Hotel commerce platform

Hotel commerce is the ability to deliver products and services to guests that offer convenience, personalisation, and value at speed. The result is that hoteliers are firmly in the driver’s seat, with more control over all aspects of their hotel business online.

It used to be easy to distinguish commerce from ecommerce. Bricks-and-mortar meant commerce, online marketplaces meant ecommerce. Nowadays, there is a fine line between the two, as virtually every business distributes their brand, products, or services online.

Ultimately, hotel commerce, and more specifically, hotel commerce platforms, can enable your business to run with the same principles as major ecommerce players such as Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, Uber and Booking.com

Hotel commerce is the ability for every accommodation provider to easily sell, market, manage and grow their business, while maximising the opportunities that come with these new and ever-changing consumer demands.

Ecommerce is simply the digital version of commerce. In attempting to capitalise on ecommerce, hotel industry businesses will look to create a direct booking website, will list on OTAs such as Booking.com and Expedia, and will work to come up as a result on search and metasearch engines. Modern technology allows every step of the customer journey to be taken online, and the ultimate goal is to secure an online booking.

The impact of ecommerce in the hotel industry is hard to understate. Before the rise of the internet it was incredibly difficult for a traveller to organise their own trip, particularly if that trip was international. Now there are a wealth of user-friendly digital tools that allow anyone, no matter their technical literacy, to organise every aspect of their own trip.

Ecommerce is the most efficient and effective way for a hotel to secure business. When tools and technologies are set up correctly, and when appropriate investments are made in marketing, a hotel can enjoy a steady stream of new business while barely lifting a finger. Guests search for accommodation online, find and compare different options, and book the one that suits them best, usually without any one-on-one interaction with the chosen hotel.

All this is not to say that hotel ecommerce is an easy win. The incredible potential of ecommerce for accommodation providers means that most hotels are looking to attract customers online, and on the internet you don’t just compete against the hotels in your area – you compete against the rest of the world. For a hotel to succeed in ecommerce it must put in real effort and make an investment in quality hotel ecommerce software.

Hotel commerce gives every accommodation provider the opportunity to maximise their business in the ever-changing world of online commerce.

It’s about driving more business with access to all direct and indirect channels where travellers are spending their time online. It’s about control with easy access to meaningful and clear data for informed decisions. It’s about saving time with user-friendly and smart technology that’s accessible to every user with minimal training.

The industry has historically had a lot of disparate systems and fragmented data for hoteliers to navigate, not to mention new external challenges such as staff shortages and economic pressures.

Added to this are the changes in traveller behaviours, motivations, and preferences. The steps forward by e-commerce giants such as Amazon mean your guests are now expecting similar levels of service from every online interaction.

Hotel commerce adds plenty of benefits and eliminates many of your pain points.

It means:

• Removing limitations on how you sell and market your property
• Offering more opportunities to maximise revenue
• Turning a lack of control into complete control over your operations
• Fragmented data becoming centralised data, accessible in real-time
• Getting the most out of resources, experts, and tech solutions
• Enhancing the guest experience via increased personalisation, responsiveness, and added value

Capitalising on the online potential of your hotel is only possible with the right hotel ecommerce solution – one that lets you manage everything from one place, not in parts. Does your hotel have such a solution? Ask yourself if you are set up to:

Sell

• Automate and balance your inventory distribution across your direct and indirect booking channels
• Access all top performing booking channels in your market
• Capture high value travellers via top global distribution systems
• Collect more direct reservations and guest relationships via metasearch channels such as Google Hotels

Market

• Build and showcase your brand to attract the guests you’re looking for
• Earn more direct revenue with commission-free bookings, upsell offers, time or market-specific deals and promotions
• Increase conversions with quick and easy booking processes
• Control and strengthen guest relationships with personalised communications

Manage

• Easily manage critical business processes and performance, such as distribution, marketing, bookings and payments
• Automate booking and guest information with two-way property management system integrations
• Make fast and informed decisions with real-time data
• Process payments, refunds and invoices with secure and convenient payment options

Grow

• Access an ecosystem of hotel systems that can adapt to your needs
• Access innovative apps to drive profit, improve guest experiences and boost loyalty
• Find local experts in your market to lean on for guidance
• Work with a tech partner that can accommodate your hotel at any stage of growth, with the resources to help you thrive

It’s a lot of bases to cover, which is why so many hoteliers feel overwhelmed by the challenge of capitalising on ecommerce. But with the right help, a complex challenge can become surprisingly simple.

The best hotel ecommerce platform will tick every box above – and a whole lot more.

SiteMinder is the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform. A single place with everything needed for accommodation providers to sell, market, manage and grow their business. It gives hoteliers flexible pathways to start, upgrade or scale their business through award-winning distribution and marketing technologies, 24/7 support and the largest ecosystem of best-in-class hotel technology integrations, apps and partners.

SiteMinder gives you the chance to start with a FREE trial and to cancel anytime. If (or when!) you’re happy, the platform is available for independent hotels of all sizes via two bundled pricing plans that come with a monthly fee – all designed to meet the needs for online distribution and marketing and the desire to accelerate growth.

Yes! SiteMinder has a comprehensive solution for hotel groups and chains, check out SiteMinder Multi-Property for more information.