What are digital registration cards?
Digital registration cards are a way of collecting the necessary information before a guest arrives at your hotel. Prior to the digital age, hotels had manual registration cards that they kept on file and were filled out upon a guest’s arrival. Nowadays, the guest can take the check-in experience into their own hands by filling in all the essential information from the comfort of their own homes.
This means that when they arrive at your hotel all they need to do is complete and sign registration cards stored in their customer profiles. It is a way of replacing paper registration cards and streamlining the guest journey.
Can digital registration cards speed up hotel check-in?
The more information you have before guests arrive, the easier it is to speed up the check-in process, and digital registration cards are the perfect way to do this. They not only speed up hotel check-in, but you can also send the cards digitally via a link or your hotel’s app and the guest can register their documents and payment information on their own time before they even arrive.
This means they arrive; they show their ID, and they can access their rooms by cutting their own keys or via a personal identification code that is sent to them before their arrival. Talk about easy. Find out more of the benefits of mobile check-in.
What are the benefits of digital registration cards for hotels?
As we’ve already seen there are a lot of benefits of using digital cards for registration. Let’s take a look at each of the benefits in more detail.
The ability to personalize
By pre-registering digitally, you have the chance to personalize the guest experience. You can capture key details like the purpose of the trip, birthdays, preferences, and arrival time so that you can personalize their stay. Whether it be a complimentary bottle of birthday champagne or rose petals on the bed for an anniversary, these tiny details will go a long way and it’s easier to surprise guests this way and create a positive impression by collecting the information before they arrive. Personalization is the future of the hotel experience.
Speed
One of the key benefits as we’ve mentioned before is speed. By having guest's check-in prior to arrival, you can streamline hotel operations and improve the guest experience. Whether they register from a self-service kiosk or via mobile check-in, you can avoid long lines at the front desk and speed up the time it takes for guests to get to their rooms, which does wonders for guest satisfaction.
Contactless
Contactless technology saw a rise during the pandemic for health and safety reasons. Nowadays it continues to be used because it’s just that much easier. Guests can check-in with the help of a kiosk or a mobile device without having to have any interaction with your staff. This is especially useful for after-hours check-ins and during high season to speed up the process.
Eco-friendly and safe
By registering digitally, you can say goodbye to printed receipts or paper registration cards. This is not only better for the environment but also for your hotel. You don’t have to have so much paper trail of sensitive information like IDs, personal identification information and credit cards. You can easily encrypt the information online and protect your hotel from data fraud. Read more about security measures for online payments in hotels.
Efficient
Efficiency is one of the main benefits. Digital registration speeds up the check-in process and makes everything easier for your hotel as records will easily synchronize with your hotel’s PMS. Whether guests use the ID scanner to automatically pre-fill their information or use a kiosk to cut their own keys, your hotel can ensure an efficient process every step of the way.
While efficiency is key, it should never override the importance of the human touch. Even if you go mostly digital, have staff on hand to help when needed and guide less tech-savvy guests in the process.
Reduce human error
Instead of having to hand-process sensitive information like credit cards and IDs, by having guests fill out their own registration prior to arrival, everything is automatically processed by your system. This takes away the chance of human error and makes it so that you can finalize registration without any complications or mistakes. After all, human error can have a negative impact on your hotel’s bottom line.
Mews’ digital registration cards for a contactless experience
If your hotel is using a handy Check-in kiosk from Mews, the whole process of digital registration can be streamlined. Guests can complete and sign their previously filled out registration cards stored in their customer profiles or simply scan their ID to automatically pre-fill guest information and import it into your hotel’s PMS directly from the kiosk. You can even connect the kiosk to a Mews Terminal so that guests can pay for their stay at check-in and can check-out contactless and hassle-free.
With the help of door lock integration, guests can cut their own room keys without any help, which further speeds up the check-in process. Then, when it comes to check-out, the kiosk helps create a simple, self-check-out with just a few taps. This reduces wait time at the front desk and leaves guests with a positive impression of the connected, contactless experience they’ve had with your brand.
Conclusion
We’ve looked at the benefits of digital registration cards, what they are and why they’re important for a seamless guest experience. The more you can customize the guest experience, making speed and personalization a key part of your operations, the more you can assure your loyal customers will keep coming back. Little modifications and improvements in the guest journey will go a long way.
Download your contact-free hotel guide
Maintain seamless operations and ensure the safety of your guests and staff with your contact-free hotel guide.
.webp)