How to Reduce Abandoned Bookings A Five-Step Guide

This is a huge loss for the company when it happens on a large scale, as it means that the hotel will have to pay for the conversions without having any real return on their investment. Therefore, it’s imperative for a hotel to minimize this problem as much as possible to ensure that they can retain the same level of profit.

In this article, we’ll go into details of what you can do to reduce the number of abandoned bookings to ensure that you’re generating as much profit as possible. With that said, let’s get to it.

Why do people abandon the booking page?

Typically, a high bounce rate is caused by poor interface design or slow load time, as both will make users lose interest in your site and services. Another thing that you may be overlooking is how complicated your booking process is. If you demand that prospective guests fill out 10 pages’ worth of forms before they can finalize their booking, they may balk and decide to find a more convenient option instead. Remember, not everyone will be willing to put in the effort required to fill out all those forms. The price will also have an effect on the booking rate of your hotel site, so it’s best that you manage these things properly if you want to maximize the number of bookings you get.

Here are five ways to effectively reduce abandoned bookings:

1. Streamline the booking process

As we have pointed out, having an overly complicated booking page will push people away from finalizing the booking. Therefore, you need to make sure the entire process is easy and comprised of as few steps as possible. Making sure your guests can complete their booking within three clicks at most is a great way to ensure that your booking process is simple.

2. Mobile optimize your site

More people are browsing with their mobile devices now. In fact, studies have shown that mobile browsing takes up nearly 50% of all traffic, so it’s essential that you make your website compatible with such devices. Otherwise, you’re letting those potential customers get away. Make sure your site is mobile-optimized, as that will reduce load time and ensure that it suits any screen size and OS. You also need to make sure that the CTAs are optimized to entice as many people to interact with it as possible.

3. Testing, testing, testing

Testing is the most crucial part of your web design. Without it, you won’t know where the issues lie, if there are any. Before you launch your website, make sure that you get a professional tester to come in and go over it for you. They can identify any UX/UI issues, along with other technical problems that your site may have. If you have a professional do the optimization work for you, that will ensure that you have a website that can meet the demands of your guests.

4. Include a wide range of payment options

With the kind of technology we have today, people aren’t only limited to using a credit card when making online purchases. They can use credit scores, cryptocurrency and PayPal, among other options, to make a payment. Therefore, you need to cater to a wider group of people by incorporating more payment methods into your checkout page. Remember, the easier it is for them to complete the booking, the more bookings you’ll have.

5. Show the best elements your hotel has to offer

When you’re presenting your hotel, make it so that there won’t be any question in their minds whether your establishment suits them or not. For example, if they go back and look at the photos of your establishment before they complete their booking, they should feel better about their decision, not worse.

This is why it’s crucial that you use high-quality images that make your hotel look good. If your promotional content doesn’t reassure people that they are making the right decision, you will see an increase in abandoned bookings, which will translate into an overall loss of profit.

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