Why add a booking module to your website?
A booking module is an essential tool for any online sales website! It is precisely this system that transforms your showcase website into a fully transactional one. Without a booking module, your customers will have to contact you by email and you will have to manage each reservation manually. With a booking module, your customers can book your products directly, whether those are activities, workshops, guided tours or entry tickets for a museum or adventure park.The whole point of a booking system is to let your customers buy and book on their own. Your offerings become bookable 7 days a week, 24 hours a day! You no longer need to watch your inbox: sales happen automatically. This also makes it much easier to reach customers in different time zones. If you offer guided tours in Paris, Lyon or Nice, your tours will be bookable by French speakers anywhere in the world, at any hour, in Canada, the Caribbean or French Polynesia.
Marketing studies also show that a booking system helps increase sales. Why? Without a booking system, many customers simply won't go to the trouble of sending an email to ask whether a particular time slot is available and how they should go about booking it. A booking system allows customers to book directly, which also encourages impulse purchases.
Having a booking system also makes last-minute management much easier. Instead of sending an email on Sunday evening for a Monday morning activity, the customer can book directly. And when you wake up on Monday morning, you'll see one more customer on the day's activity slot. Automating your bookings is a key advantage!
Offering a booking system also reassures your customers about the professional nature of your business. A truly professional website today uses a booking form on its site. That's the difference between a professional site and a blog.
Finally, a booking system will make your life much easier when it comes to customer management. Everything is centralized and digitized, and you no longer risk making data-entry errors when logging reservations.
A booking system will also allow you to collect payments from your customers directly. The most advanced systems, such as Explorates, will even generate invoices for you!
Which booking system should you choose?
Have you decided to take the plunge and add a booking module to your website? Now comes the hardest part: choosing one! There is a huge number of systems out there once you start searching online, so here are a few tips and things to keep in mind to avoid making the wrong choice.First, choose a booking system that is recent and regularly updated. Beware of software or apps that are no longer maintained, as they can lead to serious security vulnerabilities.
If you are a French speaker, it is also worth using a system published by a French-speaking company. This ensures you can communicate in your own language if a problem arises, no small matter when something goes seriously wrong on your site. You should also keep accounting and tax regulations in mind, as the differences in this area between the USA and Europe are significant.
You may also come across free modules online. Be cautious: these tend to be very basic, with limited functionality. Above all, they rarely evolve, and you may find yourself having to switch systems repeatedly over time.
Ultimately, the most important thing is to opt for the booking system that best meets your needs and offers you the greatest room to grow, to support your success. Feel free to contact the Explorates team for a demonstration of our solution. Explorates is a booking system built and maintained in France by a dynamic and professional team. Explorates is also a member of the OCTOconsortium, which defines communication standards for booking systems. A true reference in the industry!
On a practical level, Explorates above all allows you to combine a booking system with Channel Management. What does that mean? It's actually quite simple: not only will Explorates let you manage reservations on your own website, but you'll also be able to sell your offerings on other platforms, such as GetYourGuide or Viator. And all without having to do anything extra when a customer clicks the "Book" button.
Is it easy to install a booking system?
Let's be honest: how simple a booking system is varies enormously from one system to another. Some booking systems, such as Fareharbor, require a slow and lengthy learning process in English, given the sheer number of options and features. Other systems, such as calendar widgets, are very easy to install, but their functionality is so limited that they ultimately prove useless.The Explorates team has found the right balance between simplicity and performance, offering you a tool that is quick and easy to get to grips with. Once you have created your product catalog on our platform, all you need to do is copy and paste a small, ready-made line of code onto your website. Yes, you read that correctly: a copy-paste and you're done!
The system then takes care of everything, following the pricing and availability rules you have set. You can then focus on your core business and grow your operation, without spending any more time managing the bookings side of things.
Explorates is suitable for a wide range of tourism sectors, including guided tours, culinary or creative workshops, ticketing for museums or theme parks, from adventure parks to amusement parks. And much more! Head over to our presentation page for our booking system.