The 10 Must-have Features of an Online Booking System

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Over time, the world around us has evolved, adopting the latest technology to make every aspect of life hassle-free and easygoing. The advancements in science and technology have procured a new age where almost anything and everything is swiftly accommodating itself in the online mode. From finding the perfect birthday celebration place in the Breakout escape room to booking your favorite online escape room game, the internet has made our lives more accessible than ever before. The development of online booking systems is no exception in this rapidly evolving digital world.  

Irrespective of whether you offer painting courses or trekking expeditions, it has become essential to design the entire online booking system simply. To further help you to schedule an efficient online booking system, we have compiled ten must-have features for you to check out:  

1. Ensuring online bookings in real-time  

Online booking erodes the need for customers to make inquiries and wait for your response. It allows users to create their booking at their convenience without needing outside indulgence. It removes any need for you to manually process the customers’ needs.  

Instead, the online booking system will portray before users the available and unavailable dates as they proceed towards making their booking. In this way, the entire booking process can move forward in a hassle-free manner.   

2. Accessibility via different currencies and languages  

Most online booking platforms ardently look for ways to connect with international customers. Under such circumstances, it becomes crucial for businesses to offer users the opportunity to view online booking pages in different languages.  

Alongside eroding linguistic barriers, online booking systems also need to allow users the freedom to make payments in their currencies. By removing linguistic and currency-related obstacles, you can help your customers easily understand and make their way through your site!  

3. Availability of voucher generation and management systems 

The voucher generation system includes gift vouchers for your users to purchase and special promotions your site may offer users. The system enables your business to grow and spread its reach by attracting more customers than earlier.  

You need to ensure that the vouchers offered on your site are easily generated and managed by your online booking system alone. This way, your site can function seamlessly without requiring much human intervention.  

4. Offering multiple payment options  

Not all your users will have the same preference when choosing their payment option. While some of your users may like to use their debit or credit cards, others may want to do net banking, and others may prefer using UPI.  

Given the diverse preferences and choices of payment portals your users may wish to avail, you need to offer multiple payment modes. Ensure that you make the payment process convenient and secure for your users by allowing them to pay through options of their choice.   

5. Using an intelligent calendar/diary 

An intelligent calendar is an online calendar tool that provides users with a detailed summary of bookings, occupations, and capacities. An updated calendar or diary can help you offer the best booking experience.  

You can easily enable an online calendar in your online booking portal and allow it to update whenever you make new bookings automatically. Your staff members no longer need to move back and forth to check the details of customer bookings. This way, you can save time and make your system work in an organized manner.  

6. Providing online and telephone support  

No matter how tech-savvy you may be, almost everyone is prone to reach a point where they can no longer make their way out alone. At such junctures, they look for online and telephone support systems to guide them through the right way.  

Thus, keeping in mind that your users may face problems while using your online booking system, ensure you have an efficient online and telephone support system. The system will guide your customers through the issues they may face while making reservations, during payment, or even ensuring their capacity.   

7. Providing social media integration  

People no longer seem to function without their immense reliance on social media. It has consequently affected the way online businesses operate today. You will find how most online companies have understood social media’s vitality and integrated the same strength with their company.  

In this way, they have succeeded in bolstering their sales! Social media can help you quickly reach out to your target audience and drive sales. After that, customers can swiftly link to your brand pages on social media.   

8. Working on automated emails  

Manually drafting and sending emails to your customers for booking confirmations, reminders, cancellations, etc., can waste much of your time. At the same time, preparing and sending such emails is also unnecessarily tedious.  

Instead, you can now leave this entire workload on your online booking system. The system can automatically send confirmation or cancellation emails to customers immediately following the booking or cancellation. This way, you can guarantee your customers a sense of certainty in their booking.   

9. Working on channel management  

Channel management refers to allowing your online booking system to partner with a large or small agent or booking company. These agents or companies may be from different markets than you are.  

The channel management system functions by maximizing your booking and increasing your profits. It connects you to relevant markets, which customers may find challenging to reach. However, you must ensure that your booking system is competent in connecting with agents, receiving bookings, and automatically updating availability.   

10. Integrating cloud-based online booking  

The majority of online booking systems today are not cloud-based. You need to realize that cloud-based technology is a dominant element in online distribution.  

It helps online booking systems to procure more bookings and enhance different aspects of the business. You can remotely monitor and manage your online booking system by making your system cloud-based. Customers will also benefit from accessing your system at their convenience.  

Conclusion

While many essential features are required for an online booking system to function well, we have highlighted the top ten features. So, start looking for these vital features in your online booking system! 

Guest Author Bio: Author Bio: 

Aniya More is one of the brightest content writers at Breakout escape room. She is a passionate writer who loves to read books and explore different escape rooms. With a great work ethic, she spends most of her time researching and reading. When she is not working, she likes to relax with a cup of coffee and enjoy watching her favorite tv show or walking her dog, peanut. You can find her on LinkedIn.