In the crowded space of daily deals, there are two big players: LivingSocial and Groupon. Over the past few months, Groupon has received the lion’s share of attention due to their growth, investment and valuation. Still, since recently, LivingSocial is leading Groupon in monthly unique visitors and the site should attract even more customers thanks to the acquisition of the social adventure company, Urban Escapes.
The article "LivingSocial works to expand hotel-deals" explains what this new offering consist in and how it can help LivingSocial differentiating from its competitors, not only Groupon but also travel deal sites like SniqueAway, Rue La La, Jetsetter, Ideeli etc.
LivingSocial Escapes is the company's travel division. Unlike sites like Expedia that work with thousands of hotels, LivingSocial Escapes only work with a small number of hotels. The site sends to its members local travel deals, available for purchase for 7 days and that you can generally use withing a year. It is a small revolution in the daily deals as the offers for travels and hotel nights were very few on the coupons sites. The deals include not only 1 or 2 night at a local hotel but also a dinner, spa, or other benefits. Customers are then offered more than a hotel night, they are offered an experience thanks to these attractive packages.
Both the hotels and the customers benefit from these deals. For the hoteliers, it is the opportunity to attract new customers with the objective to convert them into loyal guests with value-added packages, or simply filling beds during a slow period with 50% discounts. It is also a way to sell customers an extra night or two since many people prefers escapes of more than 1 night. For the guests, it is a good way to try a new hotel for the week end not far from home and to enjoy an "experience" at least cost. Besides, the site found a good strategy to promote sharing, offering a free escape to its customers that share a deal with their friends and got 3 of them buy it.
I think the idea of selling hotel deals on coupons sites is a great idea, provided you do it wisely... While it can be a very interesting way to sell additional rooms during slow periods and a good way to attract new customers as well, there are also a risk to devalue your hotel and to create expectations from customers... Besides, it has been proved that giving great discount for engaging trials is not rewarding as you will mostly attract one time guests that are looking for the best offers and could not offer the standard price otherwise. Still, it remains a good way to avoid selling through OTAs and to create good publicity for your company, without mentioning the great opportunity to sell packages that are unique and give and added value to your products..
This article and your comment are very interesting. I know and I use Groupon with its numerous deals, its concept of coupons... But, before the reading of your comment, I did not know Living Social Escapes.I find this site very interesting and for me, it is a great idea!
RépondreSupprimerAs you said, the idea of selling hotel deals on coupons sites is a real great idea! It is a very good way to create a good publicity and visibility for a hotel. But, it is essential to keep in mind that the presence of your hotel on a site as Living Social Escapes can have a negative impact on your image, your standing (image devalued, "discount hotel"...).
So, in my opinion, the use of this site can be a good idea for a hotel, only if its image and its standing are preserved. This, I totally agree with you when you said that this site "remains a good way and opportunity to sell packages that are unique and give an added value to our products."
Today, customers are interesting by this type of site, and they search good deals for their purchase...so, they want to go on a luxury hotel but, only if they can benefit and find a good deal for this hotel.