Enhancing Hotel CRM Engagement: The Power of Instant Rewards

In the ever-evolving landscape of the hospitality industry, maintaining a strong and loyal customer base is crucial for the success of any hotel. Hoteliers are constantly seeking innovative strategies to engage customers effectively and build lasting relationships. One such strategy that has gained prominence is the integration of instant rewards within a hotel's loyalty program. This approach not only appeals to customers' desire for immediate gratification but also presents an opportunity to leverage these rewards to boost customer relationship management (CRM) engagement. In this article, we will delve into how the selection and deployment of instant rewards within a hotel loyalty strategy can significantly enhance CRM engagement.

Self-Selected Reward Content and Audience Building within CRM

Instant rewards empower guests by allowing them to choose rewards that align with their preferences and needs. By incorporating self-selected reward content, hotels can tap into the psychology of personalized satisfaction. When guests feel that they are receiving relevant rewards, their sense of appreciation and connection to the brand deepens. This personalization extends to CRM engagement, where hotels can leverage the data from instant reward selections to gain insights into individual preferences, enabling more targeted marketing efforts. This level of personalization fosters a sense of exclusivity, encouraging guests to engage more actively with the hotel's communication channels.

Leveraging Instant Rewards in First and Zero-Party Data Collection

First-party data, collected directly from guests, is invaluable for crafting effective marketing strategies. Instant rewards act as catalysts for data collection, encouraging guests to willingly share information in exchange for the immediate gratification offered by these rewards. With the rise of data privacy concerns, zero-party data (explicitly shared data) has gained significance. Through well-designed instant rewards, hotels can encourage guests to provide deeper insights, preferences, and feedback. This not only aids in refining the CRM strategy but also enhances guest profiling, making future interactions more meaningful and personalized.

Support for Segmentation

Instant rewards not only enrich CRM data but also contribute to more nuanced segmentation strategies. By analyzing the reward preferences and behaviors of different segments, hotels can tailor their messaging and offerings to resonate better with each group. This level of segmentation greatly impacts CRM Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Open rates and click-through rates soar when recipients perceive the content as highly relevant. Moreover, the data collected through instant rewards can lead to more direct and repeat bookings. Guests who feel their preferences are understood are more likely to return and make reservations confidently. This strategy also contributes to an increased share of wallet, as guests are more inclined to engage with ancillary services that cater to their specific interests and preferences.

Multiplied Benefits Across KPIs:

The combined effect of instant rewards and CRM engagement strategies creates a virtuous cycle. Engaged customers are more likely to respond to offers, increasing open rates and click-through rates. Enhanced customer profiling from instant reward data translates into better-targeted campaigns, resulting in higher conversion rates and more direct bookings. Repeat bookings are encouraged due to the personalized experience, leading to improved customer retention rates. The ripple effect continues to influence ancillary sales, boosting the hotel's share of wallet. In this way, instant rewards amplify the effectiveness of CRM efforts, resulting in a holistic improvement of various KPIs and overall business success.

Incorporating instant rewards within a hotel loyalty strategy is more than just a transactional gesture; it's a pathway to enriched customer relationships and enhanced CRM engagement. By allowing guests to choose rewards that resonate with their desires, hotels foster a sense of personal connection and exclusivity. This, in turn, fuels data collection, segmentation, and personalized marketing efforts. The culmination of these benefits leads to improved CRM KPIs, more direct bookings, and increased share of wallet across ancillaries. In a world where personalized experiences reign supreme, the marriage of instant rewards and CRM engagement is a strategy that holds the key to sustained success in the competitive hospitality landscape.

Laasie’s customers can now benefit from a turnkey loyalty and rewards solution that delivers real-time guest personalization and audience building capabilities

New York, May 6, 2023 – Laasie today announced it has launched Laasie for Marketing Cloud on Salesforce AppExchange, empowering hoteliers and vacation rental operators to connect their Laasie rewards programs to Salesforce Marketing Cloud in real-time. This will empower customers with enhanced audience building capabilities and streamline guest communication strategies that increase emotional loyalty and grow customer lifetime value. 

Laasie for Marketing Cloud is currently available on AppExchange here.

Laasie for Marketing Cloud makes it possible to connect both Laasie Convert and Laasie Retain to Salesforce Marketing Cloud with minimal technical expertise. This connection enables hoteliers and short term rental operators to unify Laasie data with Marketing Cloud, create personalized guest journeys and utilize reward data in the content builder.

Comments on the News

“Laasie is changing the narrative for the lodging industry on loyalty rewards and perks programs, as we believe that instant gratification will play a massive role in all programs in the future.”

— Ellis Connolly, Chief Revenue Officer at Laasie

“Laasie for Marketing Cloud is a welcome addition to AppExchange, as it accelerates business transformation for customers by powering hospitality rewards and perk programs through Laasie’s extensive merchant network. AppExchange is constantly evolving to enable our partners to build cutting-edge solutions to drive customer success.”

— David Lee, Vice President of Product Management, AppExchange

“We are excited to discover more opportunities to deliver even more paradise to our guests by introducing Laasie for Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The Margaritaville Perks program is innovative and fun and we leverage best in breed technology to enhance loyalty, revenues and advocacy. Laasie for Marketing Cloud will help us optimize the customer journey even further.”

— Claudia Infante, SVP Revenue at Margaritaville Resorts

About Salesforce AppExchange 

Salesforce AppExchange, the world’s leading enterprise cloud marketplace, empowers companies, developers and entrepreneurs to build, market and grow in entirely new ways. With more than 7,000 listings, 11 million customer installs and 117,000 peer reviews, AppExchange connects customers of all sizes and across industries to ready-to-install or customizable apps and Salesforce-certified consultants to solve any business challenge. 

Additional Resources

• Like Salesforce on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/salesforce 

• Follow Salesforce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salesforce

• Follow Laasie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laasie-ai

Salesforce, AppExchange, Marketing Cloud and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.

About Laasie

Laasie powers a new kind of loyalty for over 2,000 lodging partners through AI and a network of 1,000+ instant gratification partners. No points, no tiers, no waiting for qualification. Laasie incentivizes conversion and retention, driving over $700 million in direct bookings and repeat transactions.

Today’s savvy customers are uninspired by yesterday’s rigid loyalty programs, often leaving with unused points and limited brand affinity. Laasie uses artificial intelligence and big data to dynamically create loyalty with personalized, instant rewards that motivate customer actions like booking directly, making a return visit, joining a marketing program for offers, and more. The result? Customers enjoy enriched experiences with each brand interaction and partners benefit with increased net revenue, actionable data insights, strengthened customer relationships, and a scalable loyalty program that increases the lifetime value of every customer.

If you were working for a hotel group during the pandemic that ran a points-based loyalty program, you probably saw first hand the issues it created. While plenty of hotel companies had immense struggles to deal with during the pandemic, redeemable loyalty points had longer lasting effects for the years that followed. You see, with less people traveling, and therefore redeeming their points, hotel companies incurred liabilities that would be difficult to pay-out, even once travel opened back up again.

And that’s exactly what occurred. As COVID restrictions lessened, travelers were ready to use every discount and point at their disposal with immediate effect. But while hotels geared up for their busiest booking season yet, the revenue numbers didn’t quite work in their favor.

In this article, we’ll explore the painful side of points-based programs, and reveal if maybe there’s a better way to handle these types of programs that would provide less liability, while maintaining, or often even improving, loyalty.

What is loyalty points liability?

Loyalty points liability refers to the amount of money that a company owes to its customers for the loyalty points they have earned through their purchases or other activities with the company.

When a customer earns loyalty points, they are essentially earning a discount on future purchases or other benefits, such as free hotel room nights or upgraded services. However, from a hotel company’s perspective, these loyalty points represent a liability on their balance sheet because they will need to be redeemed at some point in the future.

The hotel group must estimate the total liability for all outstanding loyalty points and record it as a liability on their balance sheet. The amount of the liability is based on the number of outstanding loyalty points and the estimated cost of fulfilling the rewards associated with those points.

The liability for loyalty points is an important financial metric for companies, as it represents a potential future cost that must be accounted for in their financial planning. Companies must carefully manage their loyalty points liability to ensure that they have the resources to fulfill the promises to their customers.

How can hotel groups limit this liability?

To help reduce liability, companies across hospitality and other industries have relied on several practices. Many of which will probably sound familiar to you as you have likely experienced the negative side-effects of them as a points earner. Expert Brian Almeida explains very well in this article that in order to thwart liability, companies will often refer back to 1 of 3 practices:

1. Reduce the value of the points.

Clearly, reducing the value of loyalty points will also result in a decrease in the liability associated with the loyalty program on the company's balance sheet. However, simply reducing the value of loyalty points leaves your company with the highest risk. Customers may view this as a breach of trust and may become less loyal to the company. This produces long-term, negative effects on the company's reputation and profitability.

2. Cap the earnings of points.

Capping the earnings on loyalty points means that customers can only earn a certain amount of loyalty points, regardless of how much they spend or how many activities they engage in with the company. On the positive side, this can help to control the liability associated with the loyalty program due to the fact that the estimated cost of fulfilling the rewards associated with the loyalty points will be more predictable and easier to manage. However, capping the earnings on loyalty points may make customers feel that they are being unfairly limited in their ability to earn rewards, leading to decreased loyalty and revenue for the company.

3. Reduce the earnings value of points.

When a company reduces the value of loyalty points, it means that customers will need to accumulate more points to redeem the same rewards or benefits they were previously eligible for. While this may seem like the best of both worlds scenario, it still brings some complications from the company’s standpoint if changes do need to be made, it's important to communicate them transparently and clearly to customers, and to provide alternative benefits or rewards to maintain their loyalty. This process alone can require time and resources your company may not have right away.

Reverse your liability with a rewards-based loyalty program

If now you’re thinking “there’s got to be a better way!”...don’t worry, there is. In a limited-liability program, rewards can be used to incentivise now, instead of later. This way, your hotel group pays up front to reward customers, and those discounts or purchases are redeemed in the moment, and not as a steady marker on your balance sheet.

Additionally, unlike maneuvering through a complicated points-based loyalty program, a turn-key rewards program, provided by the right solution, could not be easier to stand-up and manage. This is important not just for the hotel-side, but for the guest-side as well. Going forward, the hotel companies who create a seamless way for guests to be incentivized will increase customer engagement and sales, for years to come.

