Customer loyalty is the backbone of any successful hospitality business, but with countless options available, retaining guests can be challenging. It’s no longer just about offering excellent service—it’s about how you engage with customers at every touchpoint.
Quick Response (QR) Codes are transforming the industry by improving guest experiences in hotels and other establishments. They simplify check-in processes, provide instant access to loyalty perks and discounts, and create a smoother, more enjoyable journey that encourages repeat bookings.
In this article, we’ll show you how these pixelated hospitality technology solutions can unlock rewards and turn first-time guests into loyal patrons.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
Why loyalty perks matter in the hospitality industry
The hospitality industry is saturated with competition, and the rise of alternative solutions like Airbnb has made it even harder to capture and keep customer attention.
One of the most effective ways to secure repeat business is by offering loyalty perks. While they may involve some upfront costs, loyalty programs significantly elevate the guest experience, making patrons feel valued and increasing the likelihood of future visits and referrals.
Benefits like complimentary spa treatments or priority check-ins can make a big difference, ultimately offsetting the upfront costs and boosting your return on investment (ROI). Loyalty perks also drive long-term business growth and reduce customer acquisition costs, ultimately leading to higher profits.
Examples of how loyalty perks impact customer decisions
Curious how loyalty perks affect guest retention?
Picture this: You have two hotels (A and B). Hotel A offers repeat guests VIP bonuses like late check-outs or exclusive access to hotel amenities, while Hotel B offers nothing. Which hotel would you choose? Most would go for Hotel A because loyalty perks show appreciation, offer exclusivity, and provide something extra for repeat guests—making them more likely to return.
Consider another scenario: One hotel sends personalized thank-you messages to loyal guests, while another offers tailored specials like discounts on car rentals for frequent business travelers. When offered both choices, many guests would choose the second option for the added value.
Not all loyalty perks have the same impact. To encourage repeat bookings, offer meaningful, personalized rewards that meet the needs of loyal customers. For example, if your hotel is located near historical landmarks, consider offering curated tours or partnering with local establishments for discounts on visits.
The role of technology in modern loyalty programs
Implementing loyalty programs used to be a complex and time-consuming task. But with modern technology, businesses can now streamline the process.
From physical cards to digital solutions
Loyalty programs once relied on physical cards, requiring guests to carry and present them when checking in or making purchases. While effective at the time, this system doesn’t meet today’s demand for convenience—which 70% of customers say they’re willing to pay more for.
Modern technology like mobile apps and cloud-based systems let customers earn and redeem points directly from their smartphones—eliminating the hassle of forgetting or losing physical cards.
Major hotels like Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy have already transitioned to digital solutions that allow customers to collect points and manage their rewards from their phones.
QR Codes connect offline and online experiences
QR Codes bridge offline interactions with online loyalty perks, allowing guests to access rewards instantly by scanning from physical or digital touchpoints. This tech not only enriches interactions but also supports your broader marketing strategies, helping you drive engagement and patronage.
Here’s how QR Codes improve loyalty programs:
- Convenient enrollment: Instead of manually filling out forms, guests can scan QR Codes at reception desks or on promotional materials like flyers. This links them directly to the sign-up page via a URL, making enrollment quick and painless.
- Loyalty management: QR Codes on hotel key cards can link directly to your internal customer account dashboards (via URL), making it easy for them to track their points.
- Reward redemption: Guests can scan QR Codes at hotel facilities like restaurants, which direct them to a webpage where they can redeem their points instantly.
Using QR codes to simplify joining and utilizing your loyalty program encourages more guests to participate and improves the overall hospitality experience.
The importance of guest experience in hospitality
The customer experience is central to the hospitality industry, directly influencing reviews, retention, and revenue. It’s a key driver of your success. QR Codes offer a simple, contactless way to enhance the customer journey, bringing convenience, personalization, and a touch of modern magic to their stay.
By linking to loyalty perks, they give guests quick access to exclusive benefits. For instance, a QR Code linking to a landing page with your restaurant’s digital menu allows guests to effortlessly choose their complimentary meals, creating a smoother and more enjoyable visit.
Personalization through analytics
A recent survey by Twilio Segment found that 56% of customers are more likely to become repeat buyers when offered personalized experiences. Tailored interactions are one of the most powerful tools to boost customer retention rates.
QR Code technology can help facilitate this personalization by providing valuable analytics, such as total scans, scans by location, and scans by device, enabling you to better understand customer preferences.
