The hotel and restaurant sector is becoming increasingly competitive, with new concepts emerging and establishments offering ultra-competitive prices in response to the drop in purchasing power. It’s therefore become vital to carry out extensive monitoring in order to gain a better understanding of the market, stand out and attract new guests.

There are several ways (which we’ll now recap) of carrying out competitive intelligence, and online reputation forms part of this. In fact, this is one of the most important means of establishing a clear image of your competitors, what they offer and their guests’ impressions of them.

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Recap of the different aspects of competitive intelligence

As suggested above, you need to analyse certain aspects of your competition in order to stay up-to-date.

Pricing strategy is often a key consideration because it has a concrete impact on your occupancy rate and sales price. If you keep a close eye on the prices charged by your competitors when conferences are being held, or even on OTAs, you’ll maintain a coherent RevPAR over the long term. Take a look at our white paper on Revenue Management to learn more about this.

As well as price, it’s also wise to be aware of the services and benefits offered by your competitors. Is there a particular area in your business where you could increase your market share, or are you lagging behind in other respects? This could relate to small details, such as whether you offer free WiFI and parking or not, or a more central part of your service, for instance the quality of your breakfast. Also, look into the partnerships your competitors hold with the local players and corporate clients they work with. This can help you better direct your commercial actions by making your business more attractive.

All of these measures, which you no doubt practise already, will give you a clearer insight into your typical guests, their origin and requirements, and enable you to assess your performance compared to that of your competitors. So what about online reputation and guest reviews? What are the benefits of competitive analysis through guest reviews?

Guest reviews: a true reflection of my competitors

In the past, getting a clear idea of your competitors’ performance might have seemed difficult, but now, with the advent of guest reviews, the task has never been simpler. After all, who is better placed to talk about your competitors than guests themselves?

Guest reviews of your competitors offer four benefits which are particularly useful for your business in your quest to learn more about your competitors. They enable you to:

1. Classify your competitors’ clientele. By reading reviews on TripAdvisor for example, you can discover their nationality or even the purpose of their stay (business, pleasure). Do they attract more families, couples or solo travellers?
2. Get an idea of the platforms where your competitors are present. It’s vital to have 360-degree visibility if you’re wanting to attract a diverse guest base: do your competitors have this? Are they active on TripAdvisor, Google, HolidayCheck and Facebook? Do they regularly reply to reviews? Here too, you have an opportunity to overtake them or make up for any shortfall.
3. Know your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Guests freely express their opinions on review platforms and this will give you a clear insight into what they like and what they criticise about other establishments. Make the most of every tiny bit of information!
4. Work out your market positioning. By comparing your scores and rankings, you’ll obtain a better view of guests’ overall feeling towards you and your competitors. This means you’ll be able to implement any necessary measures, better assess your strengths and weaknesses and gain a competitive edge.

By following these points, it will be easier for you to understand the market, the diversity of your competition and your positioning.

However, this can represent a heavy workload if done manually, but Customer Alliance can help by enabling you to make the task easier. Our solution gives you access, via a semantic analysis, to a detailed overview of your strengths and weaknesses in comparison to your competitors. This way, you can identify the areas where improvements need to be made and those where you have a competitive advantage. This monitoring is carried out over several different platforms, thus giving you a full sample of the average scores on the platforms in question.

A further advantage of the Customer Alliance solution is the City Ranking, where you can examine your ranking in your town or region, that of your competitors and also the overall average.

To sum up…

It’s vital to analyse your competitors if you want to survive in the increasingly complex market. Monitoring may have always existed, but it is now taking a brand new direction with the role played by guest reviews. Fail to consider these, and you’ll miss out on a wealth of valuable information.

Monitoring your competitors’ reviews might seem like an exhaustive task, and rightly so, but our Customer Alliance solution responds to the vital need of professionals in the hotel and restaurant sector to acquire a thorough understanding of their competitors.

Don’t hesitate: contact one of our experts today to learn more about the benefits of monitoring your competitors’ online reputation.