Are you struggling with complicated points-based loyalty programs that are difficult to manage, and even harder to measure? Try it a different way. With the Laasie platform, you’ll receive a rewards-based, AI-powered platform that will bring your loyalty program into the future, and keep your liabilities at bay.

Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar. You’re a loyalty member of one of the big four hotel chains. You’ve collected the points while traveling a lot for work, often spending 1-2 nights in highway-adjacent hotels with little-to-no amenities. You thought it was well worth it, especially once you finally reached the coveted “Gold Status”.

Then, you cashed in on those rewards. You decided to travel with your significant other and instead of booking a vacation rental, you remember all those rewards points you saved up and consider a chain hotel instead. After all, the promised perks included complimentary upgrades (when available), faster WiFi speeds, and the two free bottles of water upon check-in!

But when you eventually check-in, the front desk agent doesn’t even recognize your prized status level. The conversation maybe goes something like this:

Front-Desk Agent (FDA): Thanks for staying with us. Here’s your key.

You: Well, actually I’m a gold member here. Do I qualify for any perks today?

FDA: No, sorry, we’re fully booked. No room upgrades are available.

You: OK…can I at least get that free water?”

FDA: *Huffs* Fine. Let me check in the back.

That’s it. After months of accumulating points, you’re made to feel like a nuisance for requesting a few free bottles of water. Unfortunately, this is based on a true story. This is the experience many hotel chains are giving their points-based loyalty members on a regular basis. And in today’s day of instant-gratification, it’s simply not acceptable to promise the world and deliver next to nothing.

If you’re a hotel and still thinking that a points-based program is the way to go, don’t limit yourself. Open your hotel group up to the possibilities of more ancillary revenue and guests who are actually happy with what you’ve given them.

As a modernized loyalty solution looking to convert hotels from points-based programs to an instant rewards network, we’ve heard many objections along the way. But we’re here to tell you, they’re mostly based on myth.

Let’s explore these myths and see if your main objections can be resolved in one of three ways…

Myth 1: Points are the only cost-effective loyalty program

Let’s face it, you have to consider their bottom-line when researching options for a loyalty program. The cost-benefit analysis often leads hoteliers down the path of points programs because it’s clear what the ROI will be.

The downside is that guests can smell your frugality from a mile away. They are hyper-aware that the rewards they’re getting with points are not super valuable, will not often be received (like the example above), and they cost you next to nothing.

A strong compromise could be instant-reward offers that are mostly sponsored by the partner. For example, the average $25 gift card reward on the Laasie partner platform costs a hotel $3. The guests receive a perceived benefit of $25, and you look like a hero! Instead of offering points guests may not use, you could have a juicy rewards ecosystem with offers that people really want.

Seems too good to be true but it’s not. These partners are willing to share high-value items at a low cost because of the high-wallet share audience you’re putting in front of them. People willing to purchase a hotel room night are more likely to utilize their rewards and spend money with the partner’s brand. Consider that the person using a $25 gift card will probably spend $50 or more with their purchase, and come back for more.

Myth 2: Points are the only turn-key loyalty programs

Another hurdle a hotel needs to overcome when standing up a loyalty program is, well, standing it up. When starting from scratch, hotels often find options for a points-based platform plentiful, and therefore stick with that option. However, these apps are often white label, clunky, not-native, and from the guest-side, redemption is clunky and cumbersome.

In today’s tech-forward environment, there are many more options for hotels to consider. There are now turn-key solutions for cashback rewards, instant rewards, and many other beyond points. With Laasie, for example, the time period between pressing “go” and your first direct booking conversion is almost immediate.

Myth 3: Points are the only fair way to reward frequent guests

Another argument to be made for points-based programs is that it’s the only fair way to recognize more frequent guests. It’s simple to understand how more stays equates to more points, and guests should be rewarded for their continued loyalty.

However, with CRM tech being as robust as it is today, hotels can target their customers based on a multitude of factors. Some of which are how many stays or how much a guest spends. Now, a guest’s lifetime value is a field as basic as name and email address. With this knowledge, your hotel knows WHO should receive more grand rewards, so now the answer is HOW do you make sure they receive them.

Enter: Laasie. The solution easily integrates with your CRM to allow you to send, from a single campaign, multiple types of rewards values. This ensures that your $10,000 value customer receives something a bit more special than, say, your $200 value customer.

Now that these myths have been busted and your questions have answers, the choice is yours. You can keep rewarding guests with two free water bottles, and leave them thirsty for more. Or, you can consider the advantages of a different kind of rewards-based loyalty program. One that leaves guests instantly gratified, and ready to spend more, and do more, with your hotel and its ancillary brands.

If it feels like the average age of a hotel guest keeps getting younger, it’s not just you. That shift is happening across the travel landscape. Back in 2020, Skift forecasted the impending Gen Z travel increase in their mega-trends report. And today, with 65% of Gen Z-ers stating that ‘travel and seeing the world’ is the most important way to spend their money, it’s safe to say that boom is coming, if not already here.

As a millennial, I remember how much our generation changed the way businesses were run. Our behavior shift was a significant one, and companies who paid attention to the true motivations and needs of our generation were the ones who were most successful. Remember the old “Millennials are killing” headlines? Yes, these shifts were so significant, that entire industries were wiped out.

Don’t let another generation be your loyalty program’s ruin. Instead, focus on what this new customer needs, wants, and likes. As the title of this article suggests, TikTok is a significant place where Gen Z is spending their time and, of course, being “influenced.” There are many reasons why the platform gained so much traction from this audience so fast, but the main one was the ability to produce and share videos that were under ten seconds.

Ten seconds is the attention span we are working with. If there’s one thing we know about this generation, it’s that they don’t want to sit around and wait. They were the first generation to grow up with mobile devices and subsequently are the most tech-savvy of any age group. The brands they’ll be attracted to are the ones with the lowest barrier to entry.

Give Gen Z What They Really Want

If you want a loyalty program that works now, as well as in the future, it’s painstakingly obvious that traditional points-based loyalty programs are not the way. In order to attract and convert Gen Z customers there must be an element of “surprise and delight” to your loyalty program, and just like TikTok, you only have a short time to provide that before they move on.

Skift said it best when they told the industry “Travel loyalty is due for disruption. Being a member in loyalty programs today is about as engaging as a trip to the auto mechanic. For most, complex rules and constraints take much of the utility out of the programs while other, more motivated travelers simply find them uninspiring.”

We’ve pointed out previously the many reasons why accruing points is the antithesis of instant gratification. Based on Gen Z’s preferences today, here are a few other ways you can help them think highly of your brand and remain loyal for years to come.

Help Them Get What They Want

According to a 2020 Oracle report, 66% of Gen Z consumers want to receive personalized recommendations while shopping. Which tells us that in order to attain loyalty from the younger generation, you need to get personal. While building trust via one-to-one relationships wasn’t always scalable, with technology, and specifically AI, the possibilities are limitless.

Your hotel’s own CRM should be chock full of interesting data points about your guests (if not, it’s time to start collecting that data)! Based on key psychographics and preferences gathered from previous stays, you can send loyalty rewards you know each traveler will love.

And it doesn’t have to be overcomplicated. By integrating a system like Laasie, one campaign can do the work of thousands, sending personalized, instantly gratifying loyalty rewards to millions of guests in one click - each guest gets a different, relevant reward based on their preferences.

Help Them At Home

Let’s assume that your CRM isn’t quite as data-rich yet as you might like at this moment. You can still provide instant rewards guests will love rather than points. While you can’t predict what they might be, you can offer a variety of options that a potential traveler could pick from.

Although Gen Z might not be making all of their own travel bookings yet, they and their younger sibling, Generation Alpha, are already influencing booking behaviors around them. Specifically, their family’s.

Consider a parent who is booking a vacation for their family. After deciding to spend their hard-earned cash with your property, they are immediately concerned about whether or not the stay will be enough to please every member of their family. But during the booking process, what if they come to a page like this?

Here, they find an option to get a GQ subscription for the dad, a free ice-cream for their young son, and access to trendy yoga app Alo Moves for the mom. Now, picture them being able to tell their family “I booked a vacation, and got a gift you’d like for each one of us” rather than “I booked a vacation and accrued 3,000 points.” In one of those scenarios, they are a hero, but in the other, not so much (after all what can a few thousand points get you as it’ll take years of accruing points to attain an actual reward).

Help Them Give Back

Compared to any other generation, Gen Z values environmental and social impacts the most. Therefore, brands looking to get the attention of this generation will have to fall in line with these standards. That’s why many brands are incorporating eco-friendly pledges and striving to become green or LEED certified.

But what if the reward they’re seeking is to ultimately give back? With a customizable rewards platform, providing guests the option to donate to charities, you’re helping Gen Z make an easy decision to relate and stay interested in your brand.

Think about the explosion companies like TOMS shoes had decades ago. Brands that have fallen in-line with promoting values, while also giving their customers the autonomy of choice, have risen above and beyond anyone’s expectations.

There are travel trends and marketing strategies that are more difficult to adapt to, like starting a TikTok or Instagram account (we feel your pain - say hi to us over there!). But with loyalty programs, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel and something new and inventive from the ground up. There are turnkey solutions that can help your brand become more personalized, provide variety, and help Gen Z feel recognized. And that, in turn, gives Gen Z a reason to care about your brand and stay loyal. Don’t be left behind and strategize on how to capture your Gen Z customers!

As an independent hotel group, you may find it challenging to compete with the larger hotel chains in terms of brand recognition, marketing resources, and loyalty programs. However, there is a solution that can help level the playing field: instant rewards programs. In this post, we will discuss the top 10 reasons why independent hotel groups should use instant rewards loyalty programs.

1. Increase customer retention: Instant rewards loyalty programs are a powerful tool for increasing customer retention. By offering immediate rewards for repeat business, you can keep your customers coming back and build a loyal customer base.

2. Build brand awareness: By offering an instant rewards loyalty program, you can build brand awareness and loyalty. Your customers will associate your hotel group with the rewards and benefits they receive, and they will be more likely to recommend your hotels to others.

