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What is at the intersection of Retail and Hospitality?
The line between Retail and Hospitality is becoming increasingly blurred, in terms of what the customer expects. Modern customers expect seamless experiences, whether dining in a cafe or shopping in a store. Businesses that combine Retail and Hospitality solutions are positioned to offer an integrated experience that meets these evolving consumer expectations.
Many businesses are adopting solutions that unify these two worlds, creating an environment where purchasing a product, dining, and enjoying a service all converge into one cohesive journey. Leading brands such as Harrods, Hotel Chocolat, and Tottenham Hotspur have embraced this approach by utilising Enactor’s Unified Commerce platform with both Retail and Hospitality POS, offering a glimpse into the future of a more connected customer experience.
The growing demand for Unified Retail and Hospitality systems
Customers expect convenience and flexibility. Whether ordering a cup of coffee to go, buying a new jacket, or dining in-store, shoppers desire minimal disruption between their Retail and Hospitality experiences.
How does Harrods use our Unified Commerce platform?
Department stores like Harrods—known for combining luxury retail with cafes, restaurants, and other services—illustrate the growing demand for a unified approach, and how best to tackle it. Enactor runs across all 30+ restaurants, bars and other hospitality service points in the iconic Knightsbridge store with our flexible, modular system allowing for specific menus, devices and process flows. Harrods also uses our Retail POS, utilising Fixed POS, Mobile POS and Self-Checkout, which we launched together in 2023.
How does Hotel Chocolat maximise our solution?
Hybrid businesses, such as Hotel Chocolat, which have cafes alongside their retail stores, blend the hospitality of a cafe with retail purchasing. Here too, Enactor’s Unified Commerce platform, with both Hospitality and Retail, powers seamless transactions. The ability to handle both verticals with a single system creates a smoother customer journey, elevating the overall experience.
How does Tottenham Hotspur utilise Enactor?
Tottenham Hotspur, a sports and entertainment venue combining Retail and Hospitality, showcases how unified solutions like Enactor can power large-scale, high-volume operations. Our single platform drives several hundred service points from VIP suites to the fan concourse. Fans can shop for merchandise and order food and drinks in a unified system, reducing friction and wait times; ensuring fans spend less time standing in lines and more time enjoying the event.
How unified solutions drive operational efficiency
The challenge for businesses offering both Retail and Hospitality services lies in managing different operational needs. Traditionally, retail businesses and restaurants used separate POS systems, each developed for their environments. This division often led to inefficiencies—disconnected inventory, differing loyalty programmes, and fragmented customer insights.
By combining Retail and Hospitality solutions, businesses can eliminate these silos. A unified platform like Enactor’s allows seamless management of both sectors, enabling more effective inventory tracking, sales analytics, and customer engagement. For example, Hotel Chocolat can track both retail and cafe sales, offering a 360-degree view of the customer and enhancing their loyalty programmes across multiple touchpoints. This is primarily because Enactor Hospitality is built on our Retail POS and enables hybrid businesses to use a single platform to cross-sell and offer enhanced experiential retail. Table management, takeaway, quick service, kiosks, kitchen displays, allergen support? Enactor’s got it all.
Enhancing the customer journey with Unified Commerce
Enactor’s Unified Retail and Hospitality solution is designed to simplify and enhance the customer journey. As seen with Enactor customers who operate in both verticals, integrating these solutions allows businesses to provide personalised, omnichannel experiences. Whether a customer is dining in or choosing Click-and-Collect on a clothing item, they can seamlessly transition between the two, benefiting from a consistent and convenient experience.
The ability to provide cohesive loyalty programmes across Retail and Hospitality is another benefit of unification. For example, a customer may accumulate loyalty points from both shopping and dining, further incentivising them to return and spend across both areas.
Similarly, Enactor’s Mobile POS has been instrumental in offering flexibility to customers, allowing them to complete transactions anywhere in the store or cafe. This flexibility enhances convenience for customers who can order and pay without needing to move between different counters or systems.
The future of Retail and Hospitality integration
As the boundaries between Retail and Hospitality continue to dissolve, more businesses will adopt unified solutions. The expectation for a seamless, omnichannel customer experience across both sectors will continue to grow. Companies that invest in integrated systems will not only meet this demand but will also future-proof their operations.
Retailers and Hospitality businesses alike must recognise the need to innovate and offer interconnected experiences. Whether through flexible POS systems, unified loyalty programmes, or seamless customer journeys, the future belongs to those who can combine these worlds. Brands like Harrods, Hotel Chocolat and Tottenham Hotspur are already leading the way, and the rest of the industry is sure to follow.
