News Briefs

Gift cards have been a trusted way to drive customer loyalty, but they often fall short of their full potential. PAR Technology is changing that with the launch of its gift card solution, PAR Gift™, an offering designed to help restaurants and retailers transform gifting into a seamless, personalized experience while unlocking new opportunities for growth.

With this launch, PAR enables businesses to go beyond the basics, creating stronger customer connections and driving measurable results using a fresh approach to gifting by combining ease of use, advanced features, and the flexibility modern businesses need by offering:

• Personalized Engagement: Delivering gift cards is simple and impactful, whether it’s through SMS, email, social media, or physical cards. PAR’s platform makes every interaction feel tailored to the customer.
• Seamless Integration: The platform is built to integrate effortlessly with existing systems, allowing businesses of any size to quickly launch and scale gift card programs.
• Enhanced Features: With options like cashback rewards, auto-reload capabilities, and omnichannel delivery, PAR ensures that gift cards become a central part of a broader customer engagement strategy.

As digital gift cards continue to gain popularity—expected to grow at a 15.8% compound annual growth rate through 2030—PAR’s solution positions businesses to capitalize on this growing demand.

Why It Matters

Research highlights the significant impact gift cards can have: customers spend, on average, 61% more than the value of their card. However, many businesses lack the tools to fully realize this potential. PAR’s stored value solution solves this challenge with a streamlined, scalable platform that is both innovative and practical.

“Our customers are at the center of everything we do,” said Sal Nazir, General Manager of PAR Pay at PAR Technology. “With the launch of PAR Gift, we’re providing businesses with a resource to deepen customer relationships while creating new opportunities for revenue growth. It’s about delivering value—for the customer and the brand alike.”

With PAR Gift, stored value becomes a bridge between businesses and their customers, offering value to both. Whether it’s a thoughtful present for a loved one or an incentive to return, the impact is undeniable: more loyalty, more revenue, and more opportunities.

HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., announced that its HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions business unit will launch HARMAN ConnectIQ, an AI-powered retail frontline workforce productivity solution at NRF Big Show 2025.

The latest U.S. Department of Labor BLS report reveals a staggering 60% average turnover rate for retail employees*. This is coupled with escalating costs of hiring, training and retention. In response, nearly 40% of retail tech executives plan to boost investments in frontline worker experience technology in 2025. #

HARMAN ConnectIQ tackles these challenges by enhancing worker collaboration, delivering personalized training, streamlining onboarding and simplifying task management for store managers and associates. Powered by AI, it integrates multiple retail systems through prebuilt connectors, offering a unified digital experience for frontline workers. This improves productivity by up to 30%, boosting in-store customer experience.

[A spokesperson for the brand confirmed that HARMAN ConnectIQ will also be available to hotels and restaurants.]

HARMAN ConnectIQ uses market-leading technologies such as Microsoft Teams for collaboration, Microsoft Copilot for enhanced productivity and Samsung Knox for secure communication across channels

"HARMAN ConnectIQ is an AI-driven solution transforming retail operations by boosting frontline worker productivity and addressing labor shortages," said Nicholas Parrotta, President - Digital Transformation Solutions and Chief Digital & Information Officer at HARMAN. "By unifying various systems into a single digital experience and incorporating AI, we enhance workforce efficiency and elevate customer experiences. We're excited to showcase how this cutting-edge technology empowers retailers to stay competitive and drive innovation at NRF Big Show 2025."

HARMAN ConnectIQ will be showcased in the Samsung booth #5303 at the NRF Big Show. For more information on HARMAN Digital Transformation Solutions and HARMAN ConnectIQ, visit Retail Digital Transformation Solutions and Contactless Shopping | HARMAN.

Invig Consulting, a company that reimagines the way brands, convenience stores, and restaurants connect and do business, is thrilled to announce its new partnership with PizzaForno, North America's pioneering automated pizzeria renowned for baking high-quality pizza round the clock. Together, this partnership aims to bring PizzaForno’s 24/7 automatic pizza vending machines to all convenience stores across the West Coast of the United States. With over 20 years in business and an established presence across Canada, Invig Consulting and PizzaForno will work together to make pizza vending machines the new standard for convenience stores.

“We couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with PizzaForno,” said Bassem Nowyhed, CEO of Invig Consulting. “We started Invig Consulting to bring innovation to the industry and maximize the ability for store owners to adopt the immersive technologies of the future. PizzaForno allows store owners to introduce a new product to their customers efficiently and reliably without having to pay for the extra training, labor, and materials that would come with running a pizza-making operation within their store. These vending machines are a no-brainer for stores to have an edge over their competitors and introduce a new line of revenue. We’re super excited to bring these incredible machines to store owners across California and the entire west coast.”

Earlier this year, PizzaForno made its presence known in the U.S. by successfully launching in Utah, Delaware, New York, Florida, and Maryland, establishing 39 new units across the nation. As of today, PizzaForno has introduced its vending machines at three locations across California. With this new partnership, PizzaForno seeks to continue to expand and spread its machines across the state, with the ultimate goal of establishing a PizzaForno inside every convenience store.

“Our 24/7 automatic machines embody everything customers seek in a convenience store appliance,” said Travis Musser, Master Licensee for PizzaForno Southern California and Washington State. “With how connected Invig Consulting is to the convenience store industry, we’re confident that our vending machines will become available to more stores and eventually become an essential component for the convenience store experience.”

Lodging Interactive, a digital marketing, social media, and guest review engagement agency exclusively serving the hospitality industry, announced the launch of GuestCONNECT, a flexible, subscription-based suite of services that includes a hotel website, social media marketing, and white-glove guest review response services designed exclusively for hotels and resorts. This all-in-one solution allows properties to build an impactful online presence with minimal upfront investment while ensuring consistent guest engagement across the travel booking journey.

“GuestCONNECT brings together a modern website experience, an engaging social media presence, and hotel reputation management through guest review responses to ensure hotels build lasting relationships with guests and increase direct bookings,” said DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive’s Founder and CEO. “I’m pleased to say that Lodging Interactive is the only hospitality digital marketing agency that can offer such comprehensive services on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ subscription basis.”

Fully Managed, Flexible Solutions, Pay-As-You-Go

GuestCONNECT provides hotels and resorts with professionally managed services designed to amplify online visibility and boost direct bookings. Core services include:

Website Design, Development, Ongoing Support and Marketing :

GuestCONNECT offers elegantly designed websites with cutting-edge technologies. Each is fully hosted and managed, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which highlights the hotel’s unique brand. With all-inclusive monthly pricing, GuestCONNECT delivers affordability and peace of mind.

Engaging Social Media Marketing: 

GuestCONNECT ensures properties maintain an active and engaging online presence by posting to Facebook and Instagram accounts weekly. This provides property ‘top-of-mind’ for both current and potential guests.

Guest Review Response Services:

GuestCONNECT provides professional Online Reputation Management (ORM) services 7 days a week, ensuring brand-compliant and timely responses to online reviews. With monitoring of over 140 review sites, GuestCONNECT offers hotels consistent and brand-aligned replies and in-depth sentiment analysis reporting to reveal valuable guest experience insights.

KPI data points include detailed online reporting, one-on-one account management, and strategy calls for all core services.

“With our ‘pay-as-you-go’ business model, GuestCONNECT is built for scalability and flexibility, allowing hotels to grow their digital presence affordably, consistently and in a professional manner,” added Mr. Vallauri.

GuestCONNECT has affordable pricing options for properties of all sizes and offers flexible agreement terms.

Duetto, the world’s leading revenue management software provider for the hospitality industry, has unveiled its 2025 hospitality trends report, revealing that increased costs, AI, personalization, evolving revenue metrics, and data, are the biggest challenges the industry will face this year, according to a global survey of hoteliers.

The report highlights persistent trends that have grown in influence and new opportunities hoteliers can take advantage of, with a unified opinion that change must be embraced to remain competitive — especially when it comes to technological advancements.

Key Trends Shaping 2025

1. Volatility, Generational Shifts, and Increased Costs

Geopolitical risks, shifting guest expectations, and rising overheads are forcing hoteliers to rethink traditional strategies, with increased costs seen as the biggest challenge this year. Darrell Stark, VP Sales, Revenue & Distribution Strategy, Noble House Hotels & Resorts comments, “Rising labor costs continue to challenge hoteliers. It's not just about the occupancy rate — it’s about the market mix within the hotel.”

Despite instability, investment in revenue technology remains robust, with 54.5% of survey respondents planning to purchase a revenue management system (RMS) in 2025, while 61.1% aim to increase their technology budgets.

