Hospitality Archives - 91 /category/industry/hospitality-industry/ IT Consulting, Strategy & Outsourcing Services Company Tue, 26 May 2026 09:44:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/2020/03/itc-logo.png Hospitality Archives - 91 /category/industry/hospitality-industry/ 32 32 From Signed to Sellable: The New Benchmark for Hotel Onboarding /blog/from-signed-to-sellable-the-new-benchmark-for-hotel-onboarding/ Tue, 26 May 2026 09:42:51 +0000 /?p=49459 In the hotel industry, asset-light growth has become the preferred expansion model for many large hotel groups. Instead of tying up capital in owned real estate, brands are scaling through […]

The post From Signed to Sellable: The New Benchmark for Hotel Onboarding appeared first on 91.

]]>
In the hotel industry, has become the for many large hotel groups. Instead of tying up capital in owned real estate, brands are scaling through management contracts, franchise models and affiliate arrangements, allowing them to expand footprint faster while focusing on brand, distribution, loyalty, technology and operating standards.

However, this model works when the brand can convert signed properties into revenue-generating assets quickly. The faster a property becomes commercially available and operationally ready, the faster both the owner and the brand begin to realize value.

This is where the traditional approach to hotel onboarding often fails to deliver results.

The hidden friction delaying early revenue capture

In many hotel companies, onboarding still moves through a sequence of functional activities: commercial setup, operations readiness, IT enablement, brand compliance, data collection, distribution configuration and property systems activation. Each team may complete its part, yet the property can still sit between contract and revenue because of handoffs, clarifications, missing data, late infrastructure decisions, vendor dependencies and rework.

The challenge is that onboarding delays are rarely caused by one system or one team. They are usually caused by fragmented ownership, inconsistent data collection, unclear technology expectations, late-stage infrastructure discussions, non-standard platform configurations and multiple teams working with different versions of readiness.

Even today a large majority of the hotels do not have fully integrated core systems. For brands adding properties across multiple ownership models, that fragmentation can turn every new onboarding cycle into a fresh round of data collection, system mapping, template changes and manual validation.

The result is lag: in decision-making, data readiness, system setup, ownership alignment, and ultimately lag in revenue realization. We saw this in our holiday park engagement where onboarding new properties and making them sellable was taking 90+ days at a minimum to some over a year, while service readiness took over 100+ days.

Moving towards #Zerolag: A better scorecard for hotel onboarding

To reduce this lag, hotel onboarding needs to be viewed through the lens of commercial readiness and operational readiness.

Time-to-Sellis the ability to make a property’s inventory commercially available across the right channels as early as possible – ideally well before the physical hotel is ready to welcome guests. This requires commercial, distribution, revenue, brand and technology teams to work from a common playbook, with the right data, standards and platform readiness in place upfront.

Time-to-Serveis the ability to make the physical property ready to operate, serve guests and deliver the brand promise in the shortest possible time. This is where operations, IT, architecture, vendors, property teams and owners must come together around a clear, coordinated onboarding model.

The goal should be to move towardsTime-to-Sell at zeroandTime-to-Serve at speed.

Designing for velocity, fluidity and scale

However, this is as much an operating model issue as a technology issue. Hotel onboarding slows down when the right information, decisions and dependencies arrive too late. To make onboarding #ZeroLag, hotel companies need to build intelligence into the process upfront.

1. Start readiness earlier

Business growth teams need early guidance on what the owner and property must be ready for. Owners need clarity on infrastructure, systems, data, vendors and approval timelines before the property moves deep into delivery. This helps teams avoid late clarifications that slow down commercial go-live.

2. Create one version of property readiness

Property, room, rate, tax, payment, vendor, channel and operational data should be captured once, validated early and reused across teams. Commercial, distribution, revenue, IT and operations will still play different roles, but they should work from the same version of readiness.

3. Build reusable templates and patterns

Core platforms, configuration models, integration patterns and operating playbooks should be templatized by property type, geography and business model. This helps every new property inherit enterprise standards instead of starting from scratch each time.