3. Boost revenue: Loyalty programs can be an effective way to boost revenue. By incentivizing customers to stay with you and spend more, you can increase your revenue per customer and overall revenue.

4. Encourage direct bookings: Instant rewards loyalty programs can also encourage customers to book directly with your hotel group. By offering exclusive rewards and benefits to members, you can give customers a reason to book with you instead of through third-party booking sites.

5. Collect valuable customer data: Loyalty programs can also provide you with valuable customer data that can help you improve your marketing and operations. You can track customer preferences and behavior, allowing you to tailor your offerings and communications to better meet their needs.

6. Reward valuable customers: With instant rewards loyalty programs, you can easily identify and reward your most valuable customers. This can include VIP treatment, special perks, and exclusive offers that are only available to your most loyal customers.

7. Increase customer engagement: Loyalty programs can also increase customer engagement. By offering rewards for social media engagement, referrals, and other actions, you can encourage customers to interact with your brand and share their experiences with others.

8. Stand out from the competition: Instant rewards loyalty programs can help you stand out from the competition. As an independent hotel group, you may not have the same marketing resources as larger chains, but you can offer unique and valuable rewards to your customers.

9. Improve customer satisfaction: By offering rewards and benefits to your customers, you can improve their overall satisfaction with your hotels. Happy customers are more likely to leave positive reviews and recommend your hotels to others, leading to even more business.

10. Affordable marketing strategy: Instant rewards loyalty programs are also an affordable marketing strategy for independent hotel groups. You can offer valuable rewards and benefits without spending a lot of money on traditional marketing campaigns.

In conclusion, instant rewards programs are an effective way for independent hotel groups to increase customer retention, boost revenue, collect valuable customer data, and stand out from the competition. By offering unique rewards and benefits, you can build brand loyalty and encourage direct bookings, all while improving customer satisfaction and engagement.

When it comes to building customer loyalty, businesses have long relied on points-based loyalty programs. But in recent years, there's been a shift towards instant rewards programs – and for good reason. In this post, we'll explore why instant rewards loyalty programs have gained an edge on traditional points-based programs.

1) Instant Gratification

One of the biggest advantages of instant rewards programs is that they provide immediate gratification to customers. When customers earn points, they have to wait to accumulate enough to redeem them for rewards. This can take weeks, months, or even years. With instant rewards programs, customers can earn rewards right away, which is a powerful motivator that keeps them coming back for more.

2) Simplicity

Points-based loyalty programs can be complicated and confusing for customers. They may not understand how many points they need to earn a reward or how to redeem their points. Instant rewards programs, on the other hand, are simple and straightforward. Customers know exactly what they need to do to earn rewards and how to redeem them.

3) Flexibility

Points-based loyalty programs can be limiting in terms of the rewards that customers can earn. Customers may only be able to redeem their points for a specific set of rewards, which may not be what they want or need. With instant rewards programs, businesses can offer a wide variety of rewards that customers can choose from. This flexibility makes the program more appealing to customers and increases the likelihood that they will participate.

4) Emotional Connection

Instant rewards programs are also more effective at creating an emotional connection with customers. When customers earn a reward right away, they feel a sense of accomplishment and appreciation. This positive experience creates a bond between the customer and the business, which can lead to increased loyalty over time.

5) Real-time Tracking

Finally, instant rewards programs offer real-time tracking and reporting. Businesses can see how customers are engaging with the program and make adjustments as needed. This helps businesses stay on top of customer needs and preferences, which is crucial for building loyalty.

In conclusion, instant rewards loyalty programs are superior to points-based loyalty programs for several reasons. They provide instant gratification, are simple and flexible, create an emotional connection, and offer real-time tracking. If you're looking to build customer loyalty for your business, consider implementing an instant rewards program like Laasie!

In a world with Siri and ChatGPT, why is the lodging industry still delivering loyalty points like it’s 1983?

It’s official, this year we wish a Happy 40th Anniversary to points-based loyalty programs! That’s right, they were first rolled out by Marriott in 1983, which I know doesn’t seem like that long ago for many of us, but alas these programs are officially “over the hill”. So why haven’t they changed much since then?

Sure, these programs are rebranded and given a nice makeover every once in a while, but at the end of the day, the core model remains the same: accrue points over a long period of time. And in the end, most consumers are frustratingly stuck between their current loyalty tier and a much more desirable top-tier status.

If we think about all the things that have changed between 1983 and 2023 (the internet, a few economic recessions, that whole global pandemic thing…), there might be no shift more significant in the past few years than Artificial Intelligence. Its impact is felt across multiple industries and is now in the hands of nearly every individual consumer in the form of Siri, Alexa, and most recently, ChatGPT.

Note: Even parts of this article are written by AI (we’ll let you guess which parts).

So, why is AI winning the game with consumers? Two big reasons - instant gratification & personalization. Which also happen to be two factors particularly key in successful hotel loyalty programs. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Accumulating points is the antithesis of instant gratification

A recent study found that 78% of customers prefer immediate gratification over accumulating points for future rewards. This makes perfect sense in a world where we can have just about anything we want at the click of a button. We now have smart home devices like Alexa that can tell you what your kids want for their upcoming birthday, and forget typing something into Google when you can just ask Siri how long to cook chicken in the air fryer. Why wait months or even years to accumulate enough points for a reward when we can have what we want right now?

Several other high-growth industries see incredible results when they implement instant gratification into their business. For example, the rise of on-demand food delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash shows that people are willing to pay a premium for convenience. Do you think these services could achieve such high adoption rates just by offering points for ordering through their app? Rather it’s the convenience factor of having food delivered to their door in minutes, without having to leave their home, that keeps users buying more.

Or look at lead companies in the gaming industry, who offer microtransactions that allow players to purchase in-game items or upgrades immediately, rather than having to earn them through gameplay.

What’s also changed since the introduction of points-based loyalty programs is the way people travel. With the rise in remote-work and the decreased reliance on in-person meetings, corporate “road warriors” are fewer and far between. And without constant work-paid travel, who else is accumulating enough points with their leisure adventures alone? Today’s hoteliers need to entice the majority of casual travelers to book and interact with their brand through instant gratification.

The good news for hotels looking to benefit from loyalty-based programs is that hotel tech is keeping up with these trends. At Laasie.ai, we created a way to help hotels incentivize customers to convert with instant rewards. Hotels can choose from a network of 1,000+ instant gratification partners to showcase relevant rewards to travelers at the time of booking.

The result? A 40% increase in direct bookings and as high as 82% adoption.

Rewards are best served personalized

While the importance of converting direct bookings is high on any hotelier’s wish list, the reality is that hotels need to play the OTA’s game to achieve success. Due to the variety of booking channels at a traveler’s disposal, and the increasing expense of customer acquisition, it's crucial for hotels to not just get the booking stage right, but also create a retention strategy that works for today's traveler.

To solve for this, all we need to do is look at how some of the most successful companies have managed to make their brands “sticky” through personalization. Amazon is a PRIME example, as well all know they keep us “adding to cart” over and over again. While the overnight delivery is a nice perk, the real secret to their success is machine learning, which provides recommendations based on previous shopping history. Streaming services like Netflix, who once found success by offering instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows, had to rethink their strategy when the new varieties of streaming services were introduced. Now, the company relies on personalized viewing suggestions based on watch history to keep users logged in and pressing play.

Offering generic gifts or commodities in a loyalty program simply won't cut it in 2023. Customers are looking for personalized experiences, rewards, and a sense of connection with the brands they do business with.

Therefore, when hotels consider their rewards-based loyalty programs, the commodities are not a good place to start. For example, while cashback may seem like an easy way to provide travel rewards, it’s anything but personal. While this idea, which began from the credit card industries, might be perfect for them, today’s savvy consumer may not find it enticing enough when they have several other booking options at their disposal.

Using advanced technologies like AI, hotels can mimic the Amazon shopping experience and provide highly-personalized and customizable rewards options to entice repeat customers. Lassie’s personalization engine will match your traveler to rewards that make most sense for them - such as a Broadway show experience for the traveler who lives and soaks up experiences in NYC.

Go All-In with AI

It's time for travel companies to embrace new loyalty strategies that better reflect the needs and wants of today's customers. Whether that means offering personalized rewards based on individual preferences, or using advanced technologies like AI and machine learning to deliver instant gratification, the time for change is now.

If you’re currently running an outdated loyalty program, and wondering why you aren’t achieving success, say “Bonvoy-age” to those old ways and enter the world of AI technology in 2023. By doing so, you can stay ahead of the curve and provide the best possible experience for your customers.

We’re in 2023 after all, not 1983. 

Jen Wong
Founder and CEO, Laasie

Now, more than ever, consumers wield their purchasing power in an intentionally selective manner. They expect brands to respond to the challenge with a more personalized, convenience-driven experience. To this effect, McKinsey reports that 35% of U.S. consumers have tried a new brand since the pandemic began, while 77% demonstrated new purchasing behaviors, including new channels, stores, and brands. The hospitality sector is seeing similar trends, with some hospitality brands claiming loyalty is dead. The truth is – loyalty, as we once knew it is dead, but reimagined loyalty programs are taking over.

To provide hoteliers with a clear picture of this new era of guest loyalty, I sat down with industry experts to derive their top insights for the hospitality loyalty segment in 2023 and beyond.

According to Jacqueline Nunley, Director, Industry Advisors - Travel and Hospitality at Salesforce, the pressure to make the guest journey seamless across all touch-points has never been more intense. There are a number of well-known best practices to drive guest loyalty, but there is a fundamental difference between a tool to ‘do’ something and ‘how’ that tool is utilized to achieve a goal such as personalization, she explains. The hospitality space is littered with point solutions. Brands that still use identifiers pre-baked into boilerplate templates for the sake of scale have already lost the game. Why? Because we are in the era of engagement, and point solutions are not the winning formula for this time. It’s important to recognize that personalization is not a tool; rather, personalization is how you 'engage with' your guests.

