improve more marketing strategy.

Event management software firm Active Network has launched a new suite of mobile applications for meetings and events that is designed to encourage attendees to engage with meetings' goals and conferences' brands, while helping the executives running them to better and more efficiently respond to attendees' needs. While Active Network has explored the possibility for years, it felt that earlier technologies were not good enough - for example, Bluetooth requires a multi-step device pairing before the exchange, and would drain mobile batteries too fast, says Miller.

An Event Management Software firm has launched mobile applications for specific meetings and events to encourage attendees to participate and review certain aspects of the specific event. The company has been in the mobile industry for a few years now and are working their way up the ladder with some pretty large events. The mobile apps the company offers are quite interesting and are a great way to keep the people attending the event involved. In a specific case during a presentation a guest speaker was not fully understood by some people and the attendees were able to review the speaker afterwards saying they didnt totally understand the technology of the app allowed the speaker to come back out and clarify themself. The company is certainly going in the right direction and offers great technological advances to a variety of different fields who host conferences and business events.

This article, published in 2015, covers a study performed in Turkey to analyze factors in hotels that lead management to prefer desktop-based PMS over cloud-based PMS or vice versa. The study uses qualitative research to determine the reasons for the usage of PMS and the advantages and disadvantage of either system. The study found that, among others, significant factors that contribute to the form of PMS implemented by mangement may include the size of the property, reservation channels, and prior level of IT experience.

This article talks about new technology advancements that will greatly help the event management industry elevate the guest experience and efficiency. Sensory experiences are a big trend and with some of these technological advancements, it will allow for event planners to create unique offerings such as video mapping, virtual reality, augmented technology, etc. Facial recognition and drone technology will aide in improving security measures. Mobile Apps can create customized apps for events with all the information in one place. The planning and execution of large scale events will become more effective with the aid of these and other new technology, which will benefit the planners and attendees alike.

Cloud-based systems are a great way to keep track of a business anywhere you are. They are also great to keep people connected and informed of what they need to know. Sage Intacct is a cloud-based accounting software that is great for hotels, restaurant chains, entertainment venues, resorts, clubs, or other hospitality businesses. It automates hospitality accounting and financial management to give greater visibility into one's business and help make decisions to boost profitability. With the system, your staff can enter and view information for specific properties and locations, without seeing the financials for other sites and businesses. It has features such as franchise operations, fractional ownership, global business units, and other complex holding structures. The greatest part of this system is that it helps keep up with evolving revenue recognition requirements. The system is also great for different ways of measuring performance by viewing accounting and finance information of individual locations, groups of locations, concept, region and/or other dimensions.

This article gives a solid overview of hotel and restaurant accounting systems and presents the vender's perspectives.

In the event industry, new apps and software are popping up daily and some of them really change the way that we deal with events management. This is an interesting and useful article in which the author introduces 15 app and tech tools for event and meetings. Some of the apps attract my eyes and I think they will be applied widely with a further development. For instance, if planners who want an app for a conference or meeting, now they have a do-it-yourself option.  Yapp launched in April and allows users to create custom mobile apps. Users can customize their theme, event invitation, the agenda and so on. They can also show their guests the final products via YappBox app for IOS. It is easy for them to update  the app and allow guests to chat or upload group photos. This app sounds great and it will leave more flexibility to its users in event planning. Great tools like this are listed in this article, and some of them may become popular in the near future.   

This article explores how today's technology has changed/is changing the event planning industry. Modern technology has changed the way we share information with one another. This article covers: social media marketing, hashtags, live streaming, improved security, geofilters and online check in. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest have expanded the reach of marketing. Event planning professionals are now able to promote their event to a vast group of people. They can even set specific targeting parameters to reach the right audience. Social media also levels the playing field for even small businesses. Hashtags are a new way of identifying topics and they can be used to expose your event to large numbers of people. Creating a hashtag for an event can help create buzz and promote your event. Live streaming is a relatively new feature within social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. It allows users to share where they are and what they are seeing to their follower base. This is a great feature for event planning professionals because it allows more people to be apart of the event. Geofiters is a photo filter within Snap Chat. Geofilters are location based and only users near that location are able to view it. They are great features to have before, and during an event as they can help advertise your event to locals and interact with people visiting the area. Last but not least the advancement in technology has lead to online check-in via apps. A mobile app designed specifically for events can integrate with your guest list within a digital application. This can help identify VIPs and help provide logistics stats such as current headcount of attendees.

