Airline British Midland International has claimed to have seen a 9% increase in hotel room sales thanks to implementing Expedia Affiliate Network’s new Smart Cross Sell system.
BMI claims hotel sales uplift thanks to EAN Smart Cross Sell
Airline British Midland International has claimed to have seen a 9% increase in hotel room sales thanks to implementing Expedia Affiliate Network’s new Smart Cross Sell system.
Smart Cross Sell was officially launched today aimed at helping airline partners increase their ancillary revenues from the sale of associated travel products.
The technology profiles the customers so that the most appropriate hotel option can be presented to the, during the booking process.
Stuart Beamish, marketing director of BMI, said the early results it had seen were encouraging.
He said: “We’ve seen a 9% lift in hotel room nights and a 6% lift in incremental transactions by implementing EAN’s Smart Cross Sell product, and these uplift figures are significantly higher when comparing to the same period in 2010.
“It’s very encouraging to see that over 50% of our current growth in hotel sales has been as a direct result of this product launch.”
Expedia Affiliate Network claims ancillary revenues for airline amount to £30 billion annual each year with some carriers deriving a fifth of their operating revenues from the sector.
Smart Cross Sell has been developed to impinge as little as possible on the buying process to minimise abandonment rates at the checkout stage.
Beamish said: “Smart Cross Sell presents BMI with a fantastic opportunity to deliver additional ancillary revenue to the business.
“It allows our travellers to add the perfect hotel to their airfare purchase in just a few clicks.”
Henrik Kjellberg, president of Expedia Affiliate Network, added: “We’re excited to enhance the hotel shopping and booking experience for customers of our airline partners.
“As ancillary revenue becomes increasingly important to airlines, we wanted to deliver a relevant solution to our airline partners that converts – and our Smart Cross Sell fits the bill.”
EAN Smart Cross Sell is available now to EAN airline affiliates.
