THN’s BenchDirect Insights report shows 40% increase in hotel website conversion rates in London in September 2021

The Hotels Network (THN), a comprehensive direct growth platform for hotels, released its latest BenchDirect Insights Report which provides valuable insight into the current performance of direct hotel channels in the UK and Ireland, with a particular focus on London. By comparing the monthly evolution of the region from April to September 2021, the study examines the key metrics essential to an effective direct booking strategy, from website conversion rates to the frequency of price disparities.

The goal is to highlight the trends identified by the THN team while analyzing data from BenchDirect, the company’s recent product launch and the industry’s first benchmarking platform for the direct channel. . The report presents aggregated data from hotel websites and is independent of the technology they use, as it is based on anonymized data from THN’s hotel guest network.

What does the data show?

Looking at developments from April to September 2021, there are encouraging signs of a recovery for the UK and Irish hotel industry, particularly in London. The full study can be viewed here, while some key findings are highlighted below:

• Despite declining over the summer months, conversion rates for hotel websites in the UK and Ireland started to pick up in September (see graph above). The increase was highest at hotels in London, with conversation rates peaking at 4.6%, due to a sharp increase in the conversion rate of visitors to the booking engine.
• The average value of bookings for direct bookings also gradually improved over the months of this analysis.
• Following a global trend, the mobile remains the first device in terms of traffic acquisition. But with higher conversion rates, Desktop remains the preferred device when finalizing the booking process.
• For hotels in the UK and Ireland, traffic acquisition is driven by search, a channel that also works well in terms of conversion rates.
• The frequency of price disparities increased again in September 2021, while the amount of disparities improved slightly, resulting in a minimum rate difference of 9%. London hotels showed a much higher frequency of price disparities than the rest of the UK and Ireland.
• Looking at the full funnel, the average length of stay searched on hotel websites in the UK and Ireland is consistently higher than what is ultimately booked.

Opportunities for hotels in UK and Ireland to further boost direct bookings

While there were positive indicators in terms of a recovery in September, there is still significant potential for hotel brands in the region to identify where they are underperforming relative to the market and implement some gains. fast to improve their direct channel performance:

• With an average of 96% of visitors still leaving the hotel website without a reservation, hotels in the area have a huge opportunity to generate additional direct revenue by focusing on improving conversion rates.
• Looking further into the booking funnel, in particular visitor conversion rates to the booking engine have steadily declined in the UK and Ireland since May 2021. Using techniques such as website personalization to improving the user experience on the hotel homepage, it is possible to drive more visitors to the booking engine and improve overall conversion rates.
• Lower conversion rates on mobile suggest it makes sense for hotels in the UK and Ireland to devote more resources to optimizing the mobile user experience as well as creating mobile-only deals .
• As price disparities continue to be an issue in the region and knowing that this negatively impacts direct booking volumes, hotel brands can incentivize more customers to book direct by monitoring price disparities, by reassuring users that they have the best price available and offering a price match. if the prices are undercut.

Understanding how your properties are performing against the market should be a key part of any brand’s direct channel strategy, and BenchDirect is a free platform that gives you just that. If you don’t have an account yet, be sure to request yours today and join a global network of over 12,000 hotels that already run benches.

About the hotel network

Working with more than 10,000 hotels worldwide, The Hotels Network offers its customers a comprehensive growth platform to fuel their direct channel. By leveraging a suite of built-in tools and analytics, hotel brands can attract, engage and convert guests across the user journey.

In addition to price comparison, review summary, and a full suite of customization options, THN’s Oraculo product leverages machine learning techniques to predict user behavior, then automatically personalizes the message and l offer for each user. The company’s latest innovation, BenchDirect, is the first benchmarking product for the direct channel, providing hotels with unprecedented competitive data that completely changes the rules of the game.

THN’s mission is to improve the online booking experience, develop direct bookings and strengthen the relationship between hotel brands and their customers.

For more information visit: www.thehotelsnetwork.com or contact [email protected].