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Whether you’re new to eCommerce or a seasoned expert, there is a recipe for creating a well-designed site. These 5 tips will start you in the right direction and ensure you’re making the most of your Inntopia eCommerce store.
If you have a product to sell, you need to make sure your customers can buy it in as few clicks as possible. If the process is cumbersome, a customer might abandon their cart and forget about the purchase.
To make it easy, use a booking widget whenever you describe a product or package on your site to simplify the next step for your customers. Ensure that your booking widgets are visible throughout the customer’s experience on your site, always above the fold, assuming that your site is responsive. The key is, ensuring the easiest path to making a purchase with as few clicks or scrolls as possible. With that in mind, rather than using general URLs to your Inntopia store in your booking widgets, link directly into the package, lodging property or activity product category you’re presenting on your website. A handy guide for building those types of URLs can be found here. Let’s be honest, in the digital age, we’ve all become less inclined to seek out booking buttons if they are not literally placed right in front of our faces.
You know the saying…A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words. Guests want to see what your lodging options, activities, golf courses, trails, event venues, scenery, and everything else looks like. Use updated and professional photos that are a consistent size (we recommend 840 px by 460 px), and use a lot of them. If you’re selling a room, include pictures of the bed type, bathroom, sitting area, kitchen, views from the terrace, as well as the common areas that are available to the guest, such as storage lockers, pools, hot tubs, laundry facilities, and entrances to the building. Make sure you also include captions so your guests know what they are looking at.
For additional tips on how to make the best use of photos within your RMS, check out our other post here as well as our step-by-step guide on how to upload your photos to your RMS accounts.
One thing that entices a guest is a good promotion. Are you creating new and exciting promotions based on the season and local events? For example, are you within the best solar eclipse viewing area? Do you have the perfect spot for guests to view it? Create a special package to attract guests to experience this unforgettable event. Make the most out of local entertainment (festivals, music, etc.) or special events by building current and creative promotions. To put it simply, take what makes you unique, and leverage it throughout all of your messaging, promotions, and packages.
When we say “additional value”, we don’t mean free. Offer products that complement what the guest has already purchased. For example, if the guest is purchasing lift tickets, you could create a bundle to also offer lessons, equipment valet services, or even tubing. By bundling products together, you can provide the guest with additional options that they may not have known were available. This will help you upsell while enhancing the guest’s experience. You will also be able to better anticipate incoming business levels, since your guests will have pre-purchased activities, keeping you in the know as to where your guests will be and when.
Now that the guest has decided to make the booking, make it as simple as possible for the guest to complete the booking process. Limit the number of requirements that the guest must provide to only those that are absolutely necessary to complete the transaction and capture the necessary guest data to fulfill their products. The fewer steps a guest needs to make to complete a transaction, the more transactions your business will experience, and the result will be an increase in revenue opportunities.
When your eCommerce site is easy to use with plenty of pictures and details, the guest will have a positive experience. This will result in more bookings and increased revenue for you.
Read more troubleshooting and Innovative U posts:
Lodging Suppliers: What Else Do You Have to Offer Me?
The Five RMS Features You Should be Using Now
Why Doesn’t My Promotion Display Properly Online?
Introducing the Comparison Tool
Why isn’t my bundle working?
Five Benefits to Using Inntopia CRS + Responsive Commerce
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