News Briefs

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced the launch of an enhanced guest recognition program and a new, industry-leading mobile app. These initiatives signal a new era of personalized recognition, elevated guest experiences and seamless digital connectivity. Together, they represent a significant leap forward in the use of technology and data to enhance the guest experience across the Group’s global portfolio.

Highlights include:

• A bespoke program featuring invite-only communities with fully localized delivery
• Member recognition and acknowledgement of all member spend during hotel, dining and spa visits
• Priority access to exclusive Mandarin Oriental experiences, events and in-house colleague talent
• A unique Mandarin Oriental App, providing seamless digital access to bookings, travel and itinerary planning, personalized in-stay requests and local concierge support

Fans of M.O. -  A reimagined program for a new generation of guests

Created in consultation with members around the world, the new Fans of M.O. guest recognition program has been re-designed to reflect the needs of today’s luxury traveler. Uniquely structured, without points or publicized tier progression, the program offers members a greater connection to the brand through invitation-only communities that unlock richer privileges, surprise moments of recognition and deeper access to the best of Mandarin Oriental’s legendary in-house service.

Inspired by the materials traditionally used in fan-making across Asia, the new Fans of M.O. invitation-only communities include Fans of M.O. Silk for more regular returning guests and Fans of M.O. Pearl for the brand’s most loyal followers. The entry-level ‘Fan of M.O.’ tier remains in place. Each of these exclusive communities offers members increased access to crafted privileges, personalized milestones, and immersive culinary and wellness experiences delivered by Mandarin Oriental’s renowned colleagues who are true masters of craft.

Members are recognized across all of their activity with the Group, whether during a hotel stay, or brand engagements ranging from dining to spa visits – ensuring every interaction contributes meaningfully to their progression in the program.

Alex Schellenberger, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer at Mandarin Oriental, commented:

“This program is about redefining recognition in the luxury space – not through points and redemptions, but through forging a closer connection with members that allows us to truly personalize what recognition means for them. We listened to our members and we designed a program they can call their own – one that is based on access, prioritization and genuinely exclusive privileges and experiences. The introduction of the new invitation-only communities allows us to bring these members even closer to our masters of craft, legendary wellness practitioners, and other talent across Mandarin Oriental.”

Introducing the Mandarin Oriental App – A digital companion for seamless, personalized travel

Complementing the new Fans of M.O. program is the launch of the M.O. App, setting a new benchmark in digital luxury. Available in 17 languages for iOS and Android, the app includes a wide range of features designed to support the full guest journey – from travel and cultural inspiration, to booking rooms, spas and restaurants, to itinerary building, in-stay experience management and post-departure connection.

Kristin Ruble, Chief Commercial Officer at Mandarin Oriental commented: “The Mandarin Oriental App redefines digital luxury, providing a  personalized travel companion that places the entire world of Mandarin Oriental in the palm of your hand. Fully integrated with the revamped Fans of M.O. program, the App has been designed to seamlessly deliver digital self-service and inspiration while facilitating a more personal and more tailored in-person experience with any visit.”

The App is available for all guests to explore Mandarin Oriental, with the full suite of Digital Companion features reserved for logged-in members of Fans of M.O.

Key App features for Fans of M.O. members include:

• Streamlined hotel bookings
• Real-time itinerary build with local insights and recommendations from our experienced concierge teams
• In-App chat connecting guests with the global Mandarin Oriental portfolio facilitating instant service support
• Spa, dining and experience reservations with inclusion in members personal digital itineraries
• Fans of M.O. member privileges, preferences and personal profile access
• The ability to digitally access and order services while in-house including in-room dining, service requests and streamlined digital check-in.

Behind the scenes, a new colleague app, powered by the same platform housing the guest app, equips guest-facing colleagues with a complete, real-time view of guest profiles and preferences, enhancing service delivery and customizing experiences across service touchpoints from in-room offerings to dining and spa.