4. Coordinate the journey across teams

Onboarding needs one clear view of data readiness, system setup, open decisions, testing status, Time-to-Sell and Time-to-Serve. That visibility helps teams move with Fluidity and gives leadership a clear view of where action is needed.

The path forward

When these pieces come together, onboarding becomes faster and easier to scale.

  • Velocity comes from reducing avoidable delay.
  • Fluidity comes from helping teams move from the same information.
  • Scale comes from making the model repeatable.

It also creates downstream value – better reporting, stronger analytics, cleaner performance insights and a more consistent foundation for AI-led operations. For the holiday parks engagement, this shift could reduce Time-to-Sell from 90+ days to one day and service readiness from 100+ days to four days.
Making this shift requires change management, cross-functional alignment and CXO sponsorship. Hotel companies need to treat onboarding as a strategic growth capability, because every delay between signing and selling affects revenue, owner confidence and the brand’s ability to scale.

To explore how to build #ZeroLag in your hospitality operations to reduce onboarding friction and accelerate faster revenue realization, read our whitepaper: /resource/whitepaper/zero-lag-hotel-enterprise-eliminating-operational-delays-to-boost-revenue-and-guest-experience/.


Author:

Anu Joy,
VP and Industry Group Head for Hospitality

The post From Signed to Sellable: The New Benchmark for Hotel Onboarding appeared first on 91.

]]>
Architecting the Frictionless Guest Journey Through Agentic AI /blog/architecting-the-frictionless-guest-journey-through-agentic-ai/ Fri, 22 May 2026 10:04:06 +0000 /?p=49443 For years, hotel companies have spoken about the seamless guest journey. Yet for many guests, the journey still feels fragmented. They may discover a property on one channel, book on […]

The post Architecting the Frictionless Guest Journey Through Agentic AI appeared first on 91.

]]>
For years, hotel companies have spoken about the seamless guest journey. Yet for many guests, the journey still feels fragmented. They may discover a property on one channel, book on another, share preferences somewhere else, check in through an app, dine at the restaurant, raise a request through messaging, earn loyalty benefits through a separate platform and receive post-stay communication from yet another system.

To the guest, it is one stay. To the hotel, it is often a complex web of platforms, teams, processes and handoffs.

That gap is becoming harder to ignore. Travelers increasingly expect hotels to recognize context and respond with relevance. A 2025 Mews survey found that 68% of travelers say they are more likely to stay loyal to hotels that deliver standout, personalized experiences, showing how closely loyalty is now tied to the quality of the experience, rather than only points or rewards.

This is where Agentic AI can redefine what a frictionless guest journey means. The opportunity is to go beyond chatbots and use AI agents to understand guest intent, interpret context and orchestrate action across the hotel enterprise. In a #ZeroLag enterprise, this is the essence of Fluidity: systems, teams and touchpoints working together without making the guest or associate carry the burden of complexity.

From discovery to booking – understanding intent earlier

The guest journey begins well before arrival and with different expectations. A family planning a resort stay, a business traveler attending a conference and a couple looking for a wellness weekend are not shopping for the same experience, even if they are looking at the same hotel.

At the discovery and inspiration stage, AI agents can understand travel intent, purpose of stay, budget, loyalty status, preferences and contextual signals to help present the most relevant hotel, room type, package or experience.

As AI-led search and travel planning become more common, hotel content also needs to become easier for intelligent systems to understand. Room types, amenities, policies, packages, accessibility features, dining options, family services and local experiences must be structured clearly enough for both humans and AI agents to act on them.

At the shopping and booking stage, agents can connect central reservation systems, revenue management systems, customer data, loyalty profiles and offer engines to recommend a more relevant stay proposition. This could include early check-in, dining credits, spa packages, meeting support, family amenities or loyalty-linked benefits, depending on the guest’s context.

Pre-arrival – converting signals into action

The pre-arrival phase is where many hotels lose the thread. A guest may share arrival time, dietary needs, room preferences or a special occasion. Too often, those signals do not flow cleanly into operations. The guest arrives expecting recognition and meets disappointment.

Agentic AI can help convert pre-arrival intent into operational action. It can prioritize room readiness, alert housekeeping, inform the front office, coordinate amenities, check package inclusions and proactively communicate with the guest.

However, a truly fluid guest journey goes beyond internal operations. External environment such as flight delays, weather disruptions, local events, traffic conditions or conference schedule changes can all affect the stay. If a guest’s flight is cancelled, an agent should be able to detect the disruption, check availability, understand reservation context and initiate an approved communication: would the guest like to extend the stay for another night? Behind that simple message sits orchestration across availability, rate rules, housekeeping, loyalty, payment authorization and guest messaging.

This is where Agentic AI moves hospitality closer to service anticipation.

Arrival and stay – helping associates deliver better service

At arrival and check-in, a guest should not have to repeat preferences or wait while teams manually check status. Agents can bring together PMS, housekeeping, loyalty, payment, identity verification and guest messaging to help associates deliver a more confident and personalized welcome.

During the stay, the journey becomes more dynamic. Dining, housekeeping, engineering, concierge, spa, retail, transportation and service recovery all shape the experience. A request for extra towels, a restaurant booking, a room temperature complaint or an upgrade inquiry should not become a chain of manual calls and follow-ups.

Agents can classify the request, understand priority, trigger the right workflow, update the right system, notify the right team and close the loop with the guest. Associates remain central to the experience, especially in high-empathy moments. Agentic AI gives them better context and fewer manual steps.

This is how #ZeroLag starts to show up in the guest experience: less waiting, less repetition, fewer dropped requests and more confident service.

Closing the loop with checkout and post-stay engagement

At checkout, the opportunity is to reduce payment, billing and loyalty friction. Charges from room, dining, spa, retail and other services should come together accurately. Exceptions should be flagged early. Loyalty points, benefits and invoices should be handled with minimal guest effort.

Post-checkout should also be part of the journey. Agents can help interpret feedback, detect unresolved dissatisfaction, trigger service recovery, personalize future offers and capture insights that improve the next stay. A truly connected journey learns from every interaction.

The architecture beneath the experience

Ultimately, what the guest experiences as seamless service depends on the operations orchestration underneath. The hotel does not need every system to become one system. It needs the journey to behave like one connected experience.

Agentic AI allows hotels to move faster across systems and workflows. Agents can sit across processes, interpret signals, retrieve knowledge, trigger workflows and guide associates.

That requires trusted data, API-led integration across PMS, CRS, POS, RMS, CRM, loyalty and service platforms, event-driven workflows, real-time operational signals, external signals, identity and consent management, security guardrails and clear rules for when AI acts and when humans stay in control.

In many ways, the frictionless guest journey is only as strong as the invisible architecture beneath it. To know more about this architecture, read our whitepaper: /resource/whitepaper/zero-lag-hotel-enterprise-eliminating-operational-delays-to-boost-revenue-and-guest-experience/


Author:

Anu Joy,
VP and Industry Group Head for Hospitality

The post Architecting the Frictionless Guest Journey Through Agentic AI appeared first on 91.

]]>
Adopt the right migration strategy for a successful Cloud PMS implementation /adopt-the-right-migration-strategy-for-a-successful-cloud-pms-implementation/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 04:46:18 +0000 /?p=37197 Video Blog (vlog) – Adopt the right migration strategy for a successful Cloud PMS implementation  The hospitality industry is bouncing back as vaccine distribution and administration improves. The first […]

The post Adopt the right migration strategy for a successful Cloud PMS implementation appeared first on 91.

]]>
Video Blog (vlog) – Adopt the right migration strategy for a successful Cloud PMS implementation

The hospitality industry is bouncing back as vaccine distribution and administration improves. The first half of 2021 saw a more than 100 percent growth in bookings over last year. Hotels that up their technology game and offer a safe and smooth experience to guests will have an edge over the others as the industry recovers. This means acceleration of their digital transformation journey—which explains why many large hotel chains around the globe are investing in cloud migrations. Moving core systems to cloud has become a top digital priority for the industry. Our experience shows that moving the Property Management System (PMS) to cloud delivers a host of operational benefits that hotels are keen to unlock. For hotel CIOs and CTOs, this is where most of the action is going to be in the immediate future.

