2024 hospitality benchmark report
Web capture – North America
Web capture – North America
In this chapter you will find
In this chapter you will find
Introduction
Introduction
The web capture channel represents how hoteliers collect guest data from across their online footprint — including review sites, OTAs, and their own brand page — and activate this data to drive direct revenue. Revinate collects web capture data in the form of reputation management as well as website and cart abandonment.
A data-driven approach to web capture and reputation management gives hoteliers the power to take control of the guest experience by understanding and applying guest feedback and online behavior at scale. In turn, they drive more revenue: one study found that a 1-star increase in online ratings can lead to a 2.2-3% increase in monthly revenue. And a Cornell study found that hotels that respond to 40-45% of reviews may see their booking revenue increase by 2.2x compared to those who don’t answer their reviews at all.
With reputation management, hoteliers monitor their hotel rating across review sites and respond to reviews. We’ll explore how benchmarks for reputation management vary across region, room count, and hotel class.
Abandonment can happen for lots of reasons — better rates, a change of plans, or just plain old distraction. Hoteliers can capture these visitors’ email addresses from the booking engine alongside browsing information and use that data to send targeted messages and win back lost revenue. We’ll share benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue per booking from cart abandonment campaigns.
Website and cart abandonment refers to guests and potential guests who browse your website, enter the booking engine, but ultimately don’t complete their reservation. The cart abandonment rate for hotels is 80% – meaning one in five guests who start a reservation won’t finish. That’s a lot of revenue slipping through the cracks.
Downloads
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North America web capture benchmarks
North America web capture benchmarks
The purpose of these benchmarks is to help hoteliers evaluate their own performance, identify areas for improvement, and set realistic goals. Within the web capture category, we’ll share benchmarks specific to the North America region for reputation management and cart abandonment campaigns.
Reputation management: Benchmarks for review volume, top review sites, average ratings, and more
Reputation management: Benchmarks for review volume, top review sites, average ratings, and more
The difference between a #1 spot on Tripadvisor and #10 spot can be the difference between a thriving property and a floundering one. That’s no surprise, since location, price, and reviews are the top three factors in booking decisions. As such, hoteliers that actively manage their reputation across review sites with data have an advantage.
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Hotel review volume
In North America, the average number of reviews a hotel receives each month increased by 4.1%, about the same growth rate as EMEA. However, both EMEA and APAC receive significantly more reviews per month compared to North America. This tracks with global trends in occupancy rates.
Hotel review volume by hotel class
Luxury hotels in North America had the largest growth rate in their review volume with a 15.2% jump from 2022, bringing in 88 reviews per month on average. Only Upper Upscale hotels had more reviews per month on average, at 100.
Remember, more — and better — reviews don’t just happen on their own. You need to ask for them. Try checking in mid-stay (the messaging channel is especially apt for this) to see how a guest’s stay is going. This way, you’ll have time to address and resolve any issues that may have come up. Then, solicit guest reviews after checkout with automated emails, and watch the five-star reviews come rolling in.
Top review sites
Hoteliers also need to prioritize the review sites with the most visibility in order to use staff time efficiently. In North America, Google takes the prize for the largest share of reviews. Other top players include Booking.com, Expedia, and Tripadvisor.
Average hotel rating
In 2023, North America increased its average hotel rating from 3.9 to 4.1, landing slightly below the global benchmark. This is good news after several years of declining ratings in NAM, as we’ve previously reported. 2022 was a challenging year for hoteliers, as recovering occupancy and resurgent ADR combined with a staffing shortage contributed to decreased guest satisfaction in many areas. While staffing challenges continued into 2023, this rise in average hotel ratings is an encouraging sign that hoteliers are adapting to meet guest expectations.
Average hotel rating by hotel size
Unlike EMEA and APAC, larger hotels in North America have no particular advantage when it comes to their average ratings. Hotels with fewer than 100 rooms and more than 200 rooms are tied with an average rating of 4.1.
Average hotel rating by hotel class
Comparing average hotel ratings by class, we see that Economy and Midscale hotels achieved the largest gains. Still, ratings and hotel class are roughly correlated, with Luxury hotels receiving the highest ratings and Economy hotels the lowest.
Review response rate
One effective strategy to improve your rating is to engage with reviews. A Cornell study has shown that responding to reviews, especially negative ones, can positively impact customers’ perception of a business and result in higher scores. In fact, 78% of customers state that seeing management responses to online reviews made them feel like the business values their opinion.
Revinate recommends that hoteliers respond to 100% of negative reviews, and about half of positive reviews as a best practice. Learn more tips for managing your reputation in our guide, “How to respond to hotel reviews.”
In North America, the average review response rate in 2023 was 54.6%, closely in line with the global benchmark. The same Cornell study revealed that hotels that respond to 40-45% of reviews may increase their booking revenue by 2.2x compared to hotels that don’t answer reviews at all. However, responding to more than 40-45% of reviews had diminishing returns. Clearly, North America hoteliers are exceeding this threshold and actively engaging with their guests on review sites.
Review response rate by hotel size
When analyzing review response rates by room count, hotels with more than 150 rooms responded to a higher percentage of their reviews than properties with fewer rooms.
Hotels with 1-50 rooms saw a slight decrease in their response rate, but still stayed within the recommended margin.
Review response rate by hotel class
Taking a look at review response rates according to hotel class, we see that while response rates went up in the region overall, Upscale hotels had the largest shift in their response rates, growing by 9%.
Use this benchmark data to see how your hotel matches up with your peers. Remember, guests leave reviews when asked to, so make sure you ask often and at the right moment — after they’ve completed an excellent stay. Respond to both positive and negative reviews to show that you take guest feedback seriously. More reviews and higher rankings can lead directly to more bookings.
Cart abandonment: Benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue
Cart abandonment: Benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue
Cart abandonment campaigns are one of hoteliers’ richest opportunities to win incremental direct revenue from the same volume of website traffic. For every 100 people that enter the booking engine, only about 20 will complete their reservations.
Instead of letting the other 80 go, a simple follow-up email should secure another 11 bookings, using the North America regional average conversion rate of 12%.
Quick links
Cart abandonment overview
Engagement benchmarks — open rates and click-through rates — for cart abandonment campaigns are higher than average at 70% and 25% respectively. The regional averages for all email campaigns, meanwhile, are a 43.4% open rate and a 3.8% click-through rate.
At 12%, cart abandonment conversion rates also significantly outperform the North America regional average conversion rate of 0.7% for campaigns of all types.
Average booking value and room nights booked
So, what does this all mean for your bottom line? Each reservation from a cart abandonment campaign averages four room nights and $1,354 in booking revenue. Using our example above, that would equate to 44 room nights and $14,894 of incremental direct revenue.
Looking for inspiration on how to improve your cart abandonment campaigns? Check out our guide, “Top 10 strategies to recover revenue from website and cart abandonment,” with example campaigns from top properties around the world.