Shirley King is an accomplished leader in CX and loyalty, having spent over 20 years in the luxury and lifestyle hospitality sector. She is responsible for designing and executing best-in-class loyalty strategies, programs, and campaigns at Kimpton Hotels and IHG. King points to Web3 as the next big thing in the loyalty space. Specifically, she views it as the next big disruptor to the market, although it needs more time to become a widely embraced reality. Web3 can be used to create reward engagement, brand community, co-creation, exclusivity through token-gated commerce, etc. However, the general public needs more time to prepare for it, and the FTX failure is not helping, she notes. Leveraging NFTs as a virtual membership card whose ownership unlocks status and brand experiences, allows co-creating with your most loyal customers, and builds brand community which can be very powerful. Brands adopting Web3 that I'm watching are Nike, Starbucks, Disney, retail clothing brand Scotch & Soda, YSL, and L'Oreal.

CEO of Commercial Acceleration Ali Powell, the multi-award-winning hospitality, tourism, and leisure consultant and advisor, explains that the end-to-end guest journey needs to be seamless. The focus should be on providing a user-friendly experience with best rate guarantees, exclusive packages, total guest stay booking options, and, perhaps most importantly, personalization wherever possible, shares Powell. There are many moments throughout the end-to-end guest journey that operators can look to personalize the guest experience.

Interested in more valuable insights from leading experts? Click here to download the Laasie eBook, Rewarding Loyalty: What It Takes to Keep Guests Coming Back.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

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I’ve spent much of my career discussing and predicting the evolution of our industry. Of course, much of this effort focuses explicitly on changing guest expectations and trends, as they set a precedent for the best practices adopted by hotels, airlines, and travel companies. However, amidst all the many changes that have unfurled over the last decade – most of which are a byproduct of digital innovation and disruption – there exists a core aspect of the guest experience that has quietly transformed in the background: the hotel room.

Think back to the last time you stayed in a hotel room. Once you have conjured that image in your mind, I want you to think back to a hotel room you stayed in 5-10 years ago if you can. Can you pinpoint any significant differences between the hotel room of today and the hotel room of the past? You should – because over the last decade, the hotel room archetype has undergone a Marie Kondo-Esq makeover, if you will. This minimalistic refinement has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned the hospitality industry on its head for two excruciatingly long years. With the dust of the pandemic finally settling, we must now survey the landscape and take note of that which remains the same and has transformed under pressure. In this particular case, the hotel room as we once knew it is shrinking before our eyes.

A Less is More Approach

“My hands were as dry as parchment when I checked into Washington’s Donovan House hotel on a bitterly cold day last winter,” wrote Nancy Trejos in a 2011 Washington Post article. “Eager for some moisturizer, I went straight to the bathroom, where I discovered no moisturizer to be found. Nor was there any shower gel for bathing, just plain old skin-drying soap. I was perplexed. Where were my favorite toiletries? For a while, you could count on your average hotel room to be almost as well-stocked as a Wal-Mart. Walk into the bathroom, and you’d find shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, a shower cap, and not one but two bars of soap, in case you didn’t want to lather your body with the same suds that oozed over your hands. Lost a button? Mending kit right this way. Want to buff your shoes? Grab the shoe mitt. But the recession put the brakes on such bountiful in-room accouterments.”

Of course, the economic downturn she was referring to was the 2008 recession which, much like the COVID-19 pandemic, set in motion a series of industry-wide adjustments that would remain for the foreseeable future. While many of us have fond memories of eagerly stuffing travel-size shampoos, conditioners, and body wash bottles into our suitcase only to have them promptly replaced on our guest room vanity, hotels have since shifted their approach. But as it turns out, the phase-out of individually bottled bathroom toiletries was just the beginning.

Around the world, many hotels have also begun replacing bathtubs with showers to address hygiene concerns and save on space. Of course, that’s not to say bathtubs are impossible to find, but they may be exclusive to specific suites rather than offered as the standard throughout a property. We’ve also seen the gradual death of the hotel mini-bar, which used to be a nostalgic staple within the hospitality experience and room service offerings. If we are being transparent, traditional hotel mini-bars often require more operational headaches and maintenance costs than they were worth. As a result, the convenience they provided guests came at a notoriously steep price. Now, many hotels are instead prioritizing memorable cocktail experiences, including customized bar carts serviced by bartenders with the skills to make specialty cocktails. Room service, on the other hand, has been largely replaced with unique dining options and community workspaces offered by hotels.

As hotels strive for enhanced sustainability, they are also moving to scale back on the frequency of guest sheet and towel changes, eliminate single-use plastic (a COVID-era staple), and reduce energy consumption via smart technology (such as thermostats). Furthermore, hotels are largely abandoning movie rentals in favor of smart TV applications widely embraced by the masses (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.). Finally, many hotel rooms are now devoid of phones in favor of voice-activated assistants like Google minis and are opting for smart wardrobe-style closets rather than traditional dressers.

The Future is Bright

This is a ‘less is more’ approach to guest room design and helps hotels gain momentum in pursuing modern functionality and sustainable best practices. And really, why shouldn’t the hotel room transform in a similar fashion to the rest of the property? Around the globe, hotels are rapidly transforming their lobbies to offer digital-first, self-service conveniences (self-service kiosks, VR, AI, and more) while making way for unique, mixed-use rooms and experiences that encourage connection and appeal to leisure and business travelers alike. And now, more than ever, many hotels are answering guest demand for local experiences by embracing local style and culture within their layout and offerings while breaking the ‘traditional hospitality’ mold to usher in a new era of eco-conscious travel.

By leveraging the power of an AI rewards-based loyalty program with a growing network of 1,000+ big-name instant gratification partners, Laasie delivers rewards for on-property purchases, luxury amenity use, or on-property experiences. Guests can choose high-value rewards that are relevant to them and makes their stay more memorable. This is the key to driving direct bookings, loyalty, retention, and purchase behavior, helping hotels of all types compete with OTAs.

Let’s face it; today’s guests have an insatiable appetite for convenience, personalization, flexibility, blended travel offerings, local experiences, sustainable policies, and, perhaps more importantly, a balance of high-touch and high-tech touchpoints. After all, as our personal and professional habits continue to evolve to embrace emerging technology, it’s only natural for those preferences and habits to extend into the realm of travel, and thus, must be accounted for. The use of modern loyalty technology opens up new revenue opportunities for hotels that are infinitely scalable.

So yes, the hotel room is – technically speaking – shrinking, but it's simultaneously expanding in other, meaningful ways. More importantly, hotels are leveraging modern technology to expand their offering beyond the physical attributes of any guest room. Using technology to enhance guest experiences, hotels can downsize other, more antiquated guest service elements while driving revenue in new, exciting ways.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer

Laasie has reached its highest-ever market share, with a recording-setting year of sales, over 925 new property implementations, $200M in incentivized booking revenue, and over $16M in guest rewards value. Also fueling the hotel loyalty rewards innovator's continuous growth is the addition of 9 strategic new hires across product, operations, and sales. The company is already on pace to outperform projections in 2023.

Laasie’s accomplishments also stem from strategically setting the brand's hotel partners up for success, exceeding guest expectations, increasing revenue, and building long-lasting relationships with their guests that start at that pivotal booking moment.

For Laasie and its clients, this past year marked:

• Over 925 new properties onboarded to Laasie’s loyalty products

• $199,745,998 incentivized booking revenue (based on bookings that selected rewards)

• $16,589,370 rewards value (based on the value of chosen rewards by guests)

2022 was a huge year for us with product developments, rewards partnerships, soaring sales, and implementing new ways to elevate the guest booking experience. We have a lot of exciting initiatives planned for 2023 that will keep the momentum going and provide hotels with even more guest engagement and revenue opportunities to achieve, and even exceed, their business goals. 

– Jen Wong, CEO of Laasie

Loyalty shouldn’t be complicated, but historically, it has been with unrealistic requirements, delays, and barriers that leave travelers disappointed and frustrated. Laasie’s unique platform is unlike any other on the market, with a proven track record of increased conversions and net revenue. The lightweight, turnkey solution delivers incentives upon a desired action and rewards guests on the hotel’s website while on-property or traveling home. It also supports white labeling for all customer-facing interfaces to match a brand’s marketing guidelines. The best part is this offers hotels a significant competitive advantage with no operational headaches while imparting a memorable experience for guests that generic points can’t provide.

To learn why thousands of leading hotels trust Laasie’s next-generation loyalty solution to drive conversions and increase repeat guest bookings, visit laasie.ai.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer

Enhancing guest experience while increasing direct revenue for hotels

Selfbook and Laasie, both guest-centric hospitality platforms dedicated to increasing direct revenue for hotels, have come together to further enhance the guest experience on- and offline. Selfbook modernizes hotel bookings and payments with its seamless booking layer and user experience, and Laasie shifts away from traditional loyalty to offer hotels a powerful membership program that provides guests infinite tiers, personalized rewards, and instant gratification.

Selfbook is setting a new standard in hotel bookings by increasing conversions, average order value, and revenue through its seamless checkout experience and digital wallet support for Apple Pay and Google Pay. Integrating directly with hotels’ existing systems, Selfbook is committed to empowering hotels worldwide by continuously improving user experience and supporting the fastest-growing payment methods that are shaping how we spend today.

Laasie brings instantly gratifying rewards to guests who book direct, enhancing conversion and retention with AI-driven reward personalization. With Laasie’s recommendation engine and rewards ranging from local in-market experiences to on-property ancillary revenue drivers like F&B, hotels have been able to drive over $520 million in direct booking and ancillary revenue.

Together, both platforms combine their conversion- and revenue-driving strengths to offer a simple, memorable booking experience that boosts guest loyalty. Within the booking flow, guests have the opportunity to view the combination of Laasie rewards tied to their selected reservation, such as local experiences, on-property rewards and merchant offers, all within Selfbook’s frictionless booking flow. Once the booking is complete, guests receive an email from Laasie with instructions to redeem their rewards, as well as the opportunity to either sign in to an existing loyalty account or create a new one for future use.

“Today’s travelers want instant rewards and frictionless booking experiences. Our partnership with Selfbook allows hotels to provide both to guests seamlessly in our integrated solution,” says Ellis Connolly, Chief Revenue Officer at Laasie. “With direct bookings being a top revenue strategy for hotels in 2023, we believe this partnership is a win for both guests and hoteliers.''

“Our partnership with Laasie will allow us to take Selfbook’s direct booking experience to the next level by further incentivizing guests to book directly on hotel websites,” says Gautier Colin, VP, Partnerships at Selfbook. “By seamlessly layering Laasie rewards into our booking flow, we bring guests an irresistible combination of special benefits and convenience to boost both loyalty and conversion.”