These launches are part of a comprehensive guest experience uplift that has been more than two years in development, in close consultation with guests from around the world. Custom built technology and a new data platform has allowed the Group to consolidate guest data and individual transactions that were previously isolated in siloed systems.  By providing a complete view of each guest, spanning hotel stays, dining, spa and other interactions, Mandarin Oriental is empowered to deliver even greater seamless, consistent and personalized service.

Stagg Restaurants, LLC a San Antonio, Texas-based McDonald’s franchisee,  is now offering employees DailyPay.

Through this partnership, S employees can access their earned pay as they earn it. With DailyPay, employees can save, spend, and invest on their own agenda, no longer needing to wait for a scheduled payday.

Stagg Restaurants is among the largest McDonald’s franchisees in Texas, operating 36 McDonald’s restaurants. Experiencing growth, Stagg Restaurants turned to DailyPay to appeal to the innovative workforce needs of QSR employees.

As employee expectations evolve with the times, research shows QSR employees recognize the positive impact of having access to their pay before the traditional bi-weekly paycheck. 

Research conducted by YouGov, commissioned by DailyPay, indicates that over half (56%) of QSR employees say getting paid more frequently at work than they currently do would be “very” or “extremely” beneficial to them. 

In addition, with the ability to strengthen the employee-employer relationship, the research also found that nearly half (49%) of QSR employees surveyed said early access to earned pay would enhance their view of their employer.

“Today’s workforce is looking for employers to support them both inside and outside of the workplace”, says George McClure, Business Director for Stagg Restaurants, LLC. “Partnering with DailyPay was one of many ways we looked to achieve that and indicate our support for our employee's personal and professional wellbeing.”

In addition to offering DailyPay’s On-Demand Pay solution, Stagg Restaurants, LLC has a robust total rewards package. The team offers generous paid time off, traditional medical insurance, a unique bonus structure, free meals, and uniforms, along with access to educational opportunities for high school/higher education, among others.

This partnership comes ahead of Stagg Restaurants, LLC remodeling of its existing locations, and building new restaurants prompting a rehiring and new hiring. 

Flybuy, an AI-powered location engine,  launches its Marketing Suite that is designed to help companies drive incremental revenue by engaging guests at distinct points during the customer journey. 

Traditional marketing methods often fall short in today’s fast-paced, digital-first world. Constant and irrelevant push notifications, emails, and ads can feel intrusive and overwhelming, leading to consumer frustration and disengagement.  According to an Airship report, 60% of consumers opt out of mobile push notifications due to receiving too many irrelevant messages. This results in missed opportunities and lower conversion rates for businesses.

With Flybuy’s Marketing Suite,  messaging is delivered at the right time, in the right place, and with the right message. By leveraging Flybuy’s powerful location-based technology, businesses can connect with customers precisely when they are most likely to engage – all based on their location and stage in their journey.

Flybuy has long been a trusted partner for businesses, optimizing operations by tracking customers throughout their pickup journey to ensure their orders are ready upon arrival. Now, with the launch of the Marketing Suite, Flybuy leverages location and behavioral insights from the customer’s pickup journey to amplify their existing marketing efforts, making them more personalized, timely, and contextually relevant. Using AI-powered insights, Flybuy knows exactly when to push relevant offers to customers, based on their location and stage in the purchase journey, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion. Flybuy has been shown to increase promotional offer take rates by 30% or more and loyalty usage by over 20%, simply by making the messaging to guests more relevant, timely and contextually aware.

Key Benefits of Flybuy’s Marketing Suite:

• Drive Foot Traffic: Reach customers when they are nearby and encourage them to visit your store.
• Increase Basket Size: Prompt impulse purchases and upsells by presenting timely, personalized offers.
• Boost App Downloads: Encourage customers to download your app for a more personalized experience.
• Enhance In-Store Offers: Present special promotions or loyalty rewards when customers enter or are near your location.
• Loyalty Programs: Remind customers to redeem or earn loyalty rewards based on their actions and location. 