This article provides a detailed account of the variety of ways that E-Commerce can be used within the hospitality industry. With the advent of the Internet and new and improved technology, it has become much more imperative for companies to remain competitive in this space. From VR to targeting, as well as online tracking, there are a variety of tools that hospitality firms can employ to attract customers via the Internet. As the Internet is the primary resource that people utilize to shop for hospitality products such as hotel rooms, airfare, etc... it is incredibly important for companies to remain on the cutting edge in regards to their marketing online and attracting and retaining customers.

The hospitality industry is faced with numerous responsibilities when it come to the satisfaction of guest. with the tremendous acts of growth within trends it is often difficult for vendors to keep up with the trends. some of the new trends that are being introduced include personalized features which is playing a major role today. Another major trend is now called virtual reality. I think this trend is a great addition to the industry because it allows customers to virtually place the item in their home to see if it fits their style. Also with the pandemic situations with can help with the idea of social distancing .

The innovations of e-commerce with application in hospitality is becoming a growth trend for this industry. Many more guests are interested in the experience of personalized attractions and the creativity of what brands has to offer. Many merchants are creating a tool that allows the software to remind shopper/guest about what left in the carts to reduce the number of missed sales.

This article from HotelTechReport.com focuses on 8 software and tech related trends in the hospitality industry. Software as a Service (SaaS), Application Programmable Interfaces (API), Online Travel Agencies (OTA), and WiFi6 are some of the featured technologies whose impact on competition, innovation, security, and revenue growth are explored. The article begins by acknowledging that despite a great deal of technological innovation in the past decade, there is a great deal of unrealized potential when it comes to more effectively leveraging technology and data to improve efficiency, increase revenue, and remain competitive in the industry.

This article discusses the benefits of utilizing influencer marketing to give your hotel/restaurant marketing strategy a more competitive edge. They noted that influencers inspire an already established audience and provide inspiration to followers to live more fully and "experience something out-of-the-ordinary." I learned that the key to a great influencer is finding someone who matches both your brand values and the values of your audience. They also discussed how influencers add authority and trust and how they are seen by their audience to be unbiased and objective. This puts the influencer in a position of great trustworthiness when it comes to purchasing decisions. The article also discussed how influencers help marketing departments by coming up with fresh and exciting content that their audiences will want to see. Lastly, the article touched on that since the COVID-19 pandemic social media has become more powerful than ever before. People are spending an additional 3 minutes on Instagram per day. The best way to leverage this new increased usage is to get an established influencer who understands your band and who already has a relationship with your targeted audience to work on your campaigns. Overall, influencer marketing is here to stay and if carefully researched you'll see a strong surge of engagement on your social media platforms.

There are many ways to utilize proximity marketing for restaurants. You can reach potential customers letting them know about special promotions that they might only know about since they are near the restaurant. Targeting the local community is a great way to get them into your restaurant and make them feel special so they return. Another great idea is to partner with another complimentary establishment to yours and both places benefit. Loyalty programs are a great way to get repeat customers and proximity marketing can target them. Targeting an exact location is another great way to use proximity marketing...let customers know you are coming to them.

Events and event planning are evolving into new, dynamic formats. Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work. "It's been fascinating watching just how fast things have changed," said Brian Solis, principal at Altimeter Group, at a New York conference this year.

This article talks about the ways that technology is changing event planning and events themselves. Event attendees are now looking for more engaged experiences, rather than the old way of merely attending an event passively. Social media plays a huge role in how attendees interact with and even plan an event. Participants can interact with and engage with event speakers now more than ever, with participants sending questions to the speaker via social media or other technology that allows for the speaker to answer audience questions in real time. Data personalization allows for event attendees to receive information about the event, allowing them to be involved in the planning process and during the event itself, whether it's through Bluetooth or geofencing technology. Event attendees can take advantage of augmented reality technology to engage in activities. Wearable technology is becoming increasingly popular, as it allows attendees to get information quickly and easily without any real input on the attendee's part. Mobile apps are now becoming more commonplace for events, as it's easy, efficient, and convenient. Drone technology is now being used at events, whether to take pictures or to stream the event to people who could not attend.

