Online upselling : moving beyond offline upselling in the hotel industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how online upselling is used in the hotel industry as a part of revenue management strategy. This study used a convergent parallel mixed method design where qualitative and quantitative data were collected in parallel, analyzed separately, and then merged. Study 1 took a qualitative approach, exploring how online upselling programs can provide additional value over offline upselling and traditional revenue management practices. Study 2 adopted a quantitative approach to analyze customers’ bidding patterns for superior room categories through secondary data. Findings indicate that an omni-channel approach to upselling can tackle the fragmented nature of multichannel upselling communications to provide customers with consistent information and experience across these channels. Through an omni-channel approach, the hotel industry can develop personalized and streamlined upselling strategies.