For businesses with retail media networks, Flybuy provides real-time, context-aware promotional messaging, ensuring that marketing messages are not only timely but also relevant to the customer’s needs. Flybuy’s Marketing Suite is designed to help businesses achieve higher conversion rates, better customer experiences, and increased revenue by ensuring every message delivered is timely, personalized, and impactful. Now, businesses can capitalize on Flybuy’s existing operational insights to supercharge their marketing efforts and truly connect with their customers.

Wonder, the delivery-centric restaurant platform launched by former Walmart ecommerce chief Marc Lore, has raised an additional $600 million in funding, according to HT's sister publication Chain Store Age.

The company operates as a virtual food hall, integrating a wide array of first-party and third-party restaurants into a single app experience. Wonder currently has 45 physical locations for both walk-in orders and deliveries across New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. It plans to double that number to 90 by year’s end, opening new stores at a pace of roughly one per week.

The company continued to invest in proprietary technology to drive operational efficiencies, including back-end technology focused on driving down food waste; next-gen kitchen designs to improve throughput and consistency, and an enhanced delivery network, reports Chain Store Age. 

Wonder has made strategic acquistions since its founding in 2021. In November, Wonder acquired Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway for $650 million. The company also owns meal kit provider Blue Apron and food media platform Tastemade.

Digitalization has delivered Best Western Plus Palatin Hotel Wiesloch greater operational efficiency and seamless coordination between numerous hotel, event and cultural departments, following the implementation of SIHOT’s customized hotel and event management system.

The convention center, theatre and cultural center with hotel and high-class restaurant hosting over 100,000 customers annually required a solution to underpin complex management for facilitating a wide-range of diverse events. Working in partnership with SIHOT, a hotel management systems, Palatin Hotel implemented the customized solution to minimize the workload for departments and create transparent and less redundant work processes.

With a need for a robust and agile platform for a range of complex events and conferences, SIHOT suite of products is uniquely placed with its fully integrated and comprehensive hotel and event management platform to underpin the entire operations at Palatin Hotel. Through SIHOT.C&B, staff experience is significantly enhanced with a series of customized templates supporting the journey from offer to invoicing, automatically processing all information and centrally available to all departments.

Boosting operational efficiency and directly adding to guest satisfaction, the tailored and integrated solution significantly enhances the customer journey for the 134-room hotel. This includes digital check-in and self-service options, accelerating F&B service speed with mobile ordering and automatic billing integration, while improving overall internal coordination for smoother operations.

“SIHOT is like a Swiss Army knife. There are endless possibilities for using all its functions,” said Matthias Eckstein, Hotel Director, Best Western Plus Palatin Hotel. “SIHOT offers much greater customization options. Since our individual departments have very high standards, we had previously been unable to find a suitable PMS partner — until we discovered SIHOT. For the first time, we felt that everyone could tailor the system exactly to their needs.”

Palatin Hotel uses a combination of SIHOT products including its property management system (SIHOT.PMS), point of sale system (SIHOT.POS), meetings and events management platform (SIHOT.C&B), guest self-service check-in terminal (SIHOT.KIOSK), and the guest-friendly check-in app (SIHOT.GO!).

Nicole Kowalski, Reception Manager, Palatin Hotel said: “With SIHOT.KIOSK our guests can check in easily and independently directly at the terminal, which enables everything from registration to room card coding. Payment is also possible at the terminal or with the guest mobile app. This has allowed us to significantly increase our service level and improve our processes.”

Carsten Wernet, Chief Executive of SIHOT said, “Palatin Hotel’s decision to choose SIHOT as the new PMS was driven by one key factor: customization. Given its numerous departments and specialized requirements, the hotel needed a solution that could adapt flexibly to its operations. With SIHOT, we offer precisely that — nearly every product can be customized to fit each department’s specific needs. Additionally, our system enables seamless integration between different areas such as the hotel, restaurant, parking garage and event management, providing greater efficiency and capturing revenue at every touch point.”

Much more than just a place to stay, managing a public carpark with 416 spaces, the Palatin is also a central hub for the region. Read the full case study to find out how SIHOT developed a solution for full digitalization of the hotel’s needs.