As the world has moved forward with technology, so to has the world of events and event planning. Planners are able to connect with the guests on a whole different level and events have the technology to be able to keep the attendees engaged and interacted. From flying drones to social media, technology has helped selling events a much easier process.

The article discusses a new robot that is designed to access multiple stories, allowing it to serve more than just one area. It highlights its capabilities such as an "interactive touch screen, security doors, large video display screen for advertising, and mobile app integration." It proves it self to not only be advanced technologically, it could be a great revenue stream with its available advertising space. The robot delivering to the wrong room is also not an issue as it will call/notify the receiver of its arrival along with the items being locked via passcode access.

The PMS can do many things for the hotel, like web reservation, revenue management, front desk management, back office work, housekeeping, preparing invoices and bills, making report, multi currency and language. It involved all parts of the operation of the hotel. It is very useful. 

Property management systems should be chosen after a lot of deliberation and research. With many property management systems in the market, it is important that you are not cheated or you don't hastily buy something that doesn't work for you. A quick check on 10 features that you should be looking for in a web based property management system are listed below: 1. Web Reservation: One of the most important things to look for in a web based property management system is its web reservation features. Having a good hotel with great facilities is no longer enough. Letting people know about it is crucial for the success of the business. A hotel management software is the right tool for this purpose nowadays. When you are looking into a PMS, check that its web reservation system is easy to use, not time consuming and is flexible. 2. Revenue Management: Getting your finances sorted is essential so that even in the most testing times, you finances and revenue are well managed. A PMS that has a good revenue management system will see that you can control your rates efficiently and provide easy yet detailed reports of the same to any authorized person as and when required. 3. Front Desk Management: Sorting out the checking in and checking out process, facilitating the guests with whatever they need, and linking the same details with all the concerned departments are some of the things that a front desk console should be doing for you. Check that your hotel management software can efficiently take care of these. 4. Back Office Work: One of the most boring yet very essential departments is the back office. All expenses are doubled checked here; all means of revenue calculated and audited, statistics are prepared as are ledgers. A property management system should be having a console that can look into these things easily and without much human effort. 5. Housekeeping: Hotel management software can be a great help when it comes to taking care of rooms. Fro

Earlier his week I learned about Proximity Marketing and I am not certain if I like the idea.  According to this article written by Romanov, Proximity Marketing "combines the digital and physical worlds in a new way, offers many advantages to both consumers and retailers. It's an agile ad strategy that allows merchants to make changes on the fly to improve message effectiveness and reach sales targets on specific items. It provides amazing consumer insights." Sounds like a great concept; it uses mobile devices, which most people have, to send an alert once shoppers are within range advising that bargains are available.  The consumer then has the choice to accept (or not) the message, which could be a simple discount or even an interactive game.  The consumer's privacy is protected as it is at no cost to them.  This can potentially increase retailer sales, at a lower costs, and produces data on consumer buying habits.  Win-Win. The issue I have with this is the overall multitude of alerts received from various retails.  I am not concerned about privacy issues; it is more of an annoyance issue. 

I actually like this idea because I shop aimlessly. When I'm in the radius of a sale I get excited!!. It makes it easy to choose which store I will go into. It will be great if you can turn the alert on and off. On days I'm not shopping I don't want the alerts to go off. That can be distracting and annoying.

This article talks about how with the help of Biometrics technology, one of the Boston Marathon bombers were identified. This is a great example as to why biometrics technology is crucial in today's society. It has helped law enforcement and government agencies track down and arrest criminals. 

Avero Slingshot is a great tool that gives management a clear picture of waitstaff performance, this way good employees can be recognized and those that need improvement can be coached to improve on selling techniques.