Are you utilising vouchers to increase revenue?

Are you utilising vouchers to increase revenue during the festive lead-up?

Our Customer Success Manager, Tom Gorman takes you through his top tips to increase your voucher opportunities and, of course, sales. 

We’re certainly in the throws of voucher season!

Whilst people are being more frugal this year, they’re also taking their time to really research how they are spending and what they are giving as gifts. Given the past few years, both hotels and guests have had to be creative and what better gift than a stay or experience at a hotel? 

Despite the current climate, we see a huge increase in demand for vouchers during this October to December period, which works out perfectly for many hotels as the redemption dates can be January to March - a common need period for most hotels. 

So, what can you do to increase those voucher sales this year?

Here’s some top tips:

Discounted Packages

This is where you can target your need period. 

Our voucher module allows you to restrict when a voucher is redeemable. For example you could have a package that is cheaper than the rate with added value inclusions that is redeemable only Sunday-Thursday from January to March. 

This is the model many voucher sites such as Groupon operate - but you can do this yourself without paying the huge commissions! And it’s all redeemable online.

Discounted Products/Services

Much like the packages, but is a discounted incentive to utilise other areas of your hotel during quieter times. For example an Afternoon tea or Spa Day for 2 - save 25% - redeemable Mon-Fri in Jan-March. This is really up to you to be creative and build an experience for your guests, as it can be anything you like which is all redeemed offline.

Standard Packages/Services

These will be more open packages at the full rate. 

Still a great gift as the person with the voucher can redeem these against any date without as many restrictions. Allowing more flexibility for your guest.

Monetary Gift

Set up a voucher of any currency that can be redeemable online (or offline) against hotel stays. Again a great gift as it gives the customer a lot of flexibility and can be a popular choice while guests are being more selective with how much money they’re spending. 

Occasions

The great thing about vouchers is that they don’t have to be just for the festive season! There are many other occasions where you can tailor a voucher.

• Black Friday / Cyber Monday
• Valentines Day
• Easter
• Birthdays
• Mother's day
• Wedding Gift
• Spa or F&B vouchers for people staying at the hotel (a voucher for Champagne to give to someone you know staying at the hotel)

Redeeming the vouchers

In order to utilise our voucher module you must have a payment gateway set up. This is a great protection for your hotel. It allows the voucher to be paid for immediately, the money is sent straight to the hotel and there is no need to wait for the vouchers to be redeemed to earn revenue from them.

Best to note, any customers that redeem vouchers online will automatically update in the Profitroom Suite as ‘redeemed’. Although, any vouchers redeemed offline need to be marked as redeemed manually in Profitroom Suite, as you don’t want the voucher being used multiple times.  

Non redemption of vouchers - Free revenue! 

It is useful to monitor the redemption rate as you still get paid even when the voucher goes unused! The non-redemption rate is usually higher for the lower priced vouchers such as Afternoon Teas and Drinks Offers, this can be as high as 30%. The higher the cost of the voucher the less likely it is to go unused.  

Marketing your vouchers

Via our booking engine, the vouchers are clearly shown in the top right corner of your website.

You can also create a link to a unique landing page for specific voucher campaigns, this is useful to use when promoting your vouchers via email and social media. 

Add the widget "BUY Voucher" on your homepage.

The pop-up appears when the user enters your website. If you have a website prepared by Profitroom and at least one configured voucher, the additional notification may be activated to encourage immediate interaction with your guest. 

In addition, a separate tab with vouchers/offers will allow you to highlight your new voucher offering. If the website is not prepared by Profitroom, contact the web administrator to add an appropriate tab. If your website is prepared by Profitroom, you will introduce changes in Profitroom Suite, simply ask us how.

"Buy a voucher"

Add a button on the home page next to the booking calendar. You can turn it on by contacting Profitroom Support. Send an e-mail or use the chat in Profitroom Suite.

Purchasing the voucher

Once the customer goes through and completes payment they will receive a PDF with the link to the offer (if able to book online) as well as the voucher code which can be used both online and offline.

Vouchers are certainly one of the unsung heroes of hotel revenue, they offer a hotel flexibility and opportunity, as well as giving the discerning customer a range of gifting options to suit their needs. 

One of the most exciting features of our new voucher creation form is the ability to set an expiry date for your vouchers. This way you can promote vouchers for a specific period of time and create the sense of urgency to use them before conditions change or promote hot seasonal offers.

Our Profitroom Suite allows you the chance to make the most of this revenue and communicate them to your potential customers. Contact us today to find out more about how you can make the most of our solutions and increase those voucher sales for the festive season.