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Hospitality Net
13-06-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
How Hotels Can Win at eCommerce & Drive Direct Bookings
Independent hotels have a competitive edge in their DNA – offering rare, remarkable experiences that guests want to talk about, post about, and relive. According to Expedia Group's Unpack '24 report, more than 90% of travelers say the vibe of a hotel is important when booking. Additionally, 67% of travelers would pay more to stay at a hotel that aligns with their preferred vibe, highlighting the significance of personalized and unique experiences in the hospitality industry. While the unique vibe sets independent hotels apart, success in today's digital marketplace depends on how effortlessly guests can discover and book that experience online. As consumers grow increasingly tech-savvy, how can independent hotels put their best foot forward in the digital marketplace? This article goes back to basics in terms of online usability, and highlights practical tools and strategies to bring eCommerce to hotel websites and drive more direct bookings. Hotel eCommerce starts with usability Danish usability pioneer Jakob Nielsen once said: The first rule of eCommerce is that if you cannot find the product, you cannot buy it either. Back in 1994, he developed his renowned 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design, which are still highly relevant for websites across all industries, including hospitality. In fact, a recent study by Forrester shows that websites with all usability principals applied have up to 400% higher conversion rates than those that don't. Today's guests are increasingly tech-savvy, digital natives who expect a fast and seamless transition from browsing to booking. Adding another layer of complexity for hotels is that the digital world is overflowing with glitzy website design agencies and shiny tech solutions which can make it difficult to know what works best for your brand, your website, and, most importantly, your guests! Hotels with a strong brand and story already have a powerful advantage in the online marketplace. The next step is usability, and a good exercise to evaluate how user-friendly your hotel website is would be to benchmark it against Nielson's principles. Hotel Website Usability Checklist: Availability, rates, and booking confirmation are clearly displayed at every step. Language and visuals match how guests talk and think—clear, friendly, and intuitive. Guests can change dates, room types, or restart a search without losing progress. Design, branding, and tone are consistent from homepage to confirmation. Inputs and prompts help prevent common errors (e.g., invalid dates or empty fields). Key booking info (room details, pricing, dates) stays visible during the journey. Navigation is smooth for both new and returning guests, across desktop and mobile. Layout is clean and focused, with visuals and calls-to-action that guide, not distract. Clear, friendly error messages help guests understand and fix problems easily. Support like FAQs or live chat is available during critical booking steps. Aesthetics alone won't drive bookings. A beautiful website that lacks clear offers, prominent booking buttons, and compelling calls-to-action is just expensive décor. 5 Practical Ways to Bring Hotel eCommerce to Your Website & Drive Direct Bookings In hospitality, inspiration sparks interest—but it's a smooth, intuitive booking journey that turns that interest into revenue. From the moment guests land on your site to the final confirmation screen, every step should feel seamless, relevant, and easy. Here's how to bring eCommerce best practices to your hotel website to boost direct bookings and reduce drop-offs. 1. Deliver a Seamless Website-to-Booking Experience Guests feel confident and comfortable when they can explore, select, and book without leaving your site—creating a seamless journey that reflects your unique brand and values. Imagine a guest browsing your photo gallery, captivated by your beachfront suite—and then clicking 'Book Now' only to be redirected to a page that looks completely different, with a different URL. That disconnect creates doubt. Instead, ensure that the booking flow feels like a continuation of the website experience—same design, same branding, same domain. This consistency builds trust and keeps guests from bouncing. Why it matters: 75% of consumers admit to judging a business's credibility based on its website design (Stanford Web Credibility Research). Any break in that design can break their trust. 2. Let Guests Book While They're Inspired Think of a guest exploring your romantic getaway page and seeing the perfect suite for their anniversary. If there's no easy way to check availability right there and then, they may leave to 'come back later'—but often, they don't. Allow guests to check dates and prices directly from your homepage, gallery, or room descriptions—so they can act when excitement peaks. Why it matters: 70% of travelers expect to book directly after being inspired, especially on mobile (Google Travel Insights). Make sure the path from inspiration to action is short. 3. Reduce Abandonment with Timely Nudges Let's say a guest has selected their dates and room but pauses to compare prices. Before they leave, show a gentle message like 'Only 2 rooms left for these dates' or 'Your selection is still available—complete your booking and get a free welcome drink.' You can also invite them to leave an email to save their selection or follow up with a tailored offer. Why it matters: 87% of travelers abandon bookings before completion (SalesCycle). Timely reminders and gentle prompts can recover up to 30% of those lost opportunities. 4. Make the Booking Experience Feel Personal If a guest visits your site in French from Paris, why force them to navigate in English and see default offers for the U.S. market? Today's travelers expect digital experiences that adjust to their needs—whether that's recognizing a returning visitor, displaying content in their language, or highlighting relevant deals based on where they're browsing from. Why it matters: 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that offer personalized experiences (Epsilon). Booking journeys should feel intuitive, not transactional. 5. Meet Guests on their Preferred Device—and Add Value Picture a group of curious young adventurers planning a summer vacation from their phones, until they find a link to your hotel website on Instagram. If your website loads slowly or doesn't adapt to their device, you've lost them. Ensure your site and booking experience work seamlessly on mobile, are discoverable on travel platforms, and offer simple add-ons—like airport pickup or a family picnic package—that enhance the stay and generate revenue. Why it matters: 72% of mobile bookings happen within 48 hours of a last-minute search (Sojern). And upsells can increase revenue per booking by 18% on average (Skift). Success in Hotel eCommerce comes from putting the Guest First Independent hotels have something no algorithm can replicate: unique experiences that guests crave and want to boast about to their friends or across social networks. But that value only translates into direct bookings when the guest journey is thoughtfully designed from the very first interaction—not just at the check-in desk, but from the moment someone lands on your website. Prioritizing direct relationships starts long before the booking. It begins the instant a potential guest interacts with your brand online. The tone of your content, the clarity of your offers, and the ease of making a reservation all contribute to whether a guest feels confident booking directly—or decides to look elsewhere. Hotels that have invested in usability and guest-first design are seeing measurable results: doubling direct bookings and making them the majority contributor to overall revenue. When your website reflects the same care and hospitality guests experience in person, it builds trust, drives conversions, and reinforces brand loyalty from the outset. If your goal is to build stronger guest relationships and drive direct bookings, your website must work as an extension of your hospitality—clear, helpful, and focused on making every interaction count towards achieving those goals. About GuestCentric GuestCentric is a leading provider of cloud-based digital marketing software and services that help extraordinary hoteliers promote their brand, drive direct bookings and connect with customers on all digital platforms. GuestCentric's all-in-one platform provides hotels with the only unified solution for managing their guests' online journey: award-winning, high impact websites; an integrated, easy-to-use booking engine; social media marketing and publishing tools; a GDS chain code and a channel manager to offer rooms on Amadeus, Expedia, Galileo, Google, Sabre, TripAdvisor and hundreds of other channels. GuestCentric is a proud provider of solutions that maximize direct bookings to hotel groups and independent hotels from collections such as Design Hotels, Great Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels and Small Danish Hotels. GuestCentric is featured on Skift Travel Tech 250, a list of the top 250 travel tech companies shaping the modern-day travel experience. Melissa Rodrigues Content Manager +35 196 157 3854 GuestCentric Systems View source
Time Business News
23-04-2025
- Time Business News
The Evolution of User Experience: From Desktop to Mobile and Beyond
User experience (UX) has come a long way since the days of basic desktop websites. What started as a solution to create functional and user-friendly sites has transformed into a sophisticated discipline that spans devices, platforms, and even realities. As technology continues to evolve, so do user expectations. Understanding the history of UX and its ongoing progression helps us appreciate how far we've come and where we might be heading. Let's begin from where it started, the desktop. Gen Z probably hasn't worked on an old, clunky box with less memory than on their Apple Watches. In the 1990s, the web was primarily accessed through these desktop computers, and UX design was in its infancy. Websites were basic and text-heavy, focusing on delivering information rather than aesthetics. Early UX efforts revolved around improving navigation and page layouts, ensuring users could find what they needed with minimal frustration. The introduction of visual browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer marked a significant leap forward. These platforms supported images, colors, and multimedia, making websites more visually engaging. However, the core focus remained functionality, as internet speeds and system power were restricted. The rise of Jakob Nielsen's ten usability principles in the late 1990s emphasized simplicity and user-centered design, laying the groundwork for modern UX practices. It talked about the consistency of layout and standards being followed in terms of design, color, and layout. All the UX elements we take for granted now, like flexibility, efficiency, and minimalistic design, were talked about in these principles thirty years ago. The early 2000s brought the mobile revolution, which fundamentally changed how users interacted with the web. With the advent of smartphones, UX designers faced the challenge of translating desktop experiences to smaller screens. Apple's Steve Jobs' unveiling of the iPhone in 2007 changed how people viewed the Internet. Before the rectangular touch screen, people browsed the Internet primarily on laptops and desktops. This was due to the fact that mobile screens of phones like Motorola or Nokia were too small and unremarkable. Statista reports that as of 2023, over 59 percent of global website traffic comes from mobile devices. This highlights the enduring importance of designing for smaller screens. Due to the touchscreen interface, responsive web design became a necessity. This approach allowed websites to adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes, ensuring a consistent device experience. Mobile-first design principles emerged, prioritizing the needs of mobile users and making features like touch navigation and streamlined layouts essential. Today's shoppers rely on dedicated retail apps for everything from product discovery to secure checkout. In fact, 76 percent of online shoppers on mobile prefer to use the installed app, as it saves time. Apps streamline the shopping process by storing user preferences, enabling one-click payments, and sending personalized push notifications about discounts or abandoned carts. For instance, apps like Amazon and Walmart provide real-time tracking and loyalty rewards, making them indispensable for frequent online shoppers. Retailers who embrace this app-driven ecosystem can foster higher engagement and build long-term customer loyalty. User expectations are changing day by day. Modern UX is no longer about one-size-fits-all solutions but about personalization and interactivity. Websites and apps now adapt to user preferences and offer tailored recommendations. Interactive elements, such as chatbots, voice assistants, and gesture-based navigation, are becoming more common. These features enhance usability and create more engaging and memorable experiences. Hocoos suggests creating custom websites using AI tools, which can help with a better user experience as they are easily updated, providing users with the latest features. There are plenty of AI website builder tools to explore, and they offer impeccable features and functionalities. All you need is to answer a few questions to get your website up and running. We're now in a multi-device era where users interact with digital content across various platforms, from smartphones and tablets to smartwatches, TVs, and IoT devices. This shift requires UX designers to think beyond individual screens and focus on creating seamless, cross-platform experiences. For example, users might start shopping on their smartphone, add items to their cart on a tablet, and complete the purchase on a desktop. This user behavior is called device-hopping and is based purely on convenience. Ensuring a consistent and uninterrupted journey across devices is critical for user satisfaction. Voice-enabled interfaces, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, are becoming integral to the user experience. Designers must now consider how voice commands and conversational interfaces fit into the broader UX ecosystem. The evolution of user experience reflects our growing reliance on technology and our demand for seamless, intuitive interactions. From the static desktops of the 1990s to the immersive possibilities of AR and VR, UX has transformed to meet users' changing needs. Businesses, especially small ones, should embrace these changes by adopting flexible, user-friendly platforms that evolve alongside technology. By understanding and adapting to the evolution of UX, businesses can create experiences that not only meet user expectations but also inspire lasting loyalty. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
