Webstore Booking Engines
For the sake of this article, we define a webstore booking engine as one that has been developed and hosted by a third party and can be utilised by multiple customers.
In this approach, one of the primary benefits of using a website booking engine is the reduced cost. The development and infrastructure/hosting costs sit with the third party that builds the booking engine, who then typically sells their services to customers on a subscription-based model, making them accessible to smaller hotels with limited budgets.
Functionality upgrades and patch fixes are then rolled out as they become available during the contracted period. However, this is also one of the downsides, as relying on a third-party provider means you are subject to their development roadmap, updates, changes, and potential service interruptions, which could have the potential to disrupt your business operations.
Nevertheless, getting up and running is typically a relatively painless and quick process, as pre-built booking engines are usually designed with quick and easy integration in mind. Again, this can be particularly advantageous for those who need to get booking engine functionality up and running fast, such as for new or smaller operators. Layer on technical support services, which can help troubleshoot and maintain the system without needing in-house IT expertise, and it is easy to see why many go this route.
Yet, there are downsides which are worth understanding. For instance, webstore booking engines often have a set template and limited customisation options that can restrict the ability to fully align the booking experience with your brand’s identity and make the user experience feel somewhat disjointed. Remember, your website is your window to the world and, for many, will be the first experience of your brand. If the website experience and the booking process are dislocated, it could be viewed as representative of the experience on property, which is not ideal.Similarly, these booking engines are designed to cater to a broad audience and are built to a predetermined booking path, which can result in a generic user experience that may not meet the needs of your specific customers, depending on the functionality available.
Why Opt for a Bespoke Booking Engine?
On the flip side, there is always the option to build and design your own booking engine, although many pros and cons are the opposite of the webstore booking engines.
Considering the cons first, the time and cost it takes time to design the booking flows and edge cases is a lot more, and you may not initially think you see much difference between the designed booking flow and that of the webstore products. After all, the core booking functionality is no different between solutions, as you still need to select the room, dates, rates, and pay. Plus, it takes careful planning to understand all the paths in (book now button, booking widget, from a rooms page, special offers, deep linking, etc.) and out (drop-off, booking confirmation, store in PMS/CRS, store into an electronic data warehouse). Unfortunately, it’s a fact that it takes time to develop and test a bespoke booking engine, especially when considering these paths, and so incurs costs.
Even something simple looking, such as the calendar selection, can take time to develop. Many PMS/CRS systems will have in excess of 15 different calendar restrictions that you can use, such as being sold out, not being able to book within a certain number of days from arrival, and needing to book within a specific timeframe, to name a few. All your chosen options must be catered for and tested thoroughly.
In addition, some customers will also want to see from pricing on the calendar. The way we have implemented this typically requires rates to be cached somewhere close so that the calendar still loads quickly and doesn’t do roundtrips back to the PMS/CRS for each visitor. Then, obviously, rates, availability, and inventory must be integrated into the website, and booking information needs to be encrypted and pushed back to the PMS/CRS. Depending on the options and functionality you choose within your solution, it can easily take 8-10 months to develop a bespoke booking engine properly.
So, if it costs a lot more and takes a lot longer to implement, why bother?
Well, it depends on circumstance. If you are new to market or one of the smaller hotels, you probably will go the webstore route because of time and cost. However, if you are looking to engage in a website redesign process, which in itself can take time, are looking to utilise a Composable DXP as your underlying web platform (see our first article: The Business Case for DXPs), or just generally want to have more control over your booking process, potentially the bespoke route would make more sense.
Benefits
For example, we’ve already noted earlier that your website is the window into your brand and on-property experience; therefore, having a disconnected booking engine is not ideal. A bespoke booking engine allows for complete customisation, ensuring the booking process reflects your brand’s unique character and ethos. You can tailor every aspect, from the design and layout to the specific features and functionalities that cater to your target audience, to make it a seamless and intuitive customer experience. But there are also other tangible benefits.
Personalisation and A/B testing
What is the point of having A/B capabilities within your Composable DXP solution, or other web CMS solutions for that matter, only to stop short because you use a webstore product? Capturing user data during a bespoke booking engine process and by combining personalisation and A/B testing will help answer questions such as:
- Where am I seeing booking abandonment, and why?
- How do I re-engage those who dropped out of the booking engine process, and with what message?
- Should I include upsell room options within the booking engine process or upsell after the booking is made through pre-arrival communications?
- Should I include itinerary options within the booking engine process or push itinerary options into pre-arrival communications?
- As a luxury brand, do I need to showcase the basic room amenities, such as a hairdryer or safe, or are they a given?
- Does changing button colours, call-to-actions, imagery, and layouts increase or decrease ROI?
Subsequently, by analysing captured customer data, you can offer personalised recommendations and tailored packages that enhance customer satisfaction and increase conversion rates. You can also re-engage those who start the booking process but do not complete it. By teaming personalisation with A/B testing, you can determine which imagery, functionality, layouts, and communication strategies offer the best ROI.
Integration with Other Systems
A custom booking engine can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, such as CRM, payment gateways, and marketing automation tools. This integration ensures a smooth flow of information and enhances operational efficiency.
Scalability
As your business grows, so do your requirements. A bespoke booking engine can bescaled and adapted to accommodate new features in the order you choose, increased traffic, and additional services without the limitations imposed by third-party providers.
Data Ownership and Security
With a bespoke solution, you have complete control over your data. This means you decide what information you want to keep in the customer profile for personalisation and analytical purposes while ensuring that sensitive customer information is handled securely throughout the system via encryption and complies with regional data protection regulations.
Case Study
What we have done for one customer is precisely what we are discussing. The customer had different brands that went through website, and CMS platform redesigns. As part of that project, they wanted to take control of the booking engine process and utilise the benefits of personalisation and A/B testing, which they couldn’t use through their legacy webstore solution at the time. They also had many of the questions outlined earlier surrounding what should be included within the process and what should be initially excluded.
Include created a bespoke booking engine where we designed the booking paths through the system and architected the solution so that different layouts could be tested. Best-performing imagery could be verified through A/B testing, and button colours and call-to-actions could also be changed.
In addition, we extended the customer profile to capture everything entered within the booking flow apart from any PII data, and we also created custom personalisation rules so that the captured information could be used. Customers who dropped off the booking process could, therefore, be re-engaged with applicable hotel, room type, or specific offer messaging because all of the underpinning data was previously captured.
Overall, the results of the redesign and the bespoke booking engine spoke for themselves. One brand increased website bookings by 200% in six months and another by 300% in three months.
Conclusions
While webstore booking engines offer a quick and cost-effective solution for hospitality businesses, the limitations in customisation and user experience can hinder your ability to stand out in a competitive market. Developing a bespoke booking engine provides unparalleled personalisation, user experience, and flexibility advantages. The ability to conduct A/B testing and integrate seamlessly with other systems further enhances the potential to maximise conversions and customer satisfaction. For businesses looking to deliver a unique and compelling booking experience, investing in a bespoke booking engine is a strategic move that can yield significant long-term benefits.
Include Agency is a widely respected Optimizely, Sitecore, and Uniform implementation partner with a wealth of experience in delivering bespoke solutions for leading hospitality brands. If you are thinking about your booking engine process, we are more than happy to advise and help implement or develop the ideal booking solution that makes sense for you based on time, budget, and circumstance. Please contact us for further assistance
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