Over three years after the start of the global pandemic, the travel and hospitality industry is alive and well. With 62% of Americans planning to spend more on travel this year, hotels and airlines are in fierce competition to attract these high-rollers.

However, these brands face more significant challenges than obtaining customers. With 81.7% cart abandonment rates, the travel and hospitality industry must find effective ways to close more deals.

Luckily, omnichannel communication can solve both problems. With personalized promotions,  swift support, and gentle checkout reminders, businesses can attract customers and reduce cart abandonment without slashing prices.

 

How the hospitality industry can win the price war

 

In the battle to catch more consumers, price drops are often the weapon of choice for hospitality brands. With more than 700 million people booking online, hotels often put their affordable prices front and center in their digital marketing campaigns.

But while low-price appeal is an effective strategy for attracting travelers, it can do more harm than good in the long run. Hotel rooms are perishable products. If they stay empty overnight, hotels will lose revenue. However, hotels can also lose the value they create by dropping their rates. And by continuously offering the best deals to undermine the competition, hotels can have much lower profit margins.

While people love affordable accommodations, not all consumers want to pay the lowest prices. Many are value-based shoppers who want the best hotel experiences possible. Guests may be willing to pay more based on what is most valuable to them. For instance, some customers are more than happy to pay for a suite with top-shelf amenities. And with nearly half of all consumers willing to spend more for brands they trust, building rapport is essential.

Hospitality brands can avoid dropping their rates by developing better relationships with consumers. Omnichannel communications, including SMS and chat apps, allow hotels to meet customers on their favorite platforms. Personalized messages, exclusive rewards, and prompt support enhance the customer experience, improving brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Hotels can demonstrate their value and deliver memorable experiences to guests by:

  • Sending them personalized accommodation and amenity recommendations
  • Allowing them to manage their hotel experience from their mobile device, including paying and checking in
  • Swiftly resolving issues and answering questions with auto-replies
  • Rewarding frequent guests with deep discounts via SMS customer loyalty programs

By building relationships and trust, hospitality businesses can attract more customers without dropping their rates.

 

Reducing cart abandonment in the hospitality industry

 

Another significant obstacle the travel and hospitality industry faces are booking abandonment rates. Customers abandon their bookings for many reasons, including:

  • Wanting to do more research and comparisons
  • Steep prices
  • Cumbersome booking processes
  • Technical and payment issues

With four in five potential customers not following through with their purchase, hospitality brands must find effective ways to close the deal. If they do so, they can transform a massive pain point into a lucrative opportunity. By converting customers who failed to complete their bookings, hotels will enjoy instant revenue growth.

Hospitality brands can leverage omnichannel tactics to reduce abandonment rates by delivering better experiences, easy checkout processes, and more payment options.

Some strategies to use include:

  • Sending one-time personalized offers to customers who are comparing prices
  • Quickly addressing common booking issues and concerns via automated replies and chatbots
  •  Providing more secure payment options via messaging apps and SMS, including credit and mobile wallets

Additionally, hotels can send customers who fail to check out gentle SMS reminders. When sent a message-based reminder, nearly two-thirds of consumers will return to their abandoned carts.

 

Seal the deal with Mitto

 

Travel and hospitality brands that implement a mature omnichannel strategy are four times more likely to report loyal customers and three times more likely to report a significant increase in revenue compared to businesses that don’t.

With Mitto Conversations, hotels can engage customers with personalized interactions across all channels. And with Mitto Campaigns, hospitality brands can send reminders to reduce booking abandonments.

Overcome price drop and cart abandonment challenges and close more deals with Mitto. 

Contact us to learn more.