TECHNOLOGY : MOBILE
“ In our segment with a
relatively high price point , I DON ’ T THINK
CUSTOMERS are going to switch completely to mobile .” — Christoph Oberli , Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
foresee the hotel mobile website to eventually be integrated with in-room control , service delivery , entertainment and communication functions ,” Yip says . “ We are looking at enhancing the current mobile site with additional sections to provide more bespoke lifestyle information to benefit guests and residents . Our focus is to develop more user-friendly functionality and location-related content .”
Designing for conversion In many cases , mobile bookings are made at the last minute , and since discounting is avoided for these types of sales , ease of use is paramount , especially since there is strong competition from online travel agencies .
“ For mobile it ’ s important to use HTML5 and CSS3 to make a highly responsive website that can work across various platforms ,” says Robert Cole , the founder of hotel technology consultancy RockCheetah , Menomonee Falls , Wisconsin . “ The site has to be very fast because although mobile customers are really engaged buyers , with one in five visits typically producing an immediate booking , they are also unforgiving , as about 75 % of people won ’ t wait more than five seconds for a screen to appear . Thumb-friendliness is very important .”
Mobile websites are also seeing more usage for booking than apps , which are typically used by loyal customers only .
“ The world is shifting away from apps to mobile-optimized websites . With the proliferation of apps , someone who has 50 apps already does not necessarily want more hotel company apps ,” says John Burns , president of Hospitality Technology Consulting , Scottsdale , Arizona .
While hotel companies acknowledge that an optimized website is the most important offering in the mobile space , they are adamant about the value of developing apps for loyal customers . “ To compete with online travel agencies effectively , hotels are better off combining the advantages of apps and mobile websites to present a better value proposition to the customer ,” Meliá ’ s Gelabert says .
To do this hotel companies are developing stay-management features for apps and websites so that in addition to replacing the room phone , a guest ’ s cell phone could replace the remote control and the room key card — all things online travel agencies can ’ t provide on their apps .
Screenshot from Meliá ’ s iPhone app
Screenshot from Accor ’ s iPhone app
“ We will continue to move forward leveraging a strategy that involves integration with the property experience ,” IHG ’ s Menis says . “ We are testing a number of things such as the mobile key .” Ordering room service is another feature being developed for the mobile space , allowing hotel companies to personalize stay management , collect data on customers and drive F & B revenue .
“ Hoteliers can integrate mobile platforms with proprietary PMS to enhance and personalize service delivery ,” Gelabert says .
The new Starwood Preferred Guest app integrates social media profiles , which allows guests to learn more about and share their experiences at hotels and destinations , helping generate more digital word-of-mouth buzz .
“ We wanted to create something that someone could use with one thumb while walking to the airport ,” Holdren says . “ You can see in one touch what your friends have done in our hotels , you can read Foursquare tips , read Facebook walls and Twitter feeds . We ’ re making everything very personalized .”
Involving more location-based features is something Starwood has focused on , too . “ We know that over 60 % of the bookings are stays within the next 24 hours ,” Holdren adds . “ That puts the focus on new app to find hotels around you .”
More real estate on tablets Should a tablet be considered a mobile device ? Currently it is lumped into the mobile space despite its considerable differences from a cell phone , and hotel companies are taking a different design approach to tablets .
“ Personally , I think a tablet is not a mobile site because of the size . A tablet is closest to desktop size , and therefore I would actually treat them as three different channels ,” Oberli says .
Design-wise this means more photos and videos to showcase properties can be used , and hotel companies are integrating these into their tablet apps . “ We ’ ve created a lot of unique multimedia assets that are only used for the mobile app ,” Holdren says . “ We ’ ve done a lot on the photo side .”
56 HOTELS May 2012 www . hotelsmag . com