Another part of the hospitality sector, the food service industry, is just starting to reap the benefits of selling, procuring goods, catering to customers and tracking inventory on the Web. The market for hospitality systems has changed dramatically during the past year as major companies have shifted their spending to the Internet to develop an online presence. Within the food services industry, more and more restaurant operators are realizing they can use the Web to increase their profitability and rein in their operating costs by hiring a provider that will streamline their accounting, back office or hospitality operations. Although only 30 percent of about 850,000 restaurants in the U.S. have an online presence, Barrie believes that growth in the B2B and ASP marketplace is inevitable. Just look at the Internet itself where 54 million Americans currently are online, a figure that Jupiter Communications estimates will grow to 85 million by the year 2002.
Suppliers can then visit the buyer's site and submit their best bids on products they sell.
Barrie points out that it's a major challenge for a franchise to manage a nationwide operation of some 10,000 units. But using a product like ChainManager, which features a customizable interface to manage and monitor all purchasing activities and track product inventory from suppliers and distributors, that task becomes more manageable. Costs Fees range from several hundred dollars for monthly subscriptions to flat fees for enterprise solutions that can reach thousands of dollars. The distributors participate for free, he said, but there is a separate fee if they choose to advertise on the site. The Players Vertical solutions run the gamut from ASPs providing the software and hardware for everything from online hotel and dining reservations to food and beverage inventory, recipe and menu pricing, purchasing and supply chain management to integrated point of sale hardware and software systems.