As consumer trends shift towards providing as much convenience for customers as possible, many hotel brands are embracing the pantry as a way to provide guests with food, beverages, and other items they may need during their stay. If you’re considering having a pantry installed, here are five key questions to ask before you do.
1. Who will install the cabinetry and shelves?
One of the benefits of installing a hotel pantry is providing a display that’s appealing to guests. Dark mahogany shelving and sleek countertops help create a mood for your lobby area. When considering a pantry, you’ll need to decide who will install these displays. There are companies who focus on this type of cabinetry, such as Enterprise Displays. Sometimes local vending companies have their own system for installing markets, so if you’re already using vending services you can ask that supplier. Just be sure to choose a display that fits with your overall interior design goals.
2. How will you get supplies?
There are different ways to get wholesale products for a pantry. Some managers will buy the items themselves from local stores like Costco or Sam’s Club. While most products can be purchased from those stores, it’s not the most efficient way to get the items you need. There are providers of wholesale goods that will deliver to your location, but the downside is that they’re not local, so it can take several days or more before the product is delivered. A service like Supply Wizards uses a network of preferred full-line operators who can deliver items in 1-2 days, in addition to providing a software platform for ordering and managing inventory.
3. What kind of supplies should you offer guests?
Another main benefit of a pantry is that it allows your hotel to offer more products. With vending machines, you’re limited to certain items because of the design of the equipment. But with a pantry, you fit items large and small on a shelf. Now that you have more room, what do you sell? We suggest choosing products in these core categories:
- Beverages
- Snacks
- Meals
- Frozen snacks
- Sundries
Take a quick survey of what items were most popular in your vending machines and expand from there, adding products like ice cream, mac-n-cheese, and soups. For sundry products, think about what someone might need while staying at your hotel: a toothbrush, OTC medicines, razor blades, and phone chargers. These are all items they could’ve left at home by mistake.
4. Who will manage the pantry?
As a hotel manager, you’ll most likely be ultimately responsible for the overall pantry operation. But unless you’re there 24/7, you’ll need to designate other staff members to help manage the pantry. That includes purchasing products, checking inventory, and checking out guests. Like many other aspects of managing a hotel, the pantry will be a team effort. How well each member does their part will affect the success of the pantry.
5. What will your budget be?
Establishing a budget is a big concern for many managers. How much should you spend on shelving and cabinets? On snacks? Beverages? Sundries? It can be overwhelming to prepare for installing a pantry. For products, you can let the sales dictate how much you spend. See how they go for the first month. Once you have an idea of what sells (or doesn’t), adjust your purchasing accordingly. Keep in mind that empty shelves are unsightly to guests, so be sure to always keep them full with product.
With the hardware, it’s important to keep quality in mind. The last thing you want are shelves or cabinets that fall apart after a short time. While it might seem expensive at first, a properly managed hotel pantry can yield excellent returns, with earnings of $2k per month or more for some hotels! Eventually, the sales from your pantry will help pay for itself…and some.