We’ve taken you through the journey of “being found” and “being enticing” when it comes to booking leakages, now we’re moving onto the “being compelling” aspect that will essentially help you get the deal across the line.
Price parity is about you offering the same rates to all public channels. Competitive pricing is all about implementing a true dynamic pricing strategy that ensures you are charging the right rates at the right times.
A big part of this is ensuring your public pricing is competitive and delivers value for money on any given day compared to your key competitors. This does not mean a race to the bottom price. Instead, it simply means considering your own holdings and how you think you are travelling.
Essentially, pricing is what gets listings over the line. Of course, things like location and everything we have spoken about before regarding being found and enticing are important factors to consider. But, at the end of the day, people will make a decision based on pricing.
The bottom line number, together with the value that you’re offering, is what’s going to get you over the line in the end.
To have a competitive pricing strategy, you need to monitor the market and see what’s going on with other similar property listings. You need to become systemised and almost programmatic about it to have clarity around what’s happening in the marketplace. When you have the clarity you need, you can gain confidence around what to do with your pricing.
Consumers are price-sensitive these days, and it has developed an eternal search for ‘value for money for just about anything you can purchase online. Unfortunately, even if you have the best product and present it well, sometimes you can quickly be out-Googled by an inferior competitor willing to offer a lower price.
So, it’s key to consistently watch competitor activity and make the necessary adjustment to minimise booking leakage for your hotel. We suggest setting up a dynamic pricing rhythm that involves adjusting your pricing certain periods ahead at regular intervals.