2. The Growing Importance of AI

AI is a powerful tool for revenue management, with predictive forecasting, dynamic pricing, and competitive intelligence seen as its most impactful features. Despite importance and adoption growing, hoteliers are still on the fence when it comes to trusting AI recommendations without human input.

“AI is no longer just a tool, it’s the future of modern revenue management,” says Jordan Hollander, Co-Founder, Hotel Tech Report.

3. Personalization and Guest Experience

Personalization is a critical focus, and its importance will continue to grow this year. The digital guest journey remains a cornerstone for success, with AI helping hoteliers craft tailored experiences that enhance guest satisfaction, including transparent, personalized pricing.

Talking to this, Christian Pirodon, Founder, CP Hospitality, adds, “AI-powered platforms can analyze customer data to deliver tailored experiences that boost satisfaction and loyalty.”

4. Evolving Revenue Metrics

Hoteliers are looking beyond traditional KPIs such as revenue per available room (RevPAR). Total revenue per occupied room (TRevPOR) and gross operating profit (GOP) are being more widely adopted, offering a clearer view of overall profitability.

“These metrics ensure there’s collaboration across all commercial departments, and that all teams align with broader profitability objectives,” comments Christian Ortiz, Corporate DORM - Mexico, Sandos Hotels & Resorts.

5. The Power of Data

Data is a core driving force behind revenue strategies, with revenue managers shifting beyond merely collecting data to integrating it into decision-making processes and using it to generate actionable insights, like automated pricing recommendations.

Michael McNames, Director of Revenue Management, Sandman Hotel Group, adds, “Integrating competitive data directly into decision-making processes will revolutionize the speed and efficiency of revenue strategies.”

Empowering Revenue Strategies

These insights are drawn from Duetto’s 2025 hospitality trends report, which analyzes factors impacting the industry this year. It features perspectives from global revenue management professionals and leading hospitality voices, including executives from Hotel Tech Report, Sandos Hotels & Resorts, CP Hospitality, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, the Sandman Hotel Group, and Grand Metropolitan Hotels.

“For the first time, we’ve expanded our scope to include meetings and events businesses and deeper insights from casinos. These sectors face unique challenges and opportunities that differ from hotels, but their perspectives offer fresh approaches that are of value to everyone working in revenue management,” commented David Woolenberg, CEO, Duetto.

From embracing AI to redefining revenue metrics, the report provides a roadmap for turning today’s enduring challenges into tomorrow’s successes. With real-world applications and forward-thinking strategies, it delivers actionable tools to help hotels, casinos, and resorts stay ahead of the competition and thrive in 2025.

Download your free copy

Canary Technologies, a Guest Management System, announced the release of its research report on AI trends in the hospitality industry, titled Navigating AI: Emerging Trends in Hospitality. The report captures hotelier attitudes toward AI and provides a roadmap for building an AI strategy, including insights on budget allocation and top use cases.

Hoteliers are demonstrating strong enthusiasm for AI, with adoption visible across every corner of the industry. Findings show 73% of hoteliers believe AI will have a significant or transformative impact on hospitality, while 61% say AI is already impacting the industry or expect it to within the next year. 

This prevailing perspective that AI will impact the industry sooner than later is leading to meaningful investments. 77% of respondents plan to allocate between 5% and 50% of their IT budgets to AI tools in the coming year.

Beyond industry trends, the report identifies top use cases for AI in hospitality. For hoteliers seeking to introduce AI or those in need of a practical roadmap for implementation, the report is an essential resource packed with data points and actionable insights to help navigate this transformative era in hospitality technology.

“Hospitality professionals and hotel operators now have a guiding resource to help them make key technology decisions around AI,” said SJ Sawhney, President & Co-Founder of Canary Technologies. “This report shows that the hospitality AI revolution is not just coming — it’s already here. With data revealing strong enthusiasm across the industry and practical tips for implementation, we’re excited to provide hoteliers with the insights they need to embrace this transformative technology.”

The report’s findings are based on a survey of over 325 hospitality professionals. Respondents included executives and professionals from IT, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Front Desk, HR and Maintenance, representing hotels and hotel groups of all sizes across North America, APAC, and Europe.

Whether hoteliers are beginning to explore AI or refining their existing strategies, this report provides actionable insights and forward-thinking data to guide their efforts.

Download your free copy here.