About Selfbook

Uniquely positioned at the intersection of fintech and hospitality, Selfbook revolutionizes hotel bookings and payments from the inside out. Working in tandem with hotels’ existing technology systems, Selfbook enhances what matters most to hotels, including direct conversion, revenue, cash flow control, and security. Built by a team of hospitality veterans, Selfbook’s products provide a refreshingly effortless user experience for guests and hoteliers alike. Selfbook is committed to empowering hotels worldwide with modern e-commerce solutions tailor-made for our industry.

About Laasie

Laasie powers a new kind of loyalty for 1,800 hotels and resorts through AI and a network of 1,100+ instant gratification partners. No points, no tiers, no waiting for qualification. Awarded the #1 Direct Booking Platform by HotelTechAwards, Laasie incentivizes conversion and retention, driving over $500 million in direct bookings for their partners.

Today’s savvy customers are uninspired by yesterday’s rigid loyalty programs, often leaving with unused points and limited brand affinity. Laasie uses artificial intelligence and big data to dynamically create loyalty with personalized, instant rewards that motivate customer actions like booking directly, making a return visit, joining a marketing program for offers, and more. The result? Customers enjoy enriched experiences with each brand interaction and partners benefit with increased net revenue, actionable data insights, strengthened customer relationships, and a scalable loyalty program that increases the lifetime value of every customer.

To learn more, visit laasie.ai

Offering value in exchange for data will resonate more deeply with guests, inspiring engagement, revenue, trust, and loyalty

As privacy concerns related to data capture reach a fever pitch, consumer data – perhaps better described as the critical currency which powers personalization – is becoming a protected commodity. For a long time, brands across industries could collect and store online data without explicit disclosure of that capture and, more importantly, without first obtaining consent. This was a discreet and arguably invasive practice.

Over time, privacy and personal data protection concerns began competing with consumer desire for a data-driven, personalized experience. The result? A widespread erosion of consumer trust, which, for customer-facing, service-based brands like hospitality, is very bad for business.

All of this coincides with massive changes in data privacy from Apple and Google, which will significantly impact channels like Facebook and mobile apps. Data will, of course, continue to drive insights and personalized touch-points, but the rules of engagement have changed. Industries like hospitality, which rely on retrieving traveler information to curate more relevant messaging, offers, experiences, and loyalty rewards, must adjust their approach.

As we bid 2022 goodbye, “Ask, and you shall receive” is no longer the ruling mantra; rather, this should be replaced with “Incentivize, and you shall receive.” Data is valuable, and it’s due time for hotel operators to establish a two-way value exchange that incentives guests to readily share their information to unlock a heightened experience.

It’s Time to Turn the Page on the Wild West of Data Collection

“The data harvested from our devices, along with our trail of electronic transactions and data from other sources, now provides the foundation for some of the world’s largest companies,” shared the Harvard Business Review in February of this year. “Personal data is also the wellspring for millions of small businesses and countless startups, which turn it into customer insights, market predictions, and personalized digital services. For the past two decades, the commercial use of personal data has become like the wild west. But now, because of consumer mistrust, government action, and competition for customers, those days are quickly ending.”

Simply put, hotels cannot offer a great guest experience without prioritizing data protection and transparency; one tier of service (personalization) cannot come at the expense of another (privacy and consent). In 2023 and beyond, great service will be synonymous with heightened data protection and transparency.

If hotels elevate their efforts to meet guests' expectations for customized offers and experiences, and treat personalization as a strategic priority, they will see immediate benefits that deliver long-term results. That is why every hotel's primary mission should be to clearly demonstrate the value exchange: a personalized experience at every touchpoint in trade for data. The good news is that tailor-made journeys are exactly what guests want. Fortunately for hotels, modern loyalty programs represent an ethical and effective way to capture guest data and establish a clear value exchange, which rewards guests for sharing their data.

The Value Exchange: What Are You Giving Guests in Exchange for Their Data?

One significant shift is that consumers recognize the value of their data and are willing to share personal information in exchange for something in return. People are typically more inclined to do something when there is a benefit for them. A 2022 Coresight Research study revealed the following:

• 80% of consumers are willing to share personal data to earn loyalty program benefits.

• 70% of consumers are willing to share their data to receive special discounts and offers.

• 71% of consumers will shop more often with brands or retailers that personalize their communications.

Why should guests give up their personal data without receiving anything in return? Shouldn’t this exchange be a two-way street? What new experiences and services can guests expect in exchange for their data and loyalty? The win-win involves identifying the value exchange and unlocking the right data.

Next-generation technology sets the stage for this dynamic by allowing hospitality brands to offer their guests data control and value in a seamless, scalable fashion. Modern loyalty platforms like Laasie look to instantly reward guests with relevant, high-value rewards when they perform a desired action, such as booking direct or opting in to share their information.

In an entirely transparent fashion, Laasie collects every relevant and appropriate data point shared by guests and then converts this data into actionable insights hotels can leverage to direct business strategy intelligently. In exchange, guests benefit from a more personalized experience and get to choose from an open marketplace of instantly-selectable reward options across shopping, dining, activities, and more.

In simple terms, Lassie’s loyalty program automatically incentivizes and earns travelers' consent, unlocking richer experiences, better service, and high long-term loyalty. This isn’t just the future of hotel loyalty – this is the future of guest data capture across the industry. Finally, hotels will be able to unlock the true power of a dynamic, customer-centric loyalty program powered by AI and instant gratification and, as a result, build meaningful, value-driven relationships with their guests.

It may be the end of an era of easy access to guest data, but it is just the beginning of a new era of deeper trust and engagement between guests and their favorite hotel brands.

Free guide reveals everything you need to know to engage guests and keep them coming back

They say that the only constant in life is change, and the hospitality industry is no exception. The hospitality industry finds itself at the mercy of ever-changing guest trends and preferences that, often, can only be achieved at scale with the help of continued innovation and new-age technology. And yet, the hospitality industry is notorious for its slow adoption of new tech, often holding on to legacy systems and processes long past their suggested expiration date. Unfortunately, hotel loyalty programs have suffered the brunt of this consequence; while travelers seek forward-facing hospitality brands, traditional loyalty programs remain buried in the limitations of the past.

Across industries, marketers and business owners find themselves ruminating over the same question – is loyalty dead? Are modern customers incapable of exhibiting loyalty to the brands they purchase from? If not, why does customer loyalty feel increasingly elusive, if not entirely absent from the marketplace? The fact is that any hotel that insists “loyalty is dead” simply hasn’t bothered to revamp or evolve its loyalty program. The only loyalty programs that cease to matter in today’s landscape are those which fail to delight and enhance a guest's experience in a measurable, meaningful way.

According to Skift Research, the rate of leisure travelers who were loyalty members of the hotel they stayed in during their most recent trip went from 43 percent to 47 percent between 2020 and 2021. Moreover, members contribute between 30 percent and 60 percent of room revenue and tend to pay higher average daily room rates (ADR) than non-members. In addition, 75% of American consumers say they’re more likely to be loyal to brands that understand them personally, and only 42% of brand executives think their customer loyalty strategies are effective.

In 2020, Mastercard also reported that most US adults (90%) belong to at least one loyalty program, and 53% are in three or more – yet many brands struggle to find ways to engage customers. In 2019, Mintel reported that, although 90% of US adults belong to at least one loyalty program, more than half of loyalty memberships are inactive. Often, this lack of engagement and satisfaction can be attributed to the simple fact that loyalty programs don’t offer incentives guests actually care about, or, if they do, those incentives are locked behind a tier that will take thousands of points to reach. The worst part? The points might expire before a guest even has a chance to use them.

There is no denying it – loyalty programs are a worthy (if not entirely essential) investment. They just often hit the mark. For years, the “points-based” loyalty system has reigned supreme – not due to perceived excellence or superiority to other formats, but simply because it was what hospitality brands had always done. Yet, it’s no secret that this traditional approach to guest loyalty leaves much to be desired; it often fails to delight (or even satisfy) guests and often fails to derive ROI and benefit a hotel's bottom line in any meaningful way. This begs the question – why haven’t we done anything to change it? Is there not a better way?

Fortunately, there is. Finally, hotels can offer guests personalized rewards and instant gratification rather than hard-to-redeem points. This shift in the legacy loyalty model is not only good business – it’s the (lucrative) future of guest loyalty.

Download The Ultimate Guide to Revitalizing Guest Loyalty and Revenues in 2023.

Redefined Personalization, Instant Rewards and Technology are the New Pillars For Guest Engagement

We are officially on the eve of a new year, already moving through the holiday season at the signature blink-and-you-might-miss-it pace that is seemingly synonymous with this time of year. From Thanksgiving celebrations to Christmas festivities, end-of-year reflections, and year-ahead preparations, our personal and professional calendars are likely brimming with activity and commitments. But this year, perhaps more than any other, feels especially monumental, as 2022 was not only the year the world returned to relative normalcy – it was the year the hospitality industry finally roared back to life.

Of course, this industry is nothing without its traditions, and we can’t conclude this pivotal year without first paying lip service to the trends it produced and, more importantly, the trends we expect to dominate in 2023. Specifically, we want to look at the loyalty segment of the hospitality industry to identify the foremost trends expected to turn legacy loyalty on its head in favor of a new kind of loyalty next year.

Guests Crave Personalization and Connection

If the theme of 2021 was ‘the new normal,’ the theme of 2022 was surely connection and experiences. After two years of pandemic-related closures and limitations, it seems we found our post-pandemic redemption through rekindled connections and in-person moments shared with friends, family, and even the brands we purchase from. Consumer values have been recalibrated to embrace life after the pandemic in new ways, and hotel loyalty programs are expected to adjust accordingly.

To this effect, the Qualtrics (Nasdaq: XM) 2023 Global Consumer Trends Report revealed that consumer loyalty will be won through personal connections, not pure efficiency. The human desire to be heard and understood is universal, especially in today’s digital world, said Bruce Temkin, head of Qualtrics XM Institute. With all the economic, political, and medical uncertainties over the next couple of years, organizations need to get even better at recognizing and responding to shifts in customers' thinking and feeling to retain their loyalty.