Let’s say you test out multiple rewards program offers using QR Codes, giving guests a choice between a complimentary dinner or spa access after staying with you for three nights. Total scan data can show which option is most popular with repeat guests, helping you fine-tune future incentives.
Challenges in hospitality and how loyalty perks address them
The hospitality industry has made significant strides since the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people feeling confident about traveling and booking stays. However, things are far from rosy.
Hoteliers, restaurant managers, and marketers are navigating some new and evolving hospitality industry challenges. Rising prices and stiffer competition are forcing them to streamline operations, but they also have to deliver more personalized experiences that make every guest feel valued and at home.
The good news is that loyalty perks can help tackle these challenges head-on. Here’s how:
Retaining repeat guests
Guest retention is crucial to success in hospitality. However, with so many options out there, encouraging customer loyalty can be tough. Loyalty perks help by incentivizing guests to return. They reward consistency and make guests feel appreciated, which, in turn, supports repeat bookings.
To maximize repeat stays, personalize your perks to suit guests’ unique needs. You can also implement tier-based rewards, where the benefits grow with each visit. In other words, you might offer a complimentary spa session after three stays and a free night after six. The opportunity for premium extras or upgrades can motivate guests to choose your business again and again.
Standing out in a competitive market
In a saturated market, standing out is difficult. To do so, you need to offer more than just exceptional hospitality services.
Loyalty perks help differentiate your brand by providing exclusive experiences that create lasting memories for guests. But you have to meet customers where they are and design loyalty programs around their needs and preferences.
QR Code-based rewards offer seamless, tech-savvy benefits that attract today’s modern guests and keep your brand top of mind.
Meeting diverse guest expectations
The hospitality industry attracts a wide range of individuals, from vacationers to business professionals. As a brand owner, meeting their unique expectations is essential to securing repeat business.
Flexible loyalty perks can help you do just that. Tailor bonuses to different demographics within your target audience to accommodate their varying interests. If you attract both vacation-goers and business travelers, offer options like discounted room service, complimentary access to your meeting rooms, or personalized tours.
For a seamless experience, include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) on or near your QR Codes, so guests know exactly what to expect when they scan.
The beauty of QR Codes is that they provide valuable insights to help you further personalize your loyalty program. By reviewing scan data for different rewards, you can identify which ones resonate most with your guests and refine your offerings to improve customer satisfaction.
Streamlining business operations
Retaining customers and enhancing guest relationships can be resource-intensive, but loyalty perks and modern technology solutions can make these tasks more manageable.
Take enhancing guest relationships through personalization, for example. Instead of relying on staff to manually collect customer feedback, run a QR Code-based loyalty program and use scan data to identify the most popular incentives.
Similarly, rather than asking guests and staff to redeem loyalty points manually, link QR Codes to reward redemption landing pages via URL. This allows guests to claim their perks themselves, reducing staff workload and improving operational efficiency.
6 Steps to unlock loyalty rewards in hospitality with QR Codes
Ready to implement your loyalty program using QR Codes for hospitality? Here’s a step-by-step guide to set you up for success:
Step 1: Define your loyalty program goals
Start by setting clear, measurable goals that will guide your QR Code implementation. You could set a goal like “Increase repeat stays by 10% over the next year.” This ensures you can track progress and gauge performance.
Step 2: Choose the right rewards
Select perks that align with your goals. If you want to increase repeat bookings, offer upgrades to premium hotel rooms after a predetermined number of stays. If you’re aiming to boost customer engagement, tie your rewards to interactions with your brand—guests can unlock bonuses after completing a feedback form.
To make sure your benefits stand out from competitors, choose rewards that deliver real value, such as:
- Free stays
- Room upgrades
- Dining discounts
- Late check-outs / early check-ins
- Complimentary meals
- Exclusive access to VIP amenities
Step 3: Integrate QR Codes into your loyalty system
Next, integrate QR Codes into your program. Start by choosing a reliable QR Code generator that offers Dynamic QR Codes, customization, and tracking capabilities—this lets you align your codes with your brand identity and monitor customer engagements.
Place QR Codes strategically on customer-facing materials like key cards, in-room brochures, or check-in counters. For example, add QR Codes to welcome packets that link guests to your internal rewards dashboard, where they can view their points balance after checking in.
Step 4: Create a seamless digital experience
Guests will only engage with your QR Codes if their digital interactions are smooth. So be sure to link your codes to mobile-friendly pages where they can easily view and redeem their perks.
Ensure linked content loads quickly—an ideal page load speed is two seconds or less—and adjusts to different screen sizes for optimal user experiences. Keep navigation in mind and design menus and buttons to be highly responsive and touchscreen-friendly.
