Converting website visitors into bookings remains the cornerstone of success for any tour and activity operator. However, with the average website conversion rate hovering around 4% in 2023, it is clear that the vast majority of operators face the challenge of effectively converting lookers into bookers.
Widgets or website integrations have been used for quite some time to improve user experience and optimize conversions. You probably already know or use a number of widgets on your website, from social proof integrations to review and rating systems, live chats and language translation. They all play a vital role in improving the experience of your users, but one type of widget stands out above the rest in terms of its impact on conversion rates: booking engine widgets.
In the following article, we delve into the ins and outs of conversion rates, focusing on the capabilities of TrekkSoft's booking engine. Whether your goal is to improve the user experience, streamline the booking process or simply increase your conversion rate, read on to discover how these goals can be achieved.
Understanding conversion rates
Conversion rate is a key metric for evaluating your digital performance. In its simplest form, it is a percentage encompassing the number of visitors who make a booking after visiting your website, promotional campaigns, or interacting with specific elements on your website.
Now, understanding that conversion rate is important is one thing, knowing how to optimize it is another ball game altogether. There are numerous factors that can influence a website's conversion rate. This can range from the design and speed of your website to its mobile optimisation, description quality of your tours and activities, customer reviews, testimonials and much more.
Among them all, there is a fundamental cog in the conversion rate wheel: the booking engine. Think of it not as just another checkbox in the buying process, but as the grand finale where the decision to buy is made. For any tour and activity operators out there, the role of the booking engine in streamlining the conversion process and boosting conversion rates cannot be overstated.
Learn more: Website conversion optimisation for tour businesses
Our Booking Engine performance
Over the past few years, we have refined the capabilities of our booking engine and tracked its performance. As a result, we have proudly seen our users enjoy an average booking widget conversion rate of 18% by 2023.
Observation of user behaviour on different devices has yielded crucial data. For example, conversion rates from the same period increase on desktops and iPhones, reaching 20% and 19% respectively. This is indicative of a highly effective cross-platform experience that attracts users to their favourite devices without compromising performance.
Upon closer examination, our analysis projects a range of conversion rates by geography, highlighting TrekkSoft's unique ability to adapt to different markets. For example, Swiss users have a conversion rate of 10.88%, Norwegian users 14.69%, British users 14% and Italian users 16%.
This data not only demonstrates TrekkSoft's global appeal, but also highlights how effectively our platform adapts to different customer behaviours and preferences in various cultural contexts.
Driving conversions with key features
Our booking engine takes a customer-centric approach, ensuring that every touchpoint is not just a transaction, but a meaningful connection. Here are some of the key features:
A customer-centric design
Put aside the worry of pushing your customers to make rushed purchases. Instead, TrekkSoft advocates a stress-free browsing experience where customers can add items to their basket as they browse your website. A subtle push in the form of a timer and signals indicating when items are running low or out of stock. These measures create a sense of urgency and smoothly guide customers to check out.
Responsiveness
Whether your customers are booking on a smartphone during their lunch break, or searching for their next holiday on a laptop in the comfort of their own home, TrekkSoft delivers a fluid experience. No matter the screen size or device, our booking solution is optimized, freeing you from any additional configuration tasks.
Crystal clear pricing
Price transparency is key to conversions. With TrekkSoft, your users can track daily price changes directly from the calendar function. In this way, you help your customers find and evaluate offers tailored to their needs, while you can adjust your prices according to seasonality or other variables that are relevant to your business model.
Learn more: Seize pricing power with the new pricing calendar feature
Personalization
TrekkSoft allows you to modify booking forms to suit your needs and align them with your customers' preferences. Beyond form field adjustments, you can also implement cross-selling and up-selling strategies efficiently.
Data at your command
Monitor your conversion rates, refunds, daily sales and payments with our reports. We believe that knowledge is power, hence our comprehensive reports aim to illuminate areas for growth and improvement, leading the way to better conversions.
Bridging language barriers
Our booking engine crosses borders by operating in many languages and currencies, breaking down any barriers for non-English speaking customers. This allows us to offer a complete booking service regardless of the customer's geographic location, language or currency.
Automated confirmation emails and review reminders
All bookings receive an instant confirmation message via our automated email system for your guests' peace of mind. In addition, our guest reminder encourages guests to share their feedback after their experience for you to increase your social proof.
Effortless checkout experience
Our aim is to offer a streamlined experience, which has led us to reduce the purchasing steps to a minimum, capturing only the essentials. The result is a comfortable and agile shopping process that respects the customer's time and patience.
Conclusion
TrekkSoft's booking engine is optimizing conversion rates for tour and activity operator websites by prioritising a customer-centric design, responsiveness, clear pricing, personalisation, actionable data, a smooth checkout process and a focus on continuous improvement.
Operators using TrekkSoft are witnessing significant improvements in website conversion rates across multiple devices, highlighting the platform's effectiveness in adapting to market needs and enhancing digital presence.
Take the first step towards optimizing your conversions. Book a live demo with our experts and discover how TrekkSoft can help.
