THERE’S been so much talk of collaboration in the travel and hospitality scene lately, which is much needed as the industry continues to grow in the next year. As major brands and platforms discover new segments and demographics entering this space, one key factor to think about is customer retention. Personalisation, flexibility, and price are all ways to keep a customer booking, staying, and most importantly, coming back.
Agoda recently announced that it is introducing a new ‘Price Freeze’ feature on its desktop and mobile web platforms by the year’s end, following a collaboration agreement with Hopper Cloud. The feature should be available for all users by early 2023. Essentially, the feature will allow Agoda users to ‘freeze’ a price on an accommodation before confirming the booking.
The mechanism is pretty simple – the new feature allows travellers to search properties on the Agoda platform and ‘freeze’ or lock prices for a deposit, for a maximum of 14 days. During this time, consumers have a choice to continue with the booking or forfeit their initial deposit if they decide to cancel.
As mentioned, it’s an interesting exercise in customer retention that benefits both sides. The ability to lock a price means consumers won’t have to worry about a price surge the next day, or the day after. We’ve all been there – we see a listing we like, we decide to sleep on it, only to find the price has increased the next day. A price freeze protects customers against fluctuations and changes, and honours the lowest price should it drop during the ‘freeze’.
As for the platform, a deposit all but confirms that a customer has decided to make the booking. “By introducing price freeze technology to the Agoda platform we are able to offer travellers even greater flexibility, choice and best prices. Great news for them, and great business for our accommodation partners through increased productivity and conversion”, said Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of Agoda.
While customer retention cultivates competition, a sign of a thriving industry, it’s important to note that Agoda’s new feature is the result of collaboration between two industry heavyweights – Agoda and Hopper.
Launched in 2021, Hopper Cloud is Hopper’s B2B initiative that allows travel providers to integrate Hopper’s fintech and travel inventory solutions on their respective platforms. The collaboration marks simultaneous growth for both brands, as Hopper has been making waves lately with some big moves.
You can read about Hopper’s growth in 2022 here:
