These platforms allow hotel businesses to overcome one of the key hospitality industry challenges of standing out among high competition.   

There are different types of eCommerce platforms and technologies that hotels leverage:   

• Websites/Apps for online reservations and bookings; features include room availability calendars, yield management systems and revenue management tools  
• Food and Beverage Sales Platforms; online ordering and delivery sites/apps  
• Mobile Apps for reservations, check-in/out, room service, etc.   
• Online Gift Shop and Souvenir Sales Platforms  
• Online Event and Meeting Space Booking Platforms  
• Loyalty Programs and Rewards Platforms 

Now that the term is clear, let’s look at the advantages of hotel eCommerce.   

Advantages of Hotel eCommerce

There are multiple advantages of eCommerce in hospitality. Some of the key ones are:  

1. Enhanced visibility and wider reach

Hospitality eCommerce platforms allow hotels to increase their online visibility, reach, and accessibility, among other things. These sites or technology also allow hotels to build their brand awareness and attract guests.   

Potential guests visit hotel eCommerce platforms such as hotel websites, OTAs, etc., and consume information about the hotel, and its services and products, and make relevant bookings or reservations. These platforms transcend borders and boundaries and allow hotels to access distant markets and audiences.   

With hotel eCommerce platforms, you would not be able to attract and convert travelers looking for accommodation online. And this number is huge and so is the lost revenue.   

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2. Increased revenue

Hotel eCommerce platforms allow hospitality businesses to increase revenue. Hotels offer a platform for guests to easily book using booking engines. At the same time, they use these sites to upsell and cross-sell, showcase, and promote in-house services such as spa, restaurants, salon, etc.  

All these practices and strategies allow hotels to increase direct bookings and sales of other products and services. This, in turn, increases the hotel revenue. 

3. Marketing and retargeting

Hotel eCommerce platforms allow hospitality business to market their services and retarget guests effectively. Hotels can reach international audiences with their promotional offers and marketing strategies at lower costs through eCommerce platforms. This is not possible with traditional marketing tactics.   

Digital marketing strategies are not only allowing hotels to reach a wider audience but also to engage them better and improve interactivity and sales.   

Social media, email, and referral marketing, paid advertisements, search-engine-optimized websites, retargeting strategies through online platforms, etc., are helping hotels to attract new customers, retain old ones as well as redirect visitors in their direction.   

A report suggested that 3 out of 4 online viewers now notice and consider retargeted ads.  

It further stated that 30% of consumers have a positive or very positive reaction to retargeted ads, while around 60% remain neutral. With these numbers, you do not have anything to lose but a lot to gain with retargeting ads through eCommerce platforms.

4. Incorporation of AR/VR

With the help of hotel eCommerce platforms and virtual reality (VR) technology, hotels are able to showcase hotel property to their guests in a much more immersive and engaging manner.   

Virtual tours of the room or the property give potential guests or guests an idea of how their room is going to look. They can experience the room from the comforts of their own home or on the go with the help of virtual tours. 

A virtual walk-through helps a guest make an informed decision and avoid any surprises upon visit.

This enhances guest experience and enables hotels to serve guests who have a fair sense of the property and services, avoiding any future conflicts and building trust. This in turn improves reviews, feedback, and ultimately sales.

5. Enhanced guest experience

With hotel eCommerce platforms, h.ospitality businesses simplify, personalize, and enhance the guest experience.   

Websites allow guests to explore hotels from anywhere and anytime, online booking and payments platforms allow them to securely pay for the chosen services digitally, mobile apps enable them to check-in remotely and as per convenience, and lastly, tailored marketing messages and recommendations personalize their experience.   

Guests can conveniently make reservations for services such as spa, restaurants, salon, etc, and choose from all the relevant recommendations; saving time and effort.   

After learning about the advantages of hotel eCommerce, let’s look at some of its future trends.

Trends in Hospitality eCommerce for 2024

Hotel eCommerce platforms will be bigger, better, and more efficient with the following trends:   

1. Growing number of OTAs

OTA offers great visibility and sales opportunities to hotels. With these platforms rapidly growing in number and reach, the future of OTAs and the hospitality industry seems quite exciting.   

Guests can easily spot and book your property on these platforms. And with emerging technologies, OTAs will offer more features and further streamline the research and booking process in times to come.   

2. Big Data

Used in machine learning (ML), predictive modeling, and other advanced analytics, Big Data refers to large and diverse sets of data. These sets are large in volume and keep growing in size to offer greater statistical power to businesses.   

A lot of hotel eCommerce platforms have in-built or integrated analytic tools powered by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, etc.  

These platforms thus help hotels gather huge amounts of data and leverage market and guest data analytics for informed pricing decisions, targeted marketing campaigns, and a more personalized experience.   

As these technologies mature in the future, there will be more accuracy in recommendations, and data analytics for hotels to act on.   

3. Mobile Booking and Contactless Services

With more and more reliance on smartphones for travel research and planning, hotels are embracing new technologies, features, and functionalities to make their eCommerce platforms optimized for mobile devices.    

As these platforms become further mobile-friendly, guests will have more seamless and streamlined exploration and booking processes in the near future.

Moreover, hotels were able to cater to the changed guest needs and expectations post the pandemic with contactless services such as contactless check-in/out, etc. With technology maturing, these services are also expected to become more sophisticated and user-friendly.   

4. Greater use of AR/VR

Immersive technologies such as AR/VR have certainly led to enhanced guest experiences. Guests no longer book with uncertainty around how the property or the rooms look in real. AR/VR allows guests to virtually tour the hotel before making a reservation.   

End note...

Thus, hotel eCommerce platforms give numerous benefits to hotels such as more visibility, wider reach, and accessibility, increased revenue, and more informed guests. Modern-day hotels should leverage these platforms to thrive in the highly competitive hospitality marketplace.  

As time progresses, these platforms will have more relevant and practical features and functionalities for hotels to enjoy.  

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