In a bid to boost conversion the six-strong UK hotel group began pitting its own rates against those of intermediaries at the end of last year when it launched a new website.
Of course there is a lot of context here from the ongoing rate parity debacle across Europe to the desire from hoteliers to claw back control of inventory and not pay OTAs a commission for customers they would probably get anyway.
However, Shire’s price comparison idea came from ecommerce marketing manager Sam Wilson who wanted to address a 25% increase in traffic year-on-year but no corresponding uplift in conversion.