Simply put, travelers are no longer content to demonstrate loyalty towards brands that fail to offer a personalized experience aligned with their values. Guests want to feel connected to the hospitality brands they book with. Hotels can capitalize on this preference by curating personalized, value-driven loyalty programs that make guests feel seen, heard, and understood. Now, more than ever before, hotels should look to encourage emotional loyalty and treat guests as valued members of their community rather than transient customers.

Loyalty Programs will Reign Supreme as Cookies Come to an End

In case you missed it, Google plans to phase out third-party cookies by 2023/2024 as part of its “privacy sandbox” program for Chrome. While this is great news for consumers who are increasingly wary of the digital capture of their data, it is expected to be a shock for brands that rely on that data capture to curate a personalized customer experience. Fortunately for hotels, modern loyalty programs represent an ethical and effective way to capture guest data through the power of incentivization.

Delayed Gratification is Out; Instant Gratification is In

Consider this: In a recent survey of nearly 3,000 US adults, 45% of Millennials said technology has made them more impatient than they were five years ago. Millennials have been dubbed the generation of “instant gratification.” Moreover, 80% of millennials and 68% of non-millennials say they would be more than willing to enter a premium loyalty program of their favorite companies if offered and if the benefits and perks are valuable.

It’s Time to Break the Loyalty Mold

To be frank, many loyalty ‘perks’ traditionally offered by hotels are as impersonal as they are predictable and boring. In many cases, guests will continue to save and accumulate their loyalty points to hit a higher, more exciting tier of rewards, only to have their points expire before being used. But do loyalty rewards have to be that way? Can’t we look beyond a free bottle of champagne or an extra night at the hotel to offer guests rewards that surprise them, excite them, or help to solve problems?

Finally, it’s time to break the traditional loyalty mold. Moving beyond the confines of a one-size-fits-all points system, hotels can redefine what loyalty rewards look like, in addition to what guest behaviors are rewarded. Should a booking decision be the only action rewarded by hotels? Certainly not, and hotels are now leveraging their loyalty programs to inspire engagement with guests at various touchpoints, such as leaving a review or offering feedback, or even rewarding them for making responsible choices while traveling (i.e., actions that empower environmental sustainability). In fact, sustainability is one of the foremost hospitality trends heading into 2023 and using this new framework, hotels can incentivize guests to be engaged visitors to their property and citizens of the world.

Travelers today don’t only expect personalization and convenience from hospitality brands – they also expect more tangible rewards. While loyalty systems of the past have exclusively relied on the promise of delayed gratification via a volume-based model, new-age loyalty platforms work to abandon that framework entirely. Loyalty platforms like Laasie offer instant, personalized rewards in place of tiered point systems, allowing guests to ‘cash in’ on their curated selection of reward options the moment they book.

The best part? Data gleaned directly from guests in exchange for rewards and perks is more likely to be authentic and accurate than second and third-party data. In 2023 (and beyond), loyalty programs are expected to become a key revenue driver for hotels and airlines with the help of comprehensive, AI-powered technology.

FOMO is Alive and Well in the Experience Economy

With two years of varying degrees of social isolation finally behind us, travelers around the world are exhibiting an undeniable appetite for in-person experiences. Now, more than ever, people place more value on experiences than material goods, especially when booking a vacation. To this effect, some of the key search and click growth trends Microsoft saw in 2022 were as follows:

• Searches for Tour Operators are up 45% compared to 2019

• Searches for Tourist Attractions are up 14% compared to 2019

• Clicks for Concerts and Music Festivals are rebounding to pre-pandemic levels

• Events, Shows & Cultural Attractions click-through rates are up 86% year-over-year (YoY)

• 22% of travelers say they plan to experience more guided cultural activities than they had pre-pandemic

As you might have guessed, this is excellent news for hospitality and, more specifically, hotel loyalty programs. With experiences increasingly coveted and sought after by guests around the world, prospective travelers are plagued with repeated pangs of wanderlust and FOMO (fear of missing out). Hotels can capitalize on this trend by offering share-worthy, experience-based rewards to guests that not only establish an emotional connection between the property and the guest but also create FOMO in prospective travelers who hear about it.

We learned the original rules of hotel loyalty, and in 2023, it’s time to break them. Modern loyalty platforms are dynamic, exciting, personalized and can delight guests. In turn, guests are given a better on and off-property experience, while hotels forge stronger connections with guests, generate business-defining insights, and maximize conversion rates.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer

Rewarding guests for sharing their data is an opportunity to gain valuable insights and build more personalized connections as search engines crack down on website tracking

It’s officially time for businesses to get their hands out of the cookie jar – the internet cookie jar, that is. In January 2020, Google announced its intentions to “overhaul Chrome” by removing cookies and, in turn, better protect users' privacy as they browse the web. Fast forward to today, and the search engine giant has scrapped its original plan to transition to Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) in favor of a new system called Topics, expected to materialize in 2024. Although the jury is still out on when this transition will reach its completion – and whether or not it will have a meaningful impact on user privacy – one thing remains certain: the days of internet cookies are coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Of course, it could also be argued that this is not a new development; after all, other search engines, including Safari, Firefox, and Brave, have already restricted the use of cookies. However, it's essential to acknowledge the market share which Google Chrome captures. Chrome hogs 63 percent of the global browser market and, in many ways, sets the standards accepted across the industry. Whether you love or hate Google doesn’t particularly matter in this case; Google still runs the digital world, and its big-picture influence is impossible to ignore.

The reasoning for the inevitable phase-out of cookies, Google argues, is that "Users are demanding greater privacy – including transparency, choice, and control over how their data is used – and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands.” While this may be true, it represents a significant challenge for businesses, especially those in industries that rely heavily on collecting user data over digital mediums to inform a more personalized browsing experience.

As you might have guessed, the hospitality industry falls heavily into this bucket. Today's guests come to the table with exceptionally stringent rules of engagement; hotels must offer a highly personalized experience that is equal parts high-touch and high-tech while still adhering to emerging data privacy regulations. This begs the question – with the digital cookie jar officially closed for business, how will hotels capture guest data to offer a more personalized and memorable experience?

A Glimpse Into a Cookie-less Future

In simple terms, cookies store unique identifiers (like session IDs) about your computer to identify you as an individual visitor. These cookies are then sent back to the server each time your browser requests a new page, which helps websites remember you, your preferences, and your habits online.

According to research, 62% of customers prefer personalized products and services, but almost the same number (61%) feel like they have lost control over how companies use their information. We’ve found ourselves at a critical inflection point, it would seem, where consumers remain conflicted in their continued embrace of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, personalized experiences are significantly more satisfying than the alternative, but on the other hand, personalization comes at a price: user data. Until now, consumers have been the ones to foot that bill, and perhaps, as we move forward into this new and largely uncharted terrain, they are ready to flip that script.

In a cookie-less future, hospitality websites must capture and store user data using new methods. But perhaps, it’s time for businesses – specifically, hospitality brands – to step up to the plate and offset the price travelers’ have traditionally paid for a personalized experience. Perhaps, it’s time to stop treating guest data as something inherently given and instead view it as something that should be earned.

A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement

Rather than interpreting Google’s shifts as a threat to business, or the hospitality industry at large, I urge hoteliers to look at it as an opportunity for enhanced connection with guests, especially in the realm of guest loyalty. After all, guests aren’t inherently against sharing their information with hotels; they simply aren’t willing to hand it over for free anymore. Research indicates that most consumers (65%) are willing to share their personal information with a brand or retailer in exchange for more personalized shopping experiences, coupons, or other benefits. Moreover, almost four out of five (79%) of consumers agree that the more personalization tactics a brand uses, the more loyal they are to that brand. Finally, 90% of all travelers expect a personalized experience when they book a hotel.

To incentivize guest behavior, platforms like Laasie aim to offer instant gratification at every touch-point. With Laasie’s exclusive network of over 1,000 rewards partners, hotels can now provide their guests instant gratification at every touch-point. Rather than relying on a legacy, volume-based points model, hotels can build a reciprocal relationship with guests.

Using a modern, AI-powered loyalty platform, hotels can finally reward guests for their actions (even beyond the booking decision) to generate guest insights at every turn. By shifting our industry’s approach to guest loyalty, hotels can effectively earn the guest data they hope to capture, which will not only maximize conversion but empower a better guest experience, and higher lifetime value attributed to each guest. The best part? The personalization offered to guests – and subsequently, the relationship shared between guests and their favorite hotels – will only improve with time. No cookies needed.

How vacation rentals can leverage the power of instant gratification rewards programs to increase conversions, drive revenue and keep guests coming back

It wasn’t that long ago that Airbnb took the world of hospitality by storm. What began with two guys renting out air mattresses in their San Francisco apartment to conference attendees in an attempt to make rent later became the darling of Silicon Valley success stories. In 2020, just 12 years after its first iteration, the company was valued at just over $100 billion in the biggest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of the year. In an article published in Forbes, author Dina Gerdeman wrote, “Airbnb is revolutionizing the lodging market by keeping hotel rates in check and making additional rooms available in the country's hottest travel spots during peak periods when hotel rooms often sell out, and rates skyrocket, a new study shows.” The Airbnb effect was simple but undeniably attractive to eager travelers: when hotels were fully booked, Airbnb expanded the capacity for rooms. Moreover, these rentals offered young and culture-curious travelers a new take on the traditional guest experience – one that was decidedly more intimate and unique.

Airbnb’s home rental platform may not have been the disruptor that anyone saw coming, but the disrupter transformed travel as we once knew it, ushering in a new era most aptly called the sharing economy. However, the shockwave of Airbnb’s industry impact was stalled shortly after its IPO, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the hospitality industry at large to a grinding halt. With no travelers to serve, airlines, hotels, and Airbnb rentals entered a period of a significant downturn, aligned with their desire to see travel surge back to life as soon as possible.

Having finally entered a period of post-pandemic recovery, industry experts are now surveying the industry landscape under a new lens. Which format will reign supreme on the other side of the pandemic – traditional hospitality, hotels, or Airbnb? Perhaps the better question is, how has the market changed over the last two years, and how can vacation rentals capitalize on those changes to influence booking behavior, delight travelers, and inspire guest loyalty?

