The eRes Mobile Booking Engine can create an Abandonment Coupon Code for guests that abandon the booking process early. The following article reviews how to set up an Abandonment Promotion in the Online Booking Promotions module of the PMS.
Step 1: Create the Rate Plan in the Rate Wizard
The first step to creating an Abandonment Promotion for eRes is to create the Rate Plan for the Promotion. When creating the new Rate Plan, ensure that the Rate Category “ONLINE PROMOTION” is selected, and the Hotel Website Rate Type is checked.
For more information on creating a rate plan, please refer to the article How to create a Rate Plan using the Rate Wizard in the Rates manual.
NOTE: The rate set on the new rate plan should reflect the desired Promotional Rate. For example, if the rate is to be 10% off Best Available Rate, then the Promotional Rate should be set to tier at 10% of the Best Available Rate.
Step 2: Attach Rate to Client Type
Attach the Promotional Rate Plan to the Online Booking (Web) Client Type.
For more information on attaching rates to Client Types, please see the article How to attach a Rate to a Client Type in the Rates manual.
Step 3: Creating the Online Booking Promotion
Once the Abandonment Promotional Rate Plan has been created, proceed to System Configuration > Online Booking Promotions.
Click Add New, and fill in the following information on the General tab:
- Promo Name – the name of the Abandonment Promotion
- Active – check this box to make the Promotion active
- Is Amount – check this box if the Abandonment Promotion being offered is a discount based on a dollar amount. If the Abandonment Promotion is based on a percentage, leave this box unchecked
- Discount – enter the amount or percentage of the discount. NOTE: The discount entered here does not actually affect the Promotional Rate itself; the discount should have already been applied in the Rate Wizard when the Abandonment Promotional Rate was created. The discount entered here simply allows eRes to display the discounted amount online. So if your Promotional Rate is set to $180.00, the PMS will calculate $200 - 10% = $180, so it will show the original rate (the one below with the strikethrough) as $200.00
- Date From/Date To – the date the promotion begins & ends
- Start Time/End Time – if the promotion is only meant to run during certain times of the day, then set a Start & End time. If the promotion is meant to run 24hrs a day during the selected date range, then leave this area blank
-
Cutoff Days - By setting a Cutoff Day, you are telling eRes that this Abandonment Promotion is not available 'X' Days before booking and Is Valid:
- Inside the days prior to arrival date – If Cutoff Days are set to 30, the Abandonment Promotion will become available for booking 30 days prior to the arrival date
-
Outside the days prior to the arrival date – If Cutoff Days are set to 30, the Abandonment Promotion will start immediately, and only be available until 30 days prior to arrival, at which point it will no longer be available
- NOTE: If the Cutoff Days are set to 0, this means that the Abandonment Promotion is only available TODAY. If the Cutoff Days are left blank, this means no Cutoff Day restrictions are in place
- Description – A short description of the Abandonment Promotion. This will appear on the screen when the guest tries to leave the booking
And this will appear just below the Book Now button on eRes when booking the Promotion
- Abandonment – This box must be checked if creating an Abandonment Promotion
- Require Coupon/Coupon Code – a Coupon Code must be assigned to all Abandonment Promotions. The Require Coupon box will automatically check as soon as the Abandonment box is checked. Enter the Coupon Code to be applied to this Promotion. If the guest chooses to have the Coupon emailed to them, they can use this Coupon Code for future bookings by entering this code into the “Do you have a coupon?” area of eRes when making their reservation.
Click OK to save.
Step 4: Attach the Rate Plan to the Promotion
Once the Promotional details have been set up and save, the next step is to attach the associated Promotional Rate to the desired Room Types the promotion is being offered on. Check the box next to each Room Type being offered on this Abandonment Promotion.
When done, click Update at the bottom.
NOTE: Only Discounted Rates apply for Abandonment Promotions. Discounted Guest Services DO NOT apply.
Now, if a guest goes to book a room during the date range of the Abandonment Promotion, depending on their browser, they will get a prompt notifying them of the Promotion when they try to exit the page before finishing their booking. It will look similar to this:
If the option Stay on this Page is selected, the following box will appear, displaying the Coupon Code for the Abandonment Promotion. The booker may choose to book later, instead having the code emailed to them. They can simply input their email address into the field provided.
