evolution technology by The Hotel Performance Company (http://www.evolutiondistribution.com), the hospitality e-commerce and e-distribution provider, has launched the industry’s first booking engine with a shopping cart functionality for hotels. Proving to be the most innovative and flexible booking engine in the marketplace, the booking engine contains a fast track mode and is fully compatible with all internet enabled devices including tablet and mobile.

The new booking engine will prove fundamental for hotels as it maximises the value of guest bookings with its upsell functionality. It gives customers the option to upgrade and add on various extras at the point in the booking process when guests are most inclined to buy. Furthermore, a ‘quick booking’ functionality is available, giving guests the option to skip the browsing stage of the booking process and quickly book a hotel’s best available rate, proving especially useful for repeat guests and corporate clients. Corporate and promotional code access is available to facilitate negotiated rate bookings. Content rich, evolution’s booking engine incorporates social media sharing in key areas and is highly customisable to match the look and feel of hotel websites.

evolution fully integrates with hotel websites to make their total package into a powerful conversion tool, catching customers at that ‘magic moment’ of the decision-making process in a way customers want to be engaged. Bridging the separation between hotel websites and booking engines, evolution’s booking engine combines the two to optimise engagement and provide a more satisfying user experience.

evolution’s new booking engine also has significant benefits for customers:

Integrated large calendar screen, displaying colour guides to easily identify the highest/lowest price dates, when special offers are available and when events are occurring at the property.

The flexibility of evolution’s shopping basket functionality allows consumers to book multiple rooms and multiple occupancies with different room types, different arrival dates and alternative departure dates in a single booking. 

Added filter functionality, allowing customers to browse rates that fit their own requirements, finding their suitable room type, finding periods where the hotel has an offer and finding the best prices for their budget, making it easier than ever before to browse all offers and make a booking.

Yunna Takeuchi, Director of e-distribution at evolution comments; “We have worked on the development of this next generation booking engine for the past couple of years. We have used both the feedback from our clients as well as our own experiences of how consumers continue to shop online and I am extremely proud to say that this has led the way to a new wave of booking engine that we have produced first.”

John Kearney, Director of Sales and Marketing at La Finca Golf and Spa Resort, the first property to go live on the new booking engine, adds; “We are extremely happy with the new booking engine as it is easier to use, provides better visibility for the client and gives each booking greater value due to its upsell functionality. In fact, we have already received comments from customers who have found the booking engine to be much clearer and user friendly. We are also working on a new functionality which highlights the special events taking place in the surrounding areas, which will add further scope for bookings at our property.”