Hospitality is facing a set of challenges that feel oddly familiar. Loyalty programs aren’t hitting the way they used to. Personalization often feels more like a buzzword than a reality. And guest expectations are evolving faster than many systems can keep up.

If this rings a bell, it should. Retail dealt with these same growing pains not long ago. The good news? They’ve already done trial and error. Hospitality can learn from that and move forward even faster.

Retail has already reinvented itself. Hospitality now has the chance to skip the awkward phase and go straight to smart, guest-first experiences.

Loyalty, but Make It Personal

One of the clearest parallels is loyalty. Retailers used to rely on basic points and discount programs to keep customers coming back. That started to wear off. The smart ones adapted. They began focusing on relationships, not just rewards. They used data to make people feel seen.

Take Sephora’s Beauty Insider program. It goes way beyond points. They use customer behavior — what you browse, what you buy — to offer curated product recommendations, early access to launches and exclusive events. It’s loyalty that feels like a perk, not a points race.

Hotels, especially the larger chains, have strong loyalty programs in place. But there’s an opportunity to push personalization further. With access to data like booking patterns, stay preferences and even payment methods, any property can start delivering experiences that feel thoughtful. Real loyalty starts before a guest ever walks through the door.

Payments Should Feel Invisible

In retail, payments are no longer just the last step. They’ve become part of the experience.

Think about how easy it is to walk out of an Amazon store without ever pulling out your wallet, or how Uber just charges your card without a second thought. These kinds of seamless moments shape how people expect to interact with brands.

Many hotels — especially the big names — are already embracing mobile check-in, contactless room charges and quick checkouts. But a lot of the industry still treats payments like a back-office task. Guests often have to hand over physical cards, while staff juggle screens and manual entry. That slows everything down.

Now imagine this instead: A guest checks in online before arrival, adds extras to their room with a tap and walks out when they’re done. No lines. No signatures. No awkward moments. Just a clean, easy experience — one where payments feel invisible. That frees up hotel staff to actually connect with guests, rather than click through screens.

Data That Actually Does Something

When hotels have access to real-time data — especially through payment system — they get a much clearer picture of what guests actually want.

This isn’t about guessing or making assumptions. It’s about knowing who’s likely to upgrade, who wants breakfast every morning, or who always books a late checkout.

That kind of insight leads to real personalization. You can send the right offer at the right time. You can follow up with a message that speaks to their actual stay. And you can do it all without adding more work for your team.

Build the Right Foundation

Target is a great example of what happens when a brand treats its tech as a strategic asset. They rebuilt their infrastructure to be flexible and fast. When the world changed, they launched curbside pickup and drive-up returns almost overnight. They made it look easy — because behind the scenes, they were ready for change.

Hotels that are still stuck on legacy systems are going to feel that friction. But those that switch to modern, cloud-based platforms with open APIs can move faster, test ideas and evolve as guest expectations change.

Payments are part of that foundation, too. With Mews Payments, hotels can automate transactions throughout the entire guest journey — from booking to stay to checkout. Guests pay how and when they want, and staff don’t need to touch a thing.

Hotels using Mews Payments have seen major results. We’re talking a 90 percent drop in fraud, a 15 percent lift in revenue per guest, and big reductions in staffing needs thanks to automation.

Time to Set the Pace

Hospitality has something retail spent years trying to build: a real, emotional connection with guests. The next step is using better tools and sharper data to make that connection even stronger.

Retail showed us what’s possible. Hospitality doesn’t have to copy it — it just needs to take the best parts and make them its own.