Awaze drives increase in repeat bookings for the Hoseasons and Cottages.com brands with a timely, personalised email programme

Objectives:

• Increase conversion rates of re-bookings from existing customers.
• Provide a relevant and timely prompt to customers whilst ‘in the moment’.
• Convert bookers using email as a cheaper channel than Pay-Per-Click (PPC).

Results:

• Customers showing a love for either the same holiday property or wanting to experience other accommodation options.
• An automated process using Upland Adestra ‘Promotion Codes’ feature to test voucher codes in a controlled manner.
• A project that is scalable for both cottages.com and Hoseasons.

Deliver an engaging personalised email programme at every step of the customer journey.

The Challenge

The Central Marketing team are responsible for customer retention by achieving return bookings at low cost to Awaze. In a competitive market, getting repeat bookings as soon as possible in the journey is fundamental to success. The second purchase is key to driving long-term value to Hoseasons and Cottages.com.

Communicating with the audience at a time when they have a propensity to buy is a cornerstone of winning market share. But having the data to do this and integrate that with your Email Service Provider (ESP) to send personalised communications in a timely manner is no easy task.

The Solution

The solution was a personalised email programme. With the re-emergence of holidaying after the Covid 19 pandemic, the Central Marketing team wanted to re-introduce an ‘On Holiday’ campaign. By combining booking data with the Upland Adestra Platform and by using the Adestra API functionality, sends are triggered mid- point into customers’ holiday. This means the process is totally automated and personalised with their booking details.

By asking customers to re-book – either the same property / resort / boat, or a different one – whilst mid-point through their holiday is when customers are familiar with their accommodation and the surroundings, and relaxed. Timing is everything… Send time testing found that customers converted best when emails were sent early in the evening. And anyone who does re-book are removed from the Welcome Home email which seeks the same outcome.

In addition, Awaze are also incorporating the Upland Adestra ‘Promotion Codes’ feature to test what additional revenue comes from adding a voucher incentive with an expiry deadline date. Awaze liked the feature because the discount codes are unique to the purchaser and so can’t be shared, damaging margins. The process of assigning codes to customers is all completely automated too whereas in the past anything like this had been done manually.

With a phased roll-out of Adestra, Awaze increased overall CTR with email recipients.

Success Metrics

The open rate of the personalised email programme has achieved an enormous 73% and the click through rate (CTR) has seen an impressive 13% of delivered emails. Most importantly, the campaign has seen a strong conversion rate of 2.34%.

In addition, Awaze has found:

• Customers rebooking through these emails have a 30% higher AOV compared to the AOV for email in general
• The On Holiday email is one of the most successful personalised email programmes used to drive repeat bookings with a strong ROI

What’s Next?

Awaze are planning to further test the impact of the Upland Adestra ‘Promotion Codes’ feature vouchers – amount / expiry dates and also to include in the Welcome Home email series.

Upland Adestra and Awaze continue to work closely on driving a better customer experience and personalised email programme for both the Hoseasons and Cottages.com brands.

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