Cloud PMS has become pivotal to success in the industry. There are several drivers for the adoption of cloud PMS. It does not require investments in IT infrastructure or in-house expertise to run, maintain or upgrade; and it provides quick ROI by unlocking several innovative capabilities (improved distribution, dynamic pricing, great guest experience, unmatched guest analytics) that make a business more competitive. The Cloud being elastic (you are paying for what you use), gives you flexibility on costs. You pay less when bookings drop (as in the case of the pandemic), and you can scale up as the demand picks up.

While cloud PMS adoption is imperative, the challenge lies in data migration. The level of migration complexity is determined by several factors. These include a change in the PMS product when moving from an on-premises to a cloud PMS, or from custom software to a ready-to-use SaaS platform. Where the PMS product from the same ISV is being migrated to the cloud version, there is still a determination to be made on the migration path and on chain-specific customizations created on the on-premises system.

These factors determine how historical guest data and transactions, guest preferences and reservations will be migrated. Along with this, there is the all-important aspect of deciding how future reservations and blocks are handled along with guest folios and AR balances.

In addition to the several advantages, migrating to cloud PMS offers an unexpected upside. Hotels can use this as an opportunity to standardize their shells across the chain, brand, and specific region/ country. Standardization will make analytics easier and substantially more powerful.

There are two approaches available for PMS data migration:

  1. Move all the historical data – this will offer continuity of guest and revenue information, but the process is time consuming with higher downtime (while hotels need to be operational 24X7). In addition, if the chain standardizes the core shell, migration becomes that much more complex.
  2. Leave the historical data behind – this makes the migration process quicker, more affordable and offers the opportunity to standardize the core shell. The downside is that historical information cannot be accessed on the cloud and will require the business to retain the old on-premises application.

Most businesses must create a fail-safe plan before undertaking the migration. My recommendation would be to not migrate historical data. They should however be prepared to do the following for a painless migration with this approach:

  1. Invest in creating a data lake with historical data so that property users have no problems getting the historical data or reports they need after migration
  2. All guest profiles should be maintained in a Guest Profile Database outside of the PMS so that this data need not be migrated over
  3. Clear approach to re-mapping rate codes, market codes etc., that may have changed owing to core shell standards being implemented
  4. Analyze the impact on shell standardization with other integrating applications

Cloud PMS is the surefire route to creating an efficient, cost-effective, standardized, scalable and accessible system that can rapidly adjust to changing market conditions. It also adds a new capability in terms of refining customer focus by offering next generation customer analytics. This has the potential to deliver dramatic improvement in customer experience. With visible signs of recovery in the industry, cloud PMS implementations will lead the way to transformation.


Author:

Anu Joy
GM & Industry Consulting Head Hospitality,
91

The post Adopt the right migration strategy for a successful Cloud PMS implementation appeared first on 91.

]]>
The ‘key’ to a contactless check in, check out for the hospitality business /the-key-to-a-contactless-check-in-check-out-for-the-hospitality-business/ Tue, 06 Jul 2021 19:08:49 +0000 /?p=36409 The hospitality and travel industries have always set high benchmarks for customer experience. Now, as the hazards of physical contact are being recognized, leading hotels are making a contactless guest […]

The post The ‘key’ to a contactless check in, check out for the hospitality business appeared first on 91.

]]>
The hospitality and travel industries have always set high benchmarks for customer experience. Now, as the hazards of physical contact are being recognized, leading hotels are making a guest experience their #1 priority. A recent industry survey found that 80 percent of hotel guests would download an app to make check in, check out . While hotels will eventually map every touch point between their guests and staff and look for ways to turn them , it helps to begin with the check in, check out process—after all, the first impressions are often the last.

Aside from reduced health risks, making the check in, check out process improves operational efficiency and profitability: There are no lines at the front desk, front desk staff is released so they can attend to other tasks and it puts guests in complete control of their experience. As a secondary benefit, when guests are exposed to such advanced technology, it makes the property stand apart and improves brand salience.

Once a guest makes a booking, the hotel’s Property Management System (PMS) takes over. To enable a process, a Digital Key application sends a mail with a download link—perhaps a day or two before check in — to the guest. The link allows the guest to download an app to their smartphone. This app, literally, is the key to a process. It turns the phone into a replacement for the traditional magnetic key card before the guest arrives.

The solution has details of the guest such as date of arrival, duration of the booking, room number, etc., required to trigger the process.

The guest arrives and goes directly to the room, using a wireless NFC/ Bluetooth/ Narrow band link with the lock to open the door. When the guest leaves the hotel, the lock is disabled for the room but, if required, could continue to allow access to other areas of the hotel.

Simple as this sounds, there are hidden complexities. It is the PMS that holds the details of the guest reservations, room allotment, check-in, and check-out process. The Digital Key solution would need to communicate to a variety of door locks (only Smart Locks) at various properties. Time-to-market would be much longer if ground up development must be carried out and it would also leave a heavy API footprint on the mobile app.

To overcome this, we see hotel chains using off-the-shelf solutions from Digital Key solution providers in the market. These solutions also provide a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) chip that can be inserted into most smart locks without changing the existing smart locks. Once the BLE and the Digital Key server application is integrated with the hotel PMS, it works in the background. It accesses details such as guest reservations, cancellations, and modifications. This data is used to generate keys and update the validity of the ‘key’.

For the hotel, the problem boils down to flawlessly and securely integrating the PMS with such Digital Key solutions. 91 does this for its hotel customers using an API layer. The integration layer is very important to the success of the check in, check out process. But it has other long-term usage that hotels should bear in mind.

The integration layer functions as a service accelerator, keeping the hotel in readiness to exchange PMS data (guest profile, property and service usage, check in, check out) with any application. For example, if the hotel moves from one loyalty system to another, it can quickly plug data into the new loyalty system. The integration layer is a critical long-term investment necessary to propel the digital transformation of the hospitality business.

Hotels have begun the journey to win back customer confidence. processes will become default in the coming months. But hotels need to pause a moment, think strategically, and make certain that the integration layer can easily bind their PMS to any external system in the future—thus making their investment go beyond the immediate need for digital keys.


Author:

Anu Joy
Hospitality Industry Head,
91

Rahuman Khan
Lead Consultant, Application Development & Maintenance
91


 

The post The ‘key’ to a contactless check in, check out for the hospitality business appeared first on 91.

]]>
Exploring revenue generation from a new ancillary category in travel and hospitality /exploring-revenue-generation-from-a-new-ancillary-category-in-travel-and-hospitality/ /exploring-revenue-generation-from-a-new-ancillary-category-in-travel-and-hospitality/#respond Mon, 04 May 2020 07:46:08 +0000 http://www.bizinventive.club/itcnew/?p=25824 Revenue from ancillary services is a well-established strategy in the travel and hospitality business. Ancillary revenue in the aviation industry was forecasted to reach $109.5 billion worldwide in 2019 (up […]

The post Exploring revenue generation from a new ancillary category in travel and hospitality appeared first on 91.

]]>
Revenue from ancillary services is a well-established strategy in the travel and hospitality business. Ancillary revenue in the aviation industry was forecasted to reach $109.5 billion worldwide in 2019 (up from $92.9 billion in 2018).1 Doubtless, this is positive growth. However, it is almost certain that technology is being under-utilized to generate ancillary revenue and the opportunity could be larger than $109.5 billion.

Let’s examine the ancillary revenue of Spirit Airlines, a leading ULCC (Ultra Low Cost Carriers) (see Figure 1). Its ancillary revenue is 47% of total operating revenue. If we classify ancillary revenue into two categories –need-based and experience-based—it is evident that most ancillary revenue for Spirit is from need-based ancillaries such as baggage and assigned seats.

Spirit Airlines

Figure 1: Spirit Airlines2

This leaves a large opportunity in experience-based ancillary offerings, especially for LCC (Low Cost Carriers) and ULCC, where most services are un-bundled. However the trend, even in FSC (Full Service Carrier), is to move towards becoming a LCC. This is evident from the fact that several global FSC are now charging for seat allocations.

With the availability of customer data and the evolution of analytical technologies and models, we believe that experience-based ancillary can add substantially to bottom lines in the travel and hospitality industry.

It is practically impossible for an airline or a hotel to influence demand for need-based ancillaries. However businesses can use a variety of levers to boost demand for experiences (which can also help improve the loyalty base of a business).

Experience-based revenue would come from an in-depth understanding of the customer. There are many initiatives being taken to create a 360 degree view of the customer to boost sales. But the problem is that the 360 degree view alone may no longer be adequate in today’s dynamic digital era.

A 360 degree view is a starting point. True maturity is when we build a 720 degree view of the customer’s genome. In today’s competitive but interconnected world it is necessary to understand the customer from more than one perspective. Figure 2 shows the various sources of customer data that the travel and hospitality industry could access and the data sciences that can extract customer insights that can lead to experience-based ancillary service.

Various available data
Data sciences


When we apply Deep Data Science on the various data available to create a customer genome, we gain visibility into the customer’s Context, Preference, Propensity, Affinity, Behavior and Personality. Using this information, businesses need to draw a matrix of Journey Phase and Activities as shown in Figure 3. The matrix exposes opportunities across three primary areas: Customer Delight, Cross Sell-Up Sell and Service Recovery. Each is a key ingredient of successful experience-based ancillary services.
Figure 2: Illustration of Various available data and the data sciences to be applied

A sample matrix between Journey Phase and Activities

Figure 3: A sample matrix between Journey Phase and Activities

Some illustrative examples help understand how this matrix operates. Assume that a customer is fractionally short of a loyalty category upgrade (for example, from Silver to Gold). It is possible to identify this and use the information when the customer requests an early check-in or a late-check out and offer the service free (see Figure 4 for examples of leveraging customer data to improve experience-based ancillary revenue). Or the hotel could provide meeting lounge access or a weekend tour package to such a business customer at a discount.

There is a sound reason to build experience-based ancillary revenue. In a volatile industry like travel and hospitality, fares and room tariffs are subject to change based on competitive pressure, demand, regulatory directives, etc. Increasing the revenue streams from ancillaries that are not affected by these pressures, results in more stable and predictable revenue.

Experience-based ancillaries are also critical in increasing the loyalty base. Consider the example of a hotel guest (see Figure 4) and how business can use data, analytics platforms and business rules to offer Customer Delight, Cross Sell-Up Sell and Service Recovery.

Using data to grow experience-based ancillary revenue and boost loyalty

Figure 4: Using data to grow experience-based ancillary revenue and boost loyalty

The Customer Experience Management (CEM) platform, which forms the middle layer, analyses the customer needs in context and maps it to historical data in real time and generates/offers the right experience to the guest. In this example the hotel has not only generated ancillary revenue but has also provided experiences that help elevate the customer higher in the loyalty value chain.

Need-based ancillary revenue will, inevitably, begin to plateau as supply of most ancillary services is finite. However, experience-based services can continue to expand and grow, depending on the ingenuity of the business.

The post Exploring revenue generation from a new ancillary category in travel and hospitality appeared first on 91.

]]>
/exploring-revenue-generation-from-a-new-ancillary-category-in-travel-and-hospitality/feed/ 0
Loyalty in the Age of Hyper-Personalization /loyalty-in-the-age-of-hyper-personalization/ Wed, 18 Sep 2019 11:49:56 +0000 /?p=20927 Loyalty in the Age of Hyper-Personalization Price, attention, delivery speed, quality, service – the parameters for brands to compete are many and to say it’s a battle out there to […]

The post Loyalty in the Age of Hyper-Personalization appeared first on 91.

]]>
Loyalty in the Age of Hyper-Personalization

Price, attention, delivery speed, quality, service – the parameters for brands to compete are many and to say it’s a battle out there to gain customer loyalty is an understatement; it’s pure savagery! Customers today openly scrutinize and share unforgiving opinions influencing a huge number of people, thanks to social media channels that have given a voice to the masses. No organization can now afford to ignore customer demands. Understanding them is therefore important and data takes the front seat in this scenario. Let’s look at the various options and approaches before brands to leverage data to their advantage.

