New discount code option for free persons

The WebReserv booking system has been enhanced with a new feature that makes it easier to create discount codes for one or more free persons. The “free persons” option makes it easier to set up discount codes for Groupon, Living Social and similar type of deals as well as regular discount codes given to customers. The “free persons” discount option is great for tour companies and other companies that generally offers discounts or deals for additional persons.

To create a discount code for one or more free persons, go to Setup – Discount Codes and click Add discount code. In the type field, select either single use (for Groupon codes, Living Social codes and similar) or multi-use (for most other discount codes).

Under Discount Type select Free Persons and enter either a total number of persons or enter a number of each type (adults, children etc.).

When customers make a reservation with a discount code for free persons, the system will automatically deduct the number of persons as specified in the discount code.

 

 

Day/time restriction for discount codes and groupon deals

The WebReserv booking system allows you to restrict discount codes, including groupon and living social deals, to only be valid on certain days and times. To add a restriction to a discount code, go to Setup – Discount Codes and click on the discount code you want to modify.

Scroll to the time restriction section shown below and specify the day(s) the discount code is valid for and optionally the time(s) the discount code is valid for.

Time restriction for discount codes and groupon codes

Configuring your booking calendar for Groupon and other discount codes

The webreserv booking system now allows for both multi-use and single-use discount codes.

Multi-use discount codes can be used multiple times. I.e. you can create a discount code called SUMMER2011 and advertise this discount code on your website to all your customers.

Single-use discount codes can only be used once. When you create the discount code, you can upload a list of valid codes, such as SUMMER0001, SUMMER0002, SUMMER0003 etc. Whenever a discount code is used in a reservation, it is marked as being used and cannot be used again. The single-use discount code works well with Groupon, Living Social and other coupon sites.

Configuring per person and per unit discount codes

The WebReserv booking system now supports per person and per unit discount codes. This feature can be used to create even more discount code options for your guests/customers.

By default, a discount code is for an entire reservation, regardless of the number of people or units for the reservation. With the new discount code feature, you can create a discount code that gives a $5 per person.

To modify your discount code rules, log on to your account and go to Setup – Discount codes.

New discount code rules

Four new rules have been added to the discount code setup: Minimum length, maximum length, minimum number of persons and maximum number of persons. The new discount code rules makes it easier set up discount codes for bed & breakfasts bookings, vacation rental bookings and other types of businesses

For example, you can create a discount code that is valid for only for visits that are minimum 2 days and has 5 persons or more on the reservation.

To set up discount codes, log on to your WebReserv account and go to Setup – Discount Codes.

New discount code rules.

Discount Code Time Requirements

You can now specify minimum time in advance for discount codes. This optional field allows you to create discount codes that are valid only if a reservation is made a certain time in advance (i.e. 30 days). To set up discount codes go to Setup – Discount Codes.

Discount Code Time Requirement

Reservation charges and discounts

You’ve probably experienced the situation before: a customer calls to make a reservation and they would like to check in early or bring pets or have the fridge stocked before arrival. There is no way for you to record the extra charge, so instead you have to write it on a piece of paper and hope that you’ll remember to get it added to the guest folio.

With the latest enhancements from WebReserv, you can now add extra charges and/or discounts with a click of a mouse.

To add a charge or discount, simply open the reservation and click Add charge or Add discount. You can add as many as needed.

 

Extra charges and discounts

 

For discounts, you can choose either a fixed amount or a percentage discount.

When you are done adding lines, click Recalculate to get the new total amount. The additional line items will be stored with the reservation (remember to click the save button when you are done) and is also included in printouts.

You can even use the new feature as a simple POS (Point-Of-Sales) system. Simply add additional charges to the reservation as needed and when it’s time to settle the bill, open up the reservation to get the total amount.

If your WebReserv account is set up for credit card transactions, you can easily charge the outstanding balance by clicking the link view/update payment details.

 

Attract more customers with discount codes

Discount codes are a very powerful way to increase sales to new and existing customers. By offering a limited-time discount, you encourage your customers in several ways. First, everybody loves a good deal and by offering a good deal to new or existing customers, they are more likely to do business with you instead of somebody else. A time-limited discount encourages your customers to make the reservation now instead of waiting, which also helps to drive sales. And finally a discount is a useful tool to increase business during slow periods.

The latest version of WebReserv now offers support for discount codes. You can add discount codes to the system and your customers can apply the discount codes to reservations during the reservation process.

How to add a discount code

 To add a discount code, go to Setup – Discount Codes (http://www.webreserv.com/setupdiscountcodelist.do) and click Add new discount code. You will now have an empty discount code field as shown in the screenshot below.

Code: This is the code that must be entered in the discount code field when making a reservation. A code can be up to 20 characters long and consist of characters or numbers, but no spaces or special characters. Use easy to use codes such as SUMMER08 or FRIEND. If you are advertising through several channels, for example flyers and ads, you can create a different code for each type of ad and use the code to track the responses.

To control when a discount code can be used, enter a valid from date and a valid to date. A reservation must be booked within the valid from and valid to dates for the discount code to be valid.
You must also specify a Reservation From date and a Reservation To date. Use these dates to specify when the reservation must start for the code to be valid.

Finally you must enter either a discount percentage or a discount amount. This is the discount that will be applied to the reservation. The discount will be applied before taxes, if any.

When using a discount percentage, you can also specify a minimum or maximum discount amount. Use can use this feature to give a percentage discount up to a certain level, for example, 10% up to a maximum of $100.00.

When you have entered the discount information simply click Save and continue and you will be taken back to the list of discount codes.

Example:
In this example we want to provide a 10 % discount (up to $200.00) for August reservations, but the reservation must be done before July 15. The values for this discount code become:

How to apply a discount code
WebReserv.com will automatically show a discount code field in the payment section whenever one or more valid discount codes exist for the selected product. If no discount codes are valid, the discount code field will not be shown.

Availability
The discount features is available in all premier WebReserv accounts (Silver and Gold).

For more information or questions, please contact WebReserv.com support.