Mobile rates: your hotel's secret weapon for more bookings

More and more of a hotel's bookings are decided on a small screen. Travellers research, compare and book on their phones, often in the same few minutes. Booking.com says that more than half of all bookings on its site now come through a mobile device. The question is whether your rates are set up to win them.

Made for the mobile traveller

The two largest OTAs both give hotels a way to reach these guests directly. Booking.com calls it a mobile rate. Expedia Group lets you create mobile promotions, shown only to travellers booking on its app or mobile site. Booking.com's own figures say a mobile rate can bring up to 30 per cent more bookings from mobile devices.

What a mobile rate is

A mobile rate is a discounted price that only travellers on a phone can see, in the platform's app or on its mobile website. A small, targeted discount puts your property in front of a large and active group of bookers.

On Booking.com the discount has to be at least 10 per cent, and Booking.com recommends 15 per cent for the best results. You choose whether it shows in the app only or in both the app and mobile browsers. By Booking.com's estimate, adding mobile browsers reaches around 30 per cent more potential guests than the app alone.

Check how it combines with your other offers before you settle on a number. On Booking.com a mobile rate stacks with Genius discounts, basic deals, last-minute deals and early booker deals, so the discounts add up. It does not combine with country rates or limited-time deals. A 10 per cent mobile rate on top of a Genius discount and a last-minute deal can take more off the price than you meant to.

Why it works

When a traveller scrolls through results on a phone, a listing with a mobile rate stands out. On Booking.com a badge appears next to your property in the search results, on your property page and during booking, and the price is shown with a strikethrough.

• More visibility. The badge and the reduced price help you stand out from the properties around you in the same search.
• Better conversion. A visible saving makes the decision easier, especially for last-minute travellers, who are usually on their phones.
• The right audience. Mobile bookers are an active group that books on the go. Booking.com says two-thirds of mobile bookings are made by millennials, who also write more reviews than any other group, and more reviews can help your ranking.

How to switch it on

• Booking.com: sign in to the extranet, open Promotions, choose a new promotion and add a mobile rate. Pick app and mobile web or app only, enter the discount and block any dates where it should not apply. You can also limit it to certain rate plans, lengths of stay or booking windows.
• Expedia: in Expedia Partner Central, open Promotions in the marketing section, create a promotion and select the mobile option, then set the dates and any restrictions.

Keep the rest of the path mobile

A mobile rate wins the guest's attention, but the booking still has to be easy, and guests who find you on an OTA often look you up afterwards. Your own website needs to work as well on a phone as the OTA's app does.

thelobbyboy's booking engine has a checkout built for the phone, and a booking link you can send on WhatsApp, Viber or Messenger. Its channel manager keeps rates and availability in sync across the OTAs in real time, so a booking made on a phone never lands on a room that has already gone.

A mobile rate takes a few minutes to set up. It meets travellers where they already are and keeps you in the running for a growing share of the market.