Loyalty and Customer Data Platform (CDP)

There are no linear paths to purchases anymore. Customers take the curvy path of research before zeroing in on a purchase and this includes e-commerce websites and apps, physical stores, web forms, search engines, social media and so on. Brands need to keep up with this zigzagging of customers and that’s what customer data platforms facilitate 1. They gather relevant data and present it as a unified view, highly useful in hyper-personalization.

Data Science and Loyalty

While CDPs brings a wealth of data before brands, what to do with it is a question that data science answers. The power of data lies in being able to successfully use it to understand customer behavior at every step of the marketing funnel – from product awareness to activation. Data science brings forth quantifiable metrics that allow marketers to understand at which point a customer becomes disinterested in a product and drops off. It helps bring about personalization at this very point to enable sales conversion. Of course, when personalization is successful, loyalty naturally follows.

Understanding Customers Better through AI-Based Engagement Analysis

While data science brings customers the most effective stages to intervene, artificial intelligence aids in customizing and personalizing that engagement to bring about the desired results. Here’s how they help:

  • Making highly relevant purchase recommendations
  • Offering insights to make digital marketing efforts effective
  • Predicting the likelihood of lead conversion
  • Providing direction to sales agents
  • Optimizing the lifetime value of customers through predictive analytics

Personalization through Machine Learning Models

According to McKinsey Digital, organizations that successfully personalize customer experiences enjoy the optimization of marketing spends by up to 30% 2.Achieving this manually, however, is impossible and automation without intelligence can lead to ineffective personalization. Enter machine learning (ML) and the problem ceases to exist. ML algorithms allow for automatic identification of data (behavioral) patterns and suggest the best course of action without an explicit programming need for each scenario. The right mix of data and ML can help marketers build the perfect model for personalization.

Contextualization of Customer Journey

Customer lifecycle has different stages, and at each stage, the expectation is different. Moreover, the expectation differs with the nature of the business and its standing in the market. In order to be effective, the journey must be contextualized to the buyers’ preferences. It takes a dynamic combination of technologies discussed above and a practitioners’ understanding of the industry to achieve true personalization. Getting it right is only possible when you have a partner who adopts a consultative approach to offer your business a technology-led solution.

The post Loyalty in the Age of Hyper-Personalization appeared first on 91.

]]>
Smart Spaces – Taking Customer Interactions to the Next Level /smart-spaces-taking-customer-interactions-to-the-next-level/ Wed, 07 Aug 2019 15:30:21 +0000 /?p=20765 The world today is flush with touch technology and IoT-enabled devices. The perception is that nothing is off limits when it comes to interactive experiences. Mobiles and laptops that were […]

The post Smart Spaces – Taking Customer Interactions to the Next Level appeared first on 91.

]]>
The world today is flush with touch technology and IoT-enabled devices. The perception is that nothing is off limits when it comes to interactive experiences. Mobiles and laptops that were once considered enablers of experiences are today perceived as barriers for seamless and immersive interactions. Multisensory environments that allow for delightful customer interactions are going to lead in the future. Thanks to the advances in technologies such as IoT, analytics, machine learning and cloud, reaching out to customers today is a completely new ballgame.

The Use Cases

Airports are a case in point. With over half the population living in urban areas today 1, public spaces like airports are obviously going to be crowded. This poses a challenge to offer great experiences to flyers. Enter face recognition technology – the security screening process can be simplified like never before. Put artificial intelligence into play for resource allocation and crowd management would never be an issue.

Now, let’s consider reaching out to customers in unique ways. Imagine a smart offering by an airline that leverages voice and gesture controls; mixed, virtual and augmented reality; and hologram projections to transport a customer into a virtual world where experiences are as realistic as they get. Picture being able to fly in a virtual airplane to some exotic place. The potential customer would be instantly sold to the idea of such an air travel.