If You Change the Way People Work, You Also Change the Way They travel

In case you missed it, the pandemic reshaped work around the globe as organizations across industries were forced to embrace remote work. Even now, in the wake of the pandemic, many of those organizations will move forward with a remote or hybrid work model, allowing their employees a level of freedom that was previously uncommon in the corporate world.

To this effect, McKinsey’s recent American Opportunity Survey revealed that 58 percent of Americans have reported having the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week. “Thirty-five percent of respondents report having the option to work from home five days a week. What makes these numbers particularly notable is that respondents work in all kinds of jobs, in every part of the country and sector of the economy, including traditionally labeled “blue collar” jobs that might be expected to demand on-site labor as well as “white collar” professions,” reads the report. “Another of the survey’s revelations: when people have the chance to work flexibly, 87 percent of them take it. This dynamic is widespread across demographics, occupations, and geographies. The flexible working world was born of a frenzied reaction to a sudden crisis but has remained a desirable job feature for millions. This represents a tectonic shift in where, when, and how Americans want to work and are working.”

This shift to a work-from-home (or anywhere) model is important because it directly impacts travel behavior. In the past, travelers were limited to their designated vacation time when considering domestic or international trips. But today? They can technically work from anywhere, and as a result, the short-term rental (STR) market is seeing an impressive surge in demand. According to data from Airbnb, demand for stays of weeks or months is on the rise. This is great news for STR providers, as it frees them from the traditional ebb and flow of seasonal demand. At the same time, daily rates increase in response to remote-work travelers’ preference for larger, more comfortable accommodations in popular markets.

Moreover, more hosts are entering the market in an attempt to not only jump on this emerging trend but combat rising inflation. In the United States, where inflation increased by 9.1 percent in June 2022, the number of new Airbnb hosts grew by more than 50 percent in Q2 20223, compared to Q2 2021 – and this same trend was observed around the world. The writing is on the wall – if you change how people work, you also change how they travel, and hospitality brands should look to lean into the STR segment to capitalize on this recent growth.

STR Guests Can Be Loyal, Too

Typically, hospitality loyalty programs focus on traditional travel behavior, specifically, leisure vacations and business travel. But what about short-term rentals? If these guests offer a high revenue value and are in the market for frequent travel (even during off-peak times), don’t they deserve access to the same (if not better) loyalty incentives as other travel segments? While the traditional, volume-based hotel loyalty model, which allows guests to accumulate points for each stay, may not be the best fit for STR guests, rewards-based loyalty is perfectly positioned to delight STR guests.

Moving away from the points-based model, modern rewards solutions like Laasie look instead to leverage the power of instant gratification by offering guests instant, hyper-personalized rewards. Each time a traveler performs a desired behavior, whether a booking decision, simply interacting with the property, or even providing feedback, they will be granted access to a marketplace of rewards partners — local, national, and global — across shopping, dining, and activities. Using an AI-powered rewards platform, STR providers can enjoy increased booking conversion (43 percent on average) via a low-cost channel and build one-to-one relationships while rewarding guests for every interaction and driving repeat transactions via relevant, effective marketing offers and personalized rewards.

The best part? Using a data-backed loyalty program tailored to the habits and preferences, STR providers can easily grow guest lifetime value, positioning them as a sought-after accommodation for future short-term stays. Not to mention, loyal guests often serve as ambassadors of the properties they know and love, especially when they’re incentivized to share their experience and book again. Short-term rentals are an integral (and lucrative) segment of the post-pandemic hospitality landscape, and it’s time they leverage a rewards program to differentiate themselves from competitor properties while giving their guests every reason to book with them again in the future.

Ellis Connolly
Chief Revenue Officer
Laasie

What Today’s Guests Really Want When It Comes To Hotel Loyalty Programs Might Surprise You

At a dinner last year, I overheard a conversation unfolding between two other guests, one of whom worked at a PR agency. “Believe it or not, micro-influencers are often more impactful from a social media marketing standpoint than the big players,” she shared, at which point my ears pricked up to listen closely. “Campaigns with someone at a high level of fame, like Kim Kardashian, will cost a company incomprehensible sums of money – which may be fine if the ROI justifies it, but if the engagement is predominantly views and general sponsored exposure rather than tangible actions, it’s not necessarily a smart business move. On the other hand, content creators with a smaller following – say, 5,000-15,000 followers – are generally more connected to their following, and their posts and recommendations may be viewed as more genuine and organic, so the ROI is often better.”

As she explained this, I found myself nodding along. Social media marketing is hardly my area of expertise or interest; however, there is a lesson in this sentiment. Bigger isn’t always better, and smaller businesses now have an opportunity to outrun their larger competitors in the business world. Using the dinner guest’s example, years ago, micro-influencers wouldn’t have represented an advertising opportunity because we lacked exposure to them. In today’s day and age, social media has created a new medium for impact and reach, allowing smaller players to benefit from the same exposure and connection opportunities traditionally enjoyed by celebrities. I see a similar trend when I apply this lens to business, specifically the hospitality industry. With the continued emergence of next-gen technology and digital innovations, independent operators that were once confined to the shadows of large chain hotels can finally edge ahead. Social media is to micro-influencers what innovative technology is to independent hotels – and now, more than ever, hotels should leverage that advantage.

Technology (and the way companies adopt and leverage it) is the primary competitive differentiator between the hospitality brands that succeed and those that struggle in our ever-changing and ever-challenging landscape. In fact, if you ask me, next-gen technology is leveling the playing field for independent hotels in the race for guest loyalty.

The Independent Advantage

When we look at the hospitality landscape, specifically, it’s essential to take note of the advantages held by independent operators. While large chains benefit from brand power, recognition, and larger marketing budgets, independent hotels experience more autonomy, freedom, and agility. They can capitalize on guests’ demand for unique, personalized experiences with experiential offerings that don’t have to adhere to strict brand standards like those properties tied to a large chain.

A more personalized offering also empowers these hotels to establish more meaningful connections with guests to keep them coming back. As you might have guessed, that perceived intimacy and personal connection can go a long way in guest satisfaction and loyalty. With the additional influence of next-gen technology, independent hotels can prioritize their independence while simultaneously streamlining and automating their operations similarly to their larger competitors. Moreover, many modern hospitality platforms allow hotels to offer data-backed personalization that directly benefits the guest experience.

Many of our Laasie clients are independent hotels, and like most, they don’t have a lot of group brand recognition to attract direct bookings, so they often have to rely on OTAs to drive their revenue. When visitors engage with Laasie’s incentives throughout their booking journey, hotels see much higher booking conversion rates. Additionally, guests love the rewards offered – they select rewards a whopping 80% of the time! The platform is designed to encourage members to book directly again and again with personalized, instantly-selectable rewards that only get more perfect with every booking.

The impact of technology adoption is far-reaching, empowering hotel teams to mitigate workflow inefficiencies, reduce operational pressure on staff, enhance productivity, improve service, and better connect with guests via the service mediums they prefer. The writing is on the wall – where independent properties lack resources and massive budgets, they can close the gap with intuitive technology that exists to change how hospitality teams of any size serve guests.

New tools for a changing era

In an article posted to Skift this year, the author wrote, “Traveler expectations have shifted dramatically since before the pandemic. To capture demand in a competitive market, independent hotel brands must deliver a compelling alternative to the traditional loyalty programs the large chains offer.” Citing Chris Hartley, CEO of Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the article noted that the hospitality industry had seen a huge shift towards leisure travel. “So we need to be more responsive to the needs of those travelers,” said Harley. “For one thing, they’re asking for more flexibility on how they earn and spend rewards, including the chance to accrue and redeem rewards close to home.”

This sentiment speaks to an emerging trend – hotel loyalty models, which have remained unchanged for many years, are finally beginning to shift in a more innovative and personalized direction. Fortunately, next-generation loyalty technology works to champion this transition, guiding hotels along the path to a new kind of loyalty. By moving beyond the constraints of legacy loyalty programs, modern loyalty technology adopts a rewards-based model that leverages data-backed personalization and instant gratification to incentivize guest behavior and enhance satisfaction with each transaction moment. Rewards-based insights for audience building and guest acquisition help hotels get closer to their guests, capitalizing on their advantage as an independent property with enhanced service autonomy. Even better, this technology is fully customizable, meaning it can be adapted to the needs of any independent hotel and launched within days, with no operational headaches.

While many large hotel chains focus on legacy, points-based reward systems, the instant gratification rewards-based loyalty model provides independent hotels with an incredible opportunity to differentiate their property while delighting guests at every turn. With the help of next-generation loyalty technology, independent hotels can truly capitalize on their competitive advantages and not only make the ongoing race between independents and large hotel brands fair – but maybe even win.

Ellis Connolly

Consumer demand for immediate gratification has revolutionized retail and inspired hotels to meet emerging guest expectations with instant loyalty rewards

The exchange of goods and services is a critical cog in the wheel of how our world works. As we skim through the pages of history books, we are met with countless, comparatively archaic examples of what we know now to be retail commerce. But even just a few decades ago, many of the digitally-empowered conveniences that define our retail experiences today might have seemed, at that time, far-fetched.

Let’s take, for example, the evolution of retail shipping. At one time, consumers expected to wait weeks – maybe even months – for their orders to arrive. Today, however, express shipping has become the new norm, with consumers expecting their order to arrive on their doorstep in 1-3 days or, in some cases, within the same day. And much of the time, for free!

In a 2015 blog by PARCEL, the author described Amazon’s incredible influence on rapidly changing shipping standards. “Being the titan that it is, whatever Amazon decides to do affects all retailers,” the post read. “As a result, two-day free shipping has become the norm of e-commerce, or put another way. It is the new minimally acceptable expectation. Big box and smaller-sized retailers alike have to change and adapt to compete with Amazon. Major retailers such as Borders and RadioShack have disappeared, mainly because they couldn’t keep up with the changing environment. Today's consumers have more knowledge, demand instant gratification, and use digital merchandise whenever available.”

Just five years ago, industry experts had moved on to highlight next-day shipping as the future of retail. For retailers, quickly getting products into customers' hands has become one of the most crucial elements of business success. Recent studies show that 61% of shoppers want their items delivered within three hours of purchase, while 80% of buyers want Same-day shipping. 17% of online shoppers will abandon a brand due to shipping delays.