Step 5: Leverage data to personalize perks
QR Codes provide more than quick access to digital resources—they offer valuable insights into customer engagement. Regularly review QR Code analytics, such as total scans, scans by location, scans by device, and more. With Bitly Analytics, you can track these metrics in real time and gain detailed insights into how guests are interacting with your program.
Use customer data to personalize your rewards. If most guests scan QR Codes to redeem free room stays, focus on offering more of these incentives to drive repeat business. Bitly can help you identify trends and optimize your loyalty offerings based on guest activity.
Step 6: Promote your program effectively
Even the best loyalty programs need promotion, so make sure customers know about your offerings and how to enroll.
Promote your program across multiple channels—email, social media, and in-person interactions. Include QR Codes that link directly to your sign-up page in all marketing materials for seamless registration and guest convenience.
Best practices for using QR Codes in hospitality loyalty programs
As with any solution, the success of QR Codes in hospitality loyalty programs depends on how you implement them. Here are some best practices to promote optimal engagement:
Make QR Codes easy to access
Choose your QR Code placements carefully to ensure easy scannability and maximize engagement. Position them in high-traffic areas like lobbies, check-in desks, and room entrances, as well as key guest touchpoints, such as digital receipts, email confirmations, and welcome packets.
Ensure they are visible and large enough to be scanned easily, even in low-light settings. The minimum size for QR Codes is 2 cm by 2 cm, but the ideal size depends on the size of the material they’re displayed and how far away users will scan from.
Use clear CTAs
Include a call-to-action with every QR Code to guide guests on what to do and what to expect after scanning. Your CTAs should be concise, encourage action, and showcase your value proposition. Some great examples include:
- “Scan to unlock exclusive perks!”
- “Discover your rewards now—scan here!”
- “Scan to redeem your loyalty points!”
Ensure mobile compatibility
Most of your guests will scan your codes using smartphones, so link them to fast-loading, mobile-friendly landing pages. If you’re unsure how to optimize for smartphones and tablets, use Bitly Pages templates, which are pre-optimized for mobile.
Ensure your landing pages have clear navigation options, such as a “Redeem Now” button or links to other rewards, to create a seamless visitor experience. Before launching, test your codes and pages across multiple devices and browsers to confirm proper functionality.
Update rewards dynamically
Use Dynamic QR Codes, like Bitly Codes, for your loyalty program. With Dynamic Codes, you can update linked URLs or content without reprinting materials, saving money each time you want to direct guests to new offers.
Keep the program fresh by regularly rotating the special offers linked to the QR Codes. For example, one week, link them to a page outlining your dining discounts, and the next week, link them to your spa packages.
Highlight safety and trust
Ensure your codes link to secure URLs to build trust with your guests. Use a tool that prioritizes security, like Bitly’s QR Code generator, which includes a Threat Detection Service (TDS) to scan for potential risks and a Trust and Safety Team that manages malicious activity reports. Trust and safety at Bitly are top priorities, as they ensure your codes are safe and reliable for all users.
Another way to reinforce trust is by using a custom domain for your URLs—this is also possible with Bitly. When you use branded elements like your domain name, linked URLs look more professional and trustworthy.
Additionally, add a brief description near QR Codes to reassure guests that the code is safe and reliable. A simple message like “Powered by [Your Hotel Name] for your convenience” can establish brand credibility.
Monitor performance and refine strategies
Use QR Code scan data to A/B test different QR Code designs, placements, CTAs, linked content, and rewards to determine what drives the highest engagement. Once you find the winning combination, adjust your strategy accordingly to optimize guest engagement.
Performance monitoring and split testing are easy with Bitly Analytics. You can track when, where, and how guests engage with your codes in real time, allowing you to make on-the-go improvements to your loyalty program.
Transform hospitality loyalty with QR Codes
QR Codes have the power to transform hospitality loyalty programs by enhancing guest satisfaction, streamlining operations, and enabling data-driven personalization.
When used effectively—by positioning codes in visible, easy-to-access locations, using clear CTAs, and regularly monitoring performance—they can strengthen guest retention and optimize your loyalty strategy. To fully unlock the potential of QR Codes, use Bitly to create secure, intuitive, and powerful solutions.
With the Bitly Connections Platform, you can easily create and manage custom, trackable QR Codes, while gaining valuable insights through real-time analytics. This helps you understand what resonates best with your audience and continuously refine your loyalty program for maximum impact.
Sign up for Bitly today to enhance your loyalty program with safe, trackable, custom QR Codes!
