{"id":1325,"date":"2019-09-19T06:59:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T06:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web_staging_fern.staging.cartstack.com\/blog\/?p=1325"},"modified":"2020-10-14T07:34:19","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T07:34:19","slug":"minimize-abandonment-drive-more-direct-bookings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cartstack.com\/blog\/minimize-abandonment-drive-more-direct-bookings\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Steps to Minimize Abandoned Hotel Bookings & Boost Direct Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Booking abandonment sucks. It wastes your marketing budget, minimizes your potential profit, fuels the business of online travel agents, and makes it difficult to drive more direct bookings. And, it\u2019s occurring all too often, with <\/span>four out of five potential customers<\/span><\/a> leaving your website before completing their reservation. But what can you do about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already covered the powerful potential of <\/span>booking abandonment emails for driving direct bookings<\/span><\/a> and recovering lost leads. But, with the average accommodation-purchase journey now taking <\/span>36 days and involving 45 touch points<\/span><\/a> – a single post-abandonment email won\u2019t cut it. And it certainly won\u2019t prevent booking abandonment from happening again.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week we\u2019re looking at how you can minimize online booking abandonment from happening in the first place by implementing on-site tactics, optimizing your checkout flow, and perfecting your recovery emails. But to begin with, let\u2019s take a look at why online booking abandonment is such a big problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem of online booking abandonment<\/span><\/h3>\n

Booking abandonment in the travel industry is now at a staggering <\/span>81.31% <\/span><\/a>– the second most abandoned online purchase. Why is this happening? Recent research into the reasons behind abandonment shows the top reasons for deserted reservations to be:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. More information and research needed;<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. To compare prices;<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. To check with other travelers;<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The length or complexity of booking;<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Technical issues; and<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Lack of payment options. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The interesting thing about all of these reasons is that they are all easily overcome. In fact, following last week\u2019s blog on <\/span>21 booking abandonment email examples that drive direct bookings<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019re likely targeting some of these booking barriers already. But can you do more?<\/span><\/p>\n

    How to Minimize Online Booking Abandonment – Three Simple Tactics<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Booking abandonment emails are a perfect tool for recovering anywhere between 10-20% of lost leads, but they\u2019re not a solution to the booking abandonment problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

    To address the problem, and get the most out of your existing website traffic, you need to reduce abandonment from happening to begin with – something that the following three tactics can help you with:<\/span><\/p>\n