We are the Redloft team : We are engaged in comprehensive development and promotion of websites for businesses. Our portfolio includes projects for clients such as the Country Club
«BOR812»
hotel
«Obolensky
, fashion-retailer
TOPTOP
and others.
In this article, we want to tell you why bathing businesses We are going to tell you why bathing businesses should implement an online booking option on their own websites, We will describe three approaches to how to do this, as well as share the results of such work with our client, the Zhar-Ptitsa bathhouse complex.
According to Statista’s global data, if users are given the choice between traditional hotel room reservations by phone and online reservations,
88% of respondents would choose online
because it’s easier, cheaper and you don’t have to talk to anyone. The situation in the restaurant business is similar: almost
Half (45%) of Russian respondents
reserve tables online if they plan to celebrate an important event.
In the bathing sector, however, customers usually have to go two ways: to contact the administrators themselves by phone or messengers, or come without an appointment, risking not to get the service at all.
This approach leads to a number of problems for all participants in the process. For example, receptionists are constantly involved in the monotonous, chore of fixing and rescheduling reservations; clients without an appointment may not receive service because couples are busy; businesses lose money as a result.
The online booking option will solve the problems above and achieve the following benefits:
- Convenience for the customer. You can book a visit around the clock, reschedule as many times as you want, it’s easier to coordinate a trip with friends. If the customer is comfortable, then his loyalty grows, and it is regular customers bring the business 65% of the profits.
- Staff unloading. Online booking automates processes, freeing employees from routine tasks and minimizing the human factor. The experience of bathhouses owners also shows that employees who are burdened with monotonous tasks from fatigue tend to be rude to visitors or not pay proper attention to them — and this can have a negative impact on the reviews and rating of bathhouses and scare away customers. And this is true not only for the bathing industry.
- Scaling up the business. If demand for services grows, online booking allows for more efficient processing of applications.
- Automation of data collection. As part of the service, the client leaves a number of important business data about himself: for example, mail and telephone. Data can be integrated into the CRM-system for further work in the CRM, e-mail and other marketing.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of advertising. Online booking will make it possible to build analytics and evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
- Revenue growth. In the beauty industry globally
only 54% of bookings
are made during the working hours of the salons. This means that a business potentially loses 46% of its customers if it does not allow them to sign up for the service themselves online.
Data confirm the demand for online booking
The number of tasks that should be covered by the online booking option depends on the scale of a particular bathing business and the amount of its budget for promotion.
There are three approaches to embedding an option on a site.
Online reservations for bathhouses include more features than a one-size-fits-all application or feedback form. For example:
- availability of seats on a particular day and time;
- the opportunity to choose seats on the scheme of the sauna complex hall;
- table reservations with a deposit;
- booking additional services — steam baths, SPA-services and goods;
- payment module with cards and payment services, as well as payment in installments;
- the ability to use a promo code, gift certificates and loyalty program points when paying for your order.
What features should include an online booking option and which approach to choose — it depends on the scale of a particular bathing business and the amount of its budget for promotion.
Image source blog.quest.com
The development team creates a complete online service from the ground up to meet the individual needs of the complex. Prior to development, the team researches business processes, interviews employees, selects the appropriate type and type of option — for example, adapt the form in the current site, taking into account the principles of UX-design. Then come the development, integration and testing phases.
There are at least a dozen one-size-fits-all solutions for booking online. For the material, we selected three services that are suitable for the bathing business, and compared their functionality in the table. As part of the comparison were guided by the key functions for this area and their own experience.
The key features that businesses need to get from third-party services are a booking module to install on the site, the ability to pay online, and integration with the CRM system. The other functions vary from service to service.
BUKZA booking widget for Lantern Baths
- Bukza. A simple service for accounting bookings with minimal functionality.
- RESTOPLACE. Service with an emphasis on the restaurant business, but there are also solutions for baths with extended functionality.
- YCLIENTS. Service is confined to the services of beauty salons, but the service team can individually adapt it to book bathing services, as well as free training for staff CRM-system. The functionality of this service is wider than the previous two.
| RESTOPLACE | BUKZA | YCLIENTS | |
| Ready booking widget to install on your site. |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Reservations on the hall diagram | + | — | — |
| Connecting the payment system for prepayment | + | + | + |
| Automatic customer notifications about the order | + | — | + |
| Ready integration with loyalty programs, Apple Wallet and Google Pay | — | — | + |
| Ready to integrate with CRM | + | — | + |
| Financial accounting | — | — | + |
| Cost | from 1100 rubles/month | From $ 9 / month | from 771 rubles/month |
Yclients booking widget for the bathing space «Kamyshi»
The scheme for working with third-party services is as follows: the site owner integrates the widget into the site using HTML code, set up an administrative panel and train employees. Usually services offer
detailed instructions
,
videos
and sometimes free training for the team.
expert opinion
This approach combines the best of the two solutions above, minimizing their drawbacks. A team of developers selects ready-to-use online services with API integration capabilities and creates a booking form within the current design and taking into account the business owner’s objectives.
We used a flexible API of one of the third-party services and implemented an advanced online booking functionality for individual customer requests.
As a result:
- We worked out the types of reservations. They were different for each category: in public baths, they were different types of tickets (three-hour, unlimited, children’s), and for bathing rooms, it was an individual rental of a time slot.
Different types of reservations on the website of Zhar-Ptica bathing complex
- Provided the ability to adjust the limits on online sales to control the number of seats for those who come without a reservation.
Choose a ticket for booking on the website of Zhar-Ptitsa bathing complex jarpticabani.ru
- We connected the payment system and set up notifications. After payment in the CRM-system tickets are automatically reserved, and the check and order data are sent to e-mail and WhatsApp.
- Introduced promo codes and holiday rates.
- Set up the ability to collect analytics and generate sales reports.
The ability to book and pay for a visit in advance makes the process more convenient for the client, saves his time and thereby increases his loyalty and contributes to the growth of business revenues.
There are three approaches to implementing online booking on a website: custom development, off-the-shelf services and a hybrid approach. Individual development is suitable for large chains, ready-made services — for small bathhouses, a hybrid solution is optimal for medium and large bathing complexes.
In this case, in terms of implementing the online booking option, it is recommended to follow the hybrid approach as the most economical, optimal in terms of timing and flexible in terms of opportunities.
Write to us, we will be happy to advise you on your specific task and create a solution of any complexity.