Smartphone Users and the Hospitality Industry
A recent study by the online publication, eMarketer highlighted a study that shows by 2016, there would be over 2 billion smartphone users in the world. To put that in perspective, the population for the human race, on earth, is roughly, 7.356 billion.So essentially, about one in three people can be expected to have a smartphone by 2016… In an age of statistics getting thrown in our face daily, perhaps another angle of approach will bring a renewed sense of gravity to this statement: By 2016, one third of the world’s population will have a smartphone, and will therefore more connected than ever before.
We all know what the capabilities of a smartphone and the internet of things (IOT), so I won’t run down that rabbit hole today. However, the ever-increasing need to develop an integrated mobile strategy for your business, its logistics, and communication is one that deserves to be addressed directly.
Shifting Industry Methods
Larger hotel chains have been experimenting with the concept of digital integration with the IOT for several years now, but with recent developments in technology, specifically with smartphone technology, guests are now experiencing some very new improvements to the hospitality industry.Some hotels even boast self service check-in kiosks that allow you to check-in with your smartphone, much as you would with a digital airline ticket. Other’s will soon even provide a service where you will be able to pick a specific room, book that room, and then open the room for the duration of your stay, all with your smartphone (looking at you Hilton).
Change of Necessity, Not Luxury
Of all the industries that have been disrupted in the past 20 years, the travel and hospitality industries are probably one of the few who know disruption best. Just look at what happened to all of the independent travel agencies when companies like expedia.com entered the game.That being said, the hospitality industry knows exactly what its doing with its recent push to integrate technology with their business practices – to attract Millennials. Here’s why: over 85% of Millennials have a smartphone, and what’s more, is that they aren’t shy about making purchases or sharing their opinions on it, whether they be positive or negative.
Additionally, Millennials now have a higher population percentage than baby boomers do. So not only do they make up the largest portion of the world’s population, but they also communicate more with each other more than any generation did previously.
Conclusion
Developing a mobile strategy is an absolute imperative for businesses in the hospitality industry, because it is now one of the most effective and consistent ways to reach guests, especially Millennials.Furthermore, developing the hospitality industry for the smartphone using guests first will improve overall guest experience and help the industry improve itself in the process. This can be done several ways, but here are the common speculations: guests will be able to autonomously access your hotel’s services at their leisure, which will give them a greater sense of comfort and trust; and because of the increased ability to gather information about what guests like and don’t like, you will be able to make more informed decisions about how and where to improve our own infrastructure and processes.
These, however, are just the trends that we as a 3PL company have noticed. If we are missing anything, please don’t hesitate to comment about it on our twitter page with the hashtag #futurelogistics.
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