Improving technology increases minibar revenue

Once thought of as an inventory-tracking headache, improved technology has simplified the minibar industry and turned the small refrigerators into key revenue generators.

Today, electronic sensors and data sharing make tracking sales and restocking the minibar a no-brainer.
“At one time, many hotels removed the minibar from the guestrooms. If you didn’t remove the refrigerator all together, you at least removed the contents,” said Marc Cohen, EVP of sales for Bartech. “Now the minibar has come back because of automated systems.”

Various types of electronic sensors can trigger when an item is removed from the minibar. From there, the guest’s folio can automatically be charged, housekeeping staff can be alerted for refill purposes and sales data can be logged into a database for future reference.

“Minibar Systems ... advises leading hotels on best practices to ensure all costs are minimized while profit is maximized from their minibar operation,” said Walt Strasser, SVP of sales and marketing.

Cohen said Bartech is focusing some efforts on sales outside of the refrigerator, in automated tabletop trays or baskets. One project in Las Vegas features a keyed-entry box that holds two full-sized bottles of liquor—one vodka and one tequila. He said without an automated trigger process, these offerings would not be possible.

“If wine and booze are not controlled by sensors, you don’t know who drank it,” he said. “It could have been the housekeeping staff. You could lose $12 of cost and to recover that profit you have to sell several more bottles.”

Another technological advancement Bartech is working on connects the minibar and the television for promotional purposes. For example, if a T-shirt is wrapped in a box in the minibar, as soon as the guest removes the box, a video appears on the TV showing what the T-shirt looks like so the guest doesn’t have to open the box.

“In America, we are still discussing how to sell higher-end products,” Cohen said. “We know the guest can spend eight to 10 hours in the room, so we are coming up with ideas.”

Peter Kuzyk, national sales manager for Dometic said Dometic’s Hipromatic technology is fully automated and wireless through the ZigBee platform.

“This new method of communicating can allow us to set up multiple snack trays in the guestroom,” he said. “The hotel can have two or more automated snack trays in a drawer next to the TV and another in the washroom for spa products—all this is done without cables or wires.”

jfreed@questex.com