It may seem futile to mention the definition of eCommerce; after all, it’s a term that is thrown around so often. ECommerce is defined as “The use of the Internet to buy and sell goods and services.” Many hotels have the option of making direct bookings that are booked and paid for on their site, which makes them an eCommerce platform. However, many hotels don’t consider their websites and booking engines as eCommerce sites.
Below you find 7 ways how your hotel can improve its eCommerce presence and increase conversion, resulting in higher revenue.
This goes without saying. You need to have fantastic images and great writing on your hotel’s eCommerce site.
In the current digital age, a lot of the content that is being consumed is through some form of visual platform. Whether a potential guest sees your images directly on your website’s gallery or on your social media platform (Instagram, Pinterest etc.), they need to be of high quality.
Don’t confuse this with high-resolution, as this will make them hard to load and cause a longer loading time, resulting in many online users leaving your site as they will be too impatient to wait.
Your website needs to load fast, even with high-quality images. Ensure that your images are up to date and accurately represent your hotel. If something has changed in your rooms in terms of layout or decor, you have to depict this in the most current images on your website.
Another tool to take advantage of is your copy. This is everything that is written on your hotel’s eCommerce site. It’s the best place to set yourself apart from your competition as you will be able to write in your hotel’s tone of voice. Be sure to use words that correctly reflect your brand image, inclusive, and have no grammatical errors.
Another thing you have to think about when it comes to your website is its accessibility. There are 7.53 billion people globally, and 4.48 billion of them use the internet. That means that 58% of the population has access to the internet. There are 1 billion people, around 22% of all online users, who have disabilities.
A good idea is to start by asking yourself these types of questions:
