Online Booking: Top 6 Reasons Why It’s So Important

Does your website take online bookings? The ability to take online bookings (or web bookings) is an especially powerful tool for vacation rental managers.

One of the key things that sets LiveRez apart from its competition is that it offers a complete dynamic website with an online booking engine that is completed integrated with the back office (reservation system and trust accounting). One of the major inspirations behind LiveRez was to make vacation rental managers fully operational online and give them the ability to take online bookings (just like hotels).

We all know that online bookings are important and can help take a vacation rental business to the next level. But, it’s easy to forget the specific reasons that make online bookings especially important. Following are the top 6 reasons why the ability to take online bookings is so important.

1. Convenience – With online booking, travelers can shop AND buy right there online. With sites that do not take online bookings, travelers have to contact the management company to make the final purchase – an added inconvenience that in some cases can detour travelers from booking.

2.  Available 24-7 – Because your website is up online all the time, travelers can make reservations at any point during the day, especially outside of your normal business hours. You and your staff have to sleep some time, right? Well, your website never does, so giving it the ability to take online bookings means at least one member of your sales team is working around the clock.

• Did you know LiveRez.com’s end-to-end SaaS platform is available 24-7 anywhere there’s an Internet connection? Learn more about web-based software. >>>

3. Saves Labor Hours (and Money) – When a booking comes in over the phone or in person, your reservationist has to manually enter information into the reservation system and possibly answer questions that could have been answered online. Plus, a reservationist is only able to work with one person a time, whereas a website can handle multiple reservations at once. Speaking to a real person is always a great option to give someone, and computers and the Internet will never really replace that. But, if travelers can get all the information they need for their decision from your website, allowing them to book online can create significant cost savings and open up your employees to focus on other tasks.

• Find out how our reservation system can also save you time and money >>>

4. Avoid Awkward Conversations About Fees – Every now and then, a reservationist will get questions about certain fees charged by the management company. While these fees are generally very legitimate and standard practice for many management companies, sometimes explaining them can be awkward. When travelers book online, they tend to be more accepting of those fees – and less conversations are initiated (also saving you time and money).

5. Websites Provide Great Analytics – Knowing more about your guests is paramount to creating successful marketing efforts. When guests book online, it’s easier to track how they came to your website and to monitor their shopping behavior when they get there. Analytics can also help you identify any roadblocks that may be keeping guests from moving through the booking process, so you can take the appropriate action to remove these obstacles.

• Read our blog post on website analytics >>>

6. Travelers Stop Shopping – Perhaps the most important reason to take online bookings is because when travelers book online they stop shopping. This may seem obvious, but consider this scenario: A busy mom is planning her family’s vacation, but can only find time to look into accommodations late at night once the kids go to sleep. She is looking at your website and finds a few properties she likes. She’s ready to book, but it’s outside of your regular business hours and she can’t finalize the reservation. She decides to contact you first thing in the morning, but in the mean time she goes ahead and checks out some of your competitors’ websites. Turns out she finds some other houses that she likes as well. And, guess what? Your competitor can take online bookings, so the traveler decides that she will just go ahead and book with them.

You not only just lost a customer but also lost the investment that it took in getting her to your website. Maybe she came in through paid marketing efforts or a pay-per-click campaign. Or, maybe she came in through an organic search result. Regardless of how she got there, you probably made a big investment in getting her there – no matter what channel she came through.

• Learn how LiveRez.com’s 3-click booking process can increase website conversion and drive more bookings >>>

Learn More

These six points illustrate just how important online bookings are. They help you save time and money, offer your travelers convenience, give you a competitive advantage and help protect the investment you’ve made in getting travelers to visit your website.

Does your website offer online bookings? If not, check out LiveRez.com. We can make your business fully operational online and greatly expand your web presence. Even when switching from other software providers that allow online bookings, our partners generally see dramatic increases in their web bookings. You can learn more by visiting our website, watching our brief demo online or scheduling a guided product tour by calling 800-343-2891.