Free same-day shipping has revolutionized the retail industry and acts as a competitive differentiator between brands vying for consumer wallet share and loyalty. In the past, it may have been enough to offer customers free shipping, but today, same-day shipping has redefined the landscape and, in turn, consumer expectations. This is a widely celebrated innovation that can no longer be resisted by any business hoping to remain competitive. For hospitality, we see the emergence of instant hotel rewards transforming loyalty programs and spearheading a similar shift in the industry - with savvy hoteliers ready to adapt.

The Link Between Same-Day Shipping and Instant Loyalty Rewards

First came expedited shipping, then came two-day shipping, and, finally, we arrived at free next-day and same-day shipping. For a few decades, the retail industry has shifted to prioritize convenience and instant gratification, which, as we know, is aligned with modern consumer preferences. Comparatively, guest loyalty has long remained somewhat stagnant in the hospitality market. Much like the retail shipping options of the past, legacy loyalty programs rely on delayed gratification. These systems are built upon a point-based, volume model which allows guests to unlock reward tiers as they continue to book with the same hotel or airline. Over time, guests accumulate enough points to qualify for higher value rewards, which should help enhance their on-property experience and instill long-term loyalty.

While this concept is simple and effective on paper, it’s important to note that the landscape it exists in has changed. Travel behavior and preferences have shifted, with many guests now booking trips at different frequencies and eager to explore new destinations while also craving a more meaningful and instant connection with their selected hospitality brands. Guests who do not travel to the same hotel multiple times a year, but still represent a great value to hotels whenever they book, can no longer capitalize on a volume-based system in the way that segments, like business travelers, have in the past. More importantly, many younger travelers (Millennials and Gen X) are interested in boutique offerings championed by independent hotels and actively seeking more personalized experiences. In fact, surveys published in 2018 found that just 30% of Millennials are satisfied with the programs they are offered, compared to 56% of baby boomers. At that time, 57% of polled millennials reported that they let their hotel loyalty points disappear, significantly more than any other age group. This is especially alarming when we consider the fact that Millennials reportedly travel more than any other age group in history.

Although legacy loyalty programs exist to incentivize direct bookings and long-term guest loyalty, we have entered an era in which they may be missing the mark for a large population of travelers. Like the retail industry, hospitality is immersed in the demand for convenience and hyper-personalization. Through technology like Laasie, hotels can finally upgrade to our industry’s equivalent of free same-day shipping: instant, personalized rewards.

Out With the Old, In With the New

So, what exactly is new-age loyalty? Powered by AI, the Laasie rewards platform is exceptionally dynamic and customizable, empowering hotels to reward guests for their actions (booking decisions, upgrades, feedback surveys, social media actions, etc.) while generating insights from every interaction. At the same time, using a Content Optimization Engine, hotels can seamlessly optimize campaign designs and messaging to maximize conversion and guest satisfaction while ensuring guests are presented with relevant, hyper-personalized rewards that mean something to them.

It’s a simple but impactful (aka profitable) concept – offer guests instantly redeemable rewards customized to their interests and values, removing the barriers that once existed within traditional loyalty system hierarchies. With access to an open marketplace of thousands of rewards partners (local, national, and global), including retail rewards, dining experiences, and exciting activities, hotels can ensure something special and, more importantly, instantly tangible to offer to every guest.

Give Guests What They Want

If a consumer has their eye on a specific item that multiple retailers sell, and only one of those retailers offers free next-day or same-day shipping, which retailer do you think will win that business? Even if that consumer doesn’t need that item immediately, the appeal of convenience and instant gratification is often undeniably effective. Similarly, suppose a traveler who wants to book an upcoming trip is deciding between two competing hotel properties. In that case, one offers a traditional loyalty program while another provides an instant rewards program (perhaps in combination with a conventional loyalty program); which property do you think they will choose?

Now, more than ever, travelers and consumers crave autonomy over their experience, enhanced personalization, and unparalleled convenience. These elements of service are now the norm of any industry and the minimally acceptable expectation. Just as the retail industry had to adapt to the demand for more expedited shipping, the hospitality industry must adapt to the demand for more personalized and tangible loyalty programs that reward travelers in meaningful ways throughout their entire guest journey.

The best of both worlds combination of transactional and experiential benefits, along with enticing incentivized engagement, drives positive guest experiences and revenue

If I were to ask you about your best rewards program experience, what would come to mind? Conversely, if I were to ask you about your worst rewards program experience, what comes to mind? This is an exceedingly valuable exercise for hoteliers with their sights set on the moving target of guest loyalty in the modern world. Because to define the loyalty paradigm of the future, we must first define what does (and doesn’t) work within our current protocols and platforms.

Although there is certainly an opportunity – if not an outright demand – for the evolution of legacy loyalty systems, it’s essential to recognize that traditional loyalty is not, in itself, a failed experiment. Loyalty programs can, in fact, work to elicit guest satisfaction, and global travelers are, in fact, capable of exhibiting loyalty. The lapse in guest loyalty behavior we are witnessing today is not a testament to the end of loyalty – it’s simply a call to action for hoteliers to revisit (and perhaps, adjust) their playbook.

A better, more engaging loyalty program doesn’t necessarily require our industry to start from scratch; rather, be open to exploring a new approach to guest loyalty that is not only innovative but can build upon existing loyalty programs and structure. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is the classic adage, but, in this case, a new sentiment reveals itself: Identify what is broken, salvage what works, and develop a solution that fills in the gaps.

The Pros and Cons of Traditional Loyalty

Traditional, ‘legacy’ loyalty systems operate on a relatively simple concept: encourage customer action (in this case, a booking decision) by rewarding guests with points which, over time, accumulate to qualify that guest for reward tiers. Much like a ‘frequent flyer’ program, this system encourages repeat booking decisions. The only way guests can qualify for high-value rewards is to continuously book at the same hotel.

In an article published in Forbes earlier this year, author Zsuzsa Kecsmar spoke specifically about this approach, noting the limitations of loyalty programs centered solely around the buying cycle. “But if loyalty programs are built around transaction-based thinking and marketing, they won't be capable of building real brand loyalty. And that's an argument I see play out a lot online and in the boardrooms: "Isn't the loyalty program a discount scheme?" "Does it really have the power to build true loyalty?,” she explained. “So, yes, loyalty programs have the power to create true loyalty, but first, companies need to stop thinking within the confines of the buying cycle.”

In many ways, Kecsmar is correct. Guest behavior and preferences are ever-changing, and loyalty systems must evolve to reflect those changes. However, these traditional loyalty systems have benefitted major hotel chains, especially among boomer travelers. To this effect, in 2019, loyalty programs helped major hotel chains increase repeat business. According to research, over 59.2% of room nights at the major hotel chains were booked by loyalty members, and 62% at Marriott and Hilton (Kalibri Labs).

When we look at younger travelers, however, we see a different story. Surveys published in 2018 found that just 30% of Millennials are satisfied with the loyalty programs they are offered, compared to 56% of baby boomers. In fact, 57% report that they have let their hotel loyalty points disappear, significantly more than any other age group. Why does this matter? Well, research indicates that millennials travel more than any previous age group in history.

Moreover, when we look at independent hotels, we realize another gap in the traditional, points-based strategy. Unfortunately, less than 10% of independents have any form of a loyalty program or guest appreciation program, and repeat business is reportedly only in the range of 10%-15%. We also have to acknowledge that, in the wake of the pandemic, many hotel loyalty programs had to undergo drastic changes, as travel had effectively come to a standstill, and hoteliers could no longer capitalize on the purchase moment. If no one could travel, how could anyone take advantage of traditional, transaction-based rewards models?

So, do these observations mean we scrap traditional loyalty programs altogether, even those which have been well received by select demographics at major hotels? Not necessarily.

A ‘Best of Both Worlds’ Approach

In many cases, major hotel chains will not want to completely abandon the white-labeled, points-based loyalty systems which have long become synonymous with their brand. In this case, a call for continued innovation and creativity does not necessarily render traditional systems obsolete; that is, as long as those hotels are willing to explore additional programs that look to fill in the gaps that traditional loyalty fails to address.

The points-based loyalty systems of the past are, as we know, based on a delayed gratification model, which requires guests to book directly (often at a high frequency) at the same hotel to accumulate enough points to unlock attractive rewards (discounted stays, free upgrades, etc.). This model, as we know, does appeal to some travelers who are accustomed to this format and can utilize those points before they expire. However, next-generation loyalty, centered instead on delayed gratification and personalized rewards, allows hotels to simultaneously take care of and establish a 1-to-1 relationship with younger leisure travelers who exhibit different travel behaviors. With this in mind, we created Laasie – a platform capable of creating (and maintaining) a new kind of loyalty through AI and instant gratification while capturing the guests that traditional loyalty programs neglected.

Looking beyond a singular transaction moment, this new era of loyalty asks hoteliers to offer their guests more personalized, instantly tangible rewards that incentivize guests to partake in a variety of actions (beyond the booking decision). Unlike most traditional programs, guests are granted access to a curated marketplace of thousands of rewards partners offering instantly redeemable, high-value incentives (products, discounts, experiences, etc.) across shopping, dining, and activities to breathe new life into guest loyalty. Finally, guest loyalty can be viewed as a meaningful influence on the guest experience and a key revenue driver rather than a cost to the hotel.

Using a more dynamic loyalty platform, any hotel can build upon their existing loyalty programs to reward customers for their actions in a new way while generating insights from every interaction. With the allure of points-based, delayed gratification offered by traditional programs still intact, hotels can implement Laasie’s platform to simultaneously tap into the power of instant gratification and personalization, ensuring they have a program in place that will appeal to every kind of traveler.

If the goal of a loyalty program is to attract more business and encourage repeat business, shouldn’t hotels cast as wide a net as possible? Does the selection of a loyalty program always have to be reduced to a dogmatic game of ‘this or that,’ legacy or next generation? If you ask me, no. I think the future of hospitality loyalty will be unlocked with a program that combines what worked for travelers in the past with what we know appeals to modern travelers in the present. Finally, hotels can adopt a ‘best of both worlds’ approach, which sees traditional loyalty programs and new-age, instant reward programs working together seamlessly to capture and delight more travelers than ever before.

Ellis Connolly