The hotel industry is huge, and they are inventory intensive as well. For example, hotels have lots of facilities where customers can spend their time such as restaurants, cafes, showrooms, etc. These all facilities have an abundance of inventory and hotels themselves have rooms that are the biggest inventory for hotels as they help in generating revenue. Therefore, it is important to have an inventory management strategy so that inventory is not wasted. When inventory is utilized on time it will help in increasing return on investment (ROI). In this blog, we will learn important strategies for effective inventory management that will help in increasing the ROI of the hotel industry. So, let us begin! But first, let us cover some basics!
What Is Hotel Inventory Management?
There is no doubt that inventory plays a crucial role in business success, especially in the hotel industry. Inventory management is the strategic approach to ordering, storing, and selling inventory.
Inventory in the hotel industry is raw material inventory and finished good inventory. Keeping track of inventory is an essential part of inventory management.
Another important part of inventory management is to have enough stock in hand so that the client’s requirements are fulfilled.
Recommend To Read: How Inventory Management Helps Manufacturers in Managing Inventory?
What Are the Main Inventory Management Strategies to Grow the Hotel Business?
Main inventory management strategies to grow the hotel business are discussed below:
1. Make Information-Based Choices
When it comes to setting the price of inventory it is very important as the customer will not want to spend too much otherwise the customer might not come again. Similarly, marketing moves & stock distribution choices must be based on information not on instinct.
Therefore, inventory management software is required, and it must be integrated with other software for the best outcome. As you can make strategic and informed decisions based on data that will enable you to make an inventory management strategy for a specific period.
2. Utilize Mobile Technology
Taking business decisions on time is important and if a delay occurs business will have to pay the price. Mobile is helpful in making informed decisions on the go.
For example, if an asset is found that needs maintenance then it is scheduled for maintenance right away. Mobile is crucial to enable organizations to do work efficiently.
3. Avoid Stock Issues
Stock issues generally occur when inventory is not managed in the right way. However, it can be very dangerous for organizations as it directly impacts the bottom line and ROI as well.
Businesses suffer from huge losses if they do not manage inventory in the right way and they could earn a great profit if inventory is managed in the right way. Stock-out issues and over-stocking issues are the most common problems.
Data can be helpful in avoiding overstocking issues as you can find how much inventory you can finish in a particular period. Whereas out-of-stock issues can be resolved by setting a re-order level.
Missed To Read: Why Inventory Management Plays a Crucial Role in the Logistics Industry?
How Can You Increase the ROI of the Hotel Business?
In order to increase return on investment (ROI), hotel businesses need to generate more revenue from the same investment. For that purpose, inventory can be purchased in bulk so that purchasing costs can be decreased.
However, you have to ensure that purchased inventory is sold at a specific time because inventory has a shelf life after that it will be wasted or cannot sell to customers. For this objective, data can be used to know how much inventory can be used in a particular period.
Another thing hotels can do is enhance the performance of assets so that they can do more work in less time. Providing maintenance on time to assets means more production & it will lead to more revenue generation.
Utilizing assets to their full potential and increasing asset visibility can also help in increasing ROI. If employees know asset availability, then work efficiency will increase and employees can do their work in less time.
To achieve this aim, organizations can use inventory management software that shows asset and inventory availability.
How Inventory Management Software Features Can Be Helpful to the Hotel Industry?
Below we have given inventory management software features that can be helpful to the hotel industry:
Read More: How Important Is It for the Pharmaceutical Companies to Keep Track of Their Inventory?
1. Inventory Tracking
Inventory tracking is crucial for all organizations, but it is specifically important for the hotel industry as they are inventory intensive. So, it is significant for keeping track of inventory and you can do it easily with inventory management software.
Inventor tracking also saves inventory from theft and displacement. In huge warehouses lots of time is wasted in inventory finding exact inventory but with this software, you can do it easily.
2. Re-Order Level
One of the most important features of inventory management software is setting re-order. When you set the re-order level for each inventory. You can ensure as inventory availability all the time.
And you do not have to worry about stock issues specifically stock out issue. Whenever the entry goes below the specific level, this software alerts the person responsible for inventory and starts the refilling process.
3. Alerts & Notifications
The alert & notification feature is a very important feature for the hotel industry. This software updates in real-time and send alerts notification in real-time whenever the inventory comes in or inventory leaves the premises of the organization.
It alerts the team and management. This feature updates the team about the real-time inventory all the time.
Conclusion
All these features are helpful in increasing the productivity of the organization and making it more efficient. As a result, the return on investment (ROI) increases.
When you implement these inventory management strategies then it will also help you to optimize ROI as well.
However, it is crucial for you to understand your exact requirement otherwise the expectation will not be met as we know that the requirement of software may vary from organization to organization. There is no doubt that inventory management software will be helpful in growing your hotel business by optimizing inventory.
Also Read: Inventory Management in the Hospitality Industry: Importance and Benefits
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q.1 - What Are the Inventory Management Techniques Used in the Hotel Industry?
Inventory management techniques used in the hotel industry are discussed below:
1. JIT (Just in time).
2. FIFO (First in first out) method.
3. Drop shipping.
4. Re-ordering.
5. ABC Analysis.
Q.2 - What Are Inventory Tracking & Management Methods for the Hotel Industry?
There are several inventory-tracking & management methods that can be useful such as Barcode, QR (Quick Response) Code, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), GPS (Global Position System), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), NFC (Near Field Communication), IoT (Internet of Things). All these methods can be useful in tracking & managing inventory efficiently. Since the hotel is inventory intensive, they can use barcode & QR Code technology as they are cost-effective. However, each hotel has specific requirements, so it is better to figure them out as per your needs.
Q.3 - What Are the Benefits of Inventory Management for the Hotel Industry?
The benefits of inventory management for the hotel industry are given below:
1. Better inventory planning.
2. Inventory forecasting.
3. Improving supply chain work procedure.
4. Avoiding Stock issues.