May 13, 2009

Online Merchandising: How Hoteliers Can Enhance their Online Presence, Set Themselves Apart and Drive More Bookings

White Paper

What differentiates one hotel from another? Online travel shoppers can't tell you. As they search the Web for hotels that match their needs, preferences and perceptions of value, they are confronted with an overwhelming glut of sameness. Imagine you are trying to book a hotel in downtown Chicago for the weekend. You have a certain price range in mind.

Updated July 15, 2009

Imagine you are trying to book a hotel in downtown Chicago for the weekend. You have a certain price range in mind. You have buying criteria related to the quality of accommodations, availability of breakfast services and proximity to certain restaurants and shopping districts. But several different hotels meet these criteria. You are struggling to choose.

What travel shoppers are experiencing on today's travel sites is an absence of well merchandised hotels. In other words, hotels are not presenting their unique stories and special qualities in a compelling way online. Instead, online searches pull up a series of undifferentiated "listings" that fail to entice shoppers or provide clear incentives to book.

Merchandising is not a new concept. The retail industry has long understood that the presentation of offerings is a key driver of sales and success. It's the element that clarifies a product's distinctive benefits and relevant features. It stimulates interest and provokes a buying decision.

The hotel industry, however, has been slow to embrace the possibilities associated with merchandising in the online world. This creates an opportunity for hoteliers that recognize this fact. Through online merchandising, they can actively differentiate their properties on independent travel sites, their own sites and their affiliated brand sites, driving more bookings and increasing their average daily rates.

As forward-thinking hoteliers have found, online merchandising delivers an impressive return on one's marketing investment. They've discovered that rich visual media -- such as videos, virtual tours and high definition photos -- can better tell a hotel's unique story by amplifying its strengths, attracting new guests and keeping them coming back.

Through engaging stories, enhanced presentation and extensive distribution, they are setting themselves apart in the online realm. Indeed, they are reaching new levels of growth and profitability -- even as the hospitality sector becomes increasingly competitive and challenging.