First Adopters are Already Here

Steve Jobs once said, “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to sell it.” Amazon, with its IoT- and analytics-enabled smart stores, seems to have adopted this thought well. Amazon Go store’s system can recognize a customer entering the store. It realizes when a product has been taken off or put back in the shelf. It can move those products to a cart and charge the customer’s online wallet for all the purchases. What can be a more seamless customer experience? In essence, forward-looking companies have already begun exploring smart spaces but it’s not too late for the rest to catch up.

The Privacy Challenge

The implementation of safeguards such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union makes it is convenient for individuals to avoid tracking of their information. However, smart spaces powered by technologies such as facial recognition are highly dependent on individual data. The way forward – services that are compelling enough for people to share personal information. Of course, data security precautions must be in place.

At 91, we see immense potential for smart spaces, as more businesses become aware of their transformational capability. Given the pace of the current market evolution, businesses must partner with established technology consultants like us to start building their smart-space strategy before it’s too late.

The post Smart Spaces – Taking Customer Interactions to the Next Level appeared first on 91.

]]>
Etching Success Stories with Next Gen Loyalty Solutions /blog/etching-success-stories-with-next-gen-loyalty-solutions/ Thu, 09 May 2019 07:41:50 +0000 /?p=20386 This might sound farfetched but it’s true: A gifting company opted to return 70% of its profits to its customers in the form of rewards. The result: It went on […]

The post Etching Success Stories with Next Gen Loyalty Solutions appeared first on 91.

]]>
This might sound farfetched but it’s true: A gifting company opted to return 70% of its profits to its customers in the form of rewards. The result: It went on to become one of the fastest growing ecommerce businesses in the region, with a massive base of loyal customers. It’s true that reward points make customers happy. But happy customers need not be loyal. Here’s where a next gen loyalty solution can make a difference by dovetailing both and creating winning experiences. In other words, a win-win situation for both the business and the customer.

Creating an Evolving Customer Engagement Ecosystem

As the customer journey evolves continually, marketers are counting on ways to provide enriched experiences through meaningful engagements. Invariably, most businesses deploy a loyalty program irrespective of its impact on business growth. Many choose to add a new lease of life to their existing programs, while others resolve to reimagine and reinvent their customer engagement strategy.

Cost-conscious businesses might maintain that loyalty programs are losing their relevance in today’s cluttered marketplace. But that’s nowhere close to the truth. The workaround is to upgrade the legacy loyalty platforms, but the effect may not meet expectations. This is ascribed to the fact that these obsolete solutions are usually loaded with a clutch of limitations – clunky architecture, complexity in customization, high level of maintenance, legacy data structures and more. So, the solution lies in total, but gradual, transformation. A next gen loyalty solution addresses most of the issues and paves a path to better customer engagement and understanding.

Next Gen Loyalty Solution – the New Way to Create Winning Experiences

The need for creating consistency of CX, personalized experiences and constant excitement can be addressed by an enterprise-class, cloud-based loyalty solution. This makes it easier to recognize loyal customers, so they go on to become ambassadors of the product they use.

Bundled with features, these solutions usually have options for gamification aside from a slew of CX connectors. Optionally, they offer industry-specific templates, a member portal and mobile app to offer customers a seamless experience on the go and across devices.

A core loyalty decision engine comprises multiple components (essential and optional) for management, measurement and engagement. Featured below are just a few.

Managing with ease – Multiple programs, loyalty currencies, promotions, partner ecosystem, rewards catalog and games.

Measuring & optimizing – Referral incentives, real-time redemptions and pool points.

Engaging & exciting – Custom dashboards, transactional reports, member reports and program effectiveness.

Popular across verticals including retail, hospitality, travel, the loyalty program has now become a business imperative. Technology can help a business cash in on its potential, so the business can maximize its customer lifetime value to the hilt. Though the task of raising the customer experience bar is not as easy as it sounds, the implementation of a smart loyalty program can go a long way in making it real. This can be accomplished by partnering with an experienced technology provider who can ensure end-to-end support – from customer engagement to acquisition and advocacy.

The post Etching Success Stories with Next Gen Loyalty Solutions appeared first on 91.

]]>