Hotel POS system: Scaling your hotel operations

What is POS in the hotel industry?

In the hotel industry, POS is short for ‘point of sale’, which refers to a hotel system that processes payments and tracks sales.

POS systems are primarily used by hoteliers to handle transactions and manage finances, but by choosing the best, you can also streamline operations, control inventory and enhance guest experiences.

This blog will tell you all you need to know about hotel POS software, including how the right system can help you optimise operations and scale your business.

Why having a hotel POS system is important

A hotel POS system is an essential tool for a modern hotel.

It centralises transactions across all aspects of your hotel business, from the front desk to any restaurants, bars, spas and other services you might offer. It ensures seamless billing and accurate reporting, improving internal efficiency through more streamlined operations.

Modern POS systems support multiple payment methods, allowing guests to pay how they want to pay, including from digital wallets. They offer data analysis and reporting tools, giving you insight into sales trends, room rates and popular service offerings.

POS systems are designed to improve efficiency by helping you track stock levels and reduce waste. They automate a wealth of admin by integrating seamlessly with your other software. And they ultimately improve the guest experience, both directly, through smooth payment systems and indirectly, by freeing your team from admin and letting them focus on customers.

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How does a hotel POS system work with other software?

Your POS system will need to interact with a variety of tools in your hotel tech stack. Here’s how such a system works with each of these solutions.

• • Hotel PMS: The POS sends transaction data, and the PMS (and channel manager) sends booking data.
  • Hotel CRM: The POS sends data on guest purchases and feedback, and the CRM sends member discounts and personalised deals.
  • Inventory management system: The POS sends details on stock sold, and the inventory management system sends info on stock levels.

• • Payment platforms: The POS sends transaction data like credit card/cardholder info, and the payment platform sends back the result of a transaction.

• • Accounting software: The POS system sends sales and employee data to be logged in the accounting software.

Features in a hotel POS system to scale up your hotel business

As we’ve already seen, a modern hotel POS system can do far more than just process transactions: it can streamline operations, generate valuable insights and help to enhance guest experiences.

But that’s only true when you choose a capable POS system for your hotel – one with the following key features:

Inventory management

A hotel POS system with inventory management helps you to track stock levels in real-time, ensuring your restaurants, bars, spas and service desks never run out of essential items.

Centralising control of stock means your hotel can streamline procurement and supplier management, even across multiple sites. You may also be able to set automated stock level alerts to prevent shortages and overstocking.

Guest data management

By generating and sharing data on guest preferences and purchase history, a POS system can help you offer a more personalised level of service, which can increase guest satisfaction and drive loyalty.

You can use POS data to be more targeted with your marketing, tailoring promotions to specific groups or even individuals. You can also use this data to customise the service you offer each guest while they stay, like tweaking the recommendations you offer through a digital concierge.

Payment processing

The best POS systems support multiple payment methods to make transactions fast, smooth and convenient. Look for tools with automated billing and room charge capabilities, to make checkout quick and hassle-free.

Data protection

Secure payment gateways and data storage are critical features in any POS system, serving to minimise risk and enhance guest confidence.

A secure POS system will comply with all relevant data protection regulations, safeguarding payment details and confidential guest information. Encryption, role-based access and regular system updates also help to protect against fraud and cyber threats.

Robust reporting

Advanced reporting tools provide real-time insights into sales trends and operational performance. They give you the insights you need to make data-driven decisions. 

Look for a POS solution with customisable dashboards that allow you to track key metrics like best-selling services, popular payment methods and peak sales periods.

Seamless integration

Choose a POS system that can connect with and talk to the key tools in your hotel tech stack: your PMS, accounting software, direct booking engine and more.

Integration breeds automation, allowing the tools to synchronise transactions, inventory, availability and more, without you or your team needing to lift a finger. Minimising manual data entry means fewer human errors too.

“SiteMinder has also improved their solutions by providing business analytic tools. It works effectively and efficiently, and when market demand fluctuates we are able to change our pricing strategy in a timely manner, to optimise the business opportunity.”

Annie Hong,

Revenue and Reservations Manager

The RuMa Hotel and Residences

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Best hotel POS system

What do the best hotel and restaurant POS systems look like? Let’s break down five of the finest on the market.

1. SiteMinder Pay: best overall

SiteMinder Pay represents the future of hotel POS systems. A hotel-specific and entirely digital solution, it removes the need for hardware-like payment terminals. The guests can pay online, how they want and when they want, backed by security that represents the industry standard. SiteMinder Pay is designed to streamline your payment processes, give you control over your cash flow, and enable fast and accurate reconciliation.

2. Square: best for price

With a free software tier and low-cost, long-term payment options for hardware, Square is one of the most accessible and affordable POS solutions on the market. While this popular, general purpose POS system isn’t built specifically for hotels, it does offer all the functionality that an accommodation provider needs. 

3. Clover: best hardware

If hardware is important to you, Clover offers some of the very best. Its handheld POS terminals are simple and intuitive, so staff will require minimal training. It’s also one of the few solutions that lets you accept payments through a customer display.

4. Lightspeed: best for help & support

If you want all the help you can get with your new solution, look no further than Lightspeed. As one of the few POS systems that comes with a built-in training mode, your staff can get perfectly comfortable with this system before they use it to serve their first guest. It should be noted, however, that the best solutions should be so intuitive that you don’t need much support at all.

5. Toast: best for usability

Toast is a POS solution that prides itself on being perfectly intuitive and easy to use. Combining capable hardware with smooth software, the barrier to entry is particularly low for this solution, even for your most tech-phobic team members. You’ll also enjoy simple but surprisingly rare features like the ability to change screen colours and text size.

But if you’re looking for best-in-class functionality that also future proofs your hotel, there’s no POS quite like SiteMinder Pay.