Calculating hotel cosmetics demand:
per room, per month, per canister
How many canisters does a property really need? The calculation has four values, and three of them are in your PMS. This guide explains the rule of thumb, works through an example property and provides the calculator that converts rooms, occupancy and consumption per guest night into refills and canisters.
80 rooms, worked through
An example property with 80 rooms, 70 percent occupancy, two guests per occupied room and around 8 millilitres of shower gel per guest night, the value from the pump dispenser. The three figures show how the running demand follows from occupancy. The calculator further down works with your own values.
Guest nights per month
- 80 rooms × 0.7 occupancy × 30 days
- × 2 guests per occupied room
- The reference figure for cosmetics
- Not the arrival, unlike with slippers
Litres per month
- 3,360 × 8 ml = 26.9 litres
- Calculated per variant
- Shower gel as the lead value
- Calculate soap and lotion separately
Canisters per month
- 26.9 l × 1.1 buffer = 29.6 l
- Six canisters of 5 litres
- Equals 60 refills of 500 ml
- Or 99 refills of 300 ml
How to calculate your demand
The most frequent mistake with cosmetics is the same confusion as with other equipment items, only the other way round: whoever calculates per arrival lands too low, because cosmetics are used every night, not once per stay. The reference figure is the guest night.
The rule of thumb
The monthly demand per variant follows from five values:
Rooms × occupancy × 30 days × guests per room × millilitres per guest night = millilitres per month
The number of rooms is the number of rooms, not of beds. The occupancy is your average occupancy rate as a decimal, 70 percent is 0.7. The guests per occupied room are around 2 with double occupancy, closer to 1.5 in business properties with many single occupancies. And the consumption per guest night is the value where the dispenser makes the difference.
Setting the consumption per guest night correctly
From the pump dispenser come around 8 millilitres per shower, four strokes of 2 millilitres each. Whoever sets the pump more generously or has many guests with long hair calculates with 12. With the single-use bottle around 25 millilitres per night go into the room, used or not. Calculate per variant: shower gel as the lead value, soap and lotion separately, because not every guest uses every variant.
From millilitres to refills and canisters
Millilitres divided by 300 or 500 give the number of dispenser refills, divided by 5,000 the number of canisters. A canister of five litres fills the 300 ml dispenser around sixteen times, the 500 ml dispenser ten times. The calculator works out both and adds a buffer of 10 percent, so that the last canister does not run empty in high season.
Where the figures come from: Number of rooms, occupancy and guests per room are in the occupancy statistics of your PMS. Take the average of the last twelve months and calculate the high season once separately.
What shifts the demand
The calculator gives a sound starting value per variant. Three factors shift it, a fourth does not concern the quantity but the number of positions.
Occupancy and season
Cosmetics hang on the guest night, so directly on occupancy. Holiday properties with a strong season calculate high and low season separately, otherwise the canister is missing in summer and stands on the shelf in winter. For city hotels with even occupancy the annual average is enough.
Guests per room
The second big lever. Family and holiday hotels are at 2 and above, business properties with a high share of single occupancy at 1.5 or below. A property that sets 2 here but has 1.3 orders a third too much.
Number of variants
Soap and shower gel are the basic equipment, that is two calculations. If body lotion is added, it is three, with brand goods including shampoo and conditioner up to five. Every variant has its own consumption per guest night, and not every guest uses every one. Calculate shower gel in full, the other variants with a smaller assumption, and correct after the first quarter by the actual consumption.
Spa, gym and staff area
Showers outside the room create a second stream of consumption that cannot be mapped through room occupancy. Count it as a separate position, with the number of uses per month instead of guest nights, and keep it separate, otherwise the mixed value hides where the consumption arises.
Minimum stock and carton sizes
Ordering is by the carton: with the own lines 30 dispensers or 2 canisters per carton, with the brand goods 24 dispensers or 3 canisters. Set a minimum stock of canisters that covers the lead time, and round up to the full carton. From two cartons we deliver carriage paid.
How the dispenser system runs in the house, from the wall bracket to the floor round, is on the overview page Dispenser system for the hotel bathroom.
Frequent questions about the demand calculation
Short answers to the questions that come up when calculating.
Calculate your demand directly
Enter the number of rooms, occupancy, guests per room and the consumption per guest night in millilitres. The calculator gives litres, dispenser refills and canisters per month, with a 10 percent buffer and without prices.
The result applies per variant and covers the rooms. Spa, gym and staff area come on top as a separate position. Calculate two variants, high season and low season, then you see whether a steady ordering rhythm works over the year.
Demand calculated, what next?
Send us your result and the line you have in mind. We add cartons, minimum stock and brackets to it.
