Dreaming of a weekend getaway or extended vacation can be a most relaxing pastime. Imagining the tropical weather, delicious meals out and exciting adventures can inspire you to jump right onto your computer and start exploring. The first stop is usually to a travel booking website to find the ultimate in accommodations for your stay, and it is there where the glimmer of the dreamy vacation begins to wear off.
The amount of options available, through exciting, can soon become daunting. The longer you explore, the more factors there are to consider: location, amenities, reviews…the list goes on. One way that travel sites are streamlining the initial search process is through using seller ratings. Here we will discuss what exactly seller ratings are, how these ratings apply to accomodation booking, and how they can help you book the vacation of your dreams!
What Are Seller Ratings?
Seller ratings are extensions on search engines that show a business or product’s average star rating and reviews alongside its ads, based on data collected from customer reviews. These ratings have proven to be mutually beneficial for both consumers and businesses, helping consumers make more informed purchasing decisions and to help brands improve their online traffic and revenue.
If you or someone you know tends to get lost down a rabbit hole of customer reviews when looking for accommodations, seller ratings can be a far more efficient way to gauge overall customer satisfaction. In reaction to a recent trend of paid or false reviews, many companies are following the lead of savvy accommodation companies like Travalet LLC, managed by eKomi, who moderate every review they receive to make sure they are A) Authentic and B) Legally and Third-Party Compliant. You are significantly more likely to shop with brands that you can trust and stay on websites where reviews can be trusted. Being able to forego combing through reviews and sticking straight to seller rating helps to create a seamless and easy search process for you!
Our Case Study
In a quest to find the travel sites that are making the most of seller ratings, we have planned a hypothetical 5 night stay in New York City for a budget of under $250 per night. The options are truly overwhelming in a metropolis full of every type of hotel, including familiar chains and smaller boutique properties, so seller ratings are essential in making an informed booking decision. Here is our experience with two of the top booking sites.
Expedia.com
Once our search criteria was entered into Expedia’s system, we were led to a well organized search page displayed in an easily digestible vertical list. Properties were presented with star ratings immediately beside the property’s name; this is not in fact the seller rating, but the property classification of the hotel. The actual seller rating was to the right of each entry, in numerical form and accompanied by a verbal explanation of the rating (all containing exclamation points to increase enthusiasm).
For example, the hotel at the top of our list had a “4.2 out of 5” rating, and a label of “Very Good!” Anything above a 4 out of 5 rating used phrases like “Excellent,” “Wonderful,” and “Exceptional.” Anything between 3.5 and 4 range simply were all labeled as “Good,” and it seemed like any rating below 3.5 did not receive any verbal accompaniment. We felt at ease that the options shown all seemed of a similarly high quality, and felt at that point we were able to narrow down our search for particular amenities or factors we were looking for.
Roomkey.com
Upon first glance, roomkey.com looked more difficult to digest. All that was displayed by each property name was the borough it was located in and the price. A few properties showed their property classification rating in the bottom right corner of the hotel image, but it was not so easily visible. Ratings or reviews of any kind were not readily visible, inspiring us to scroll down to see if there were reviews available on any other part of the search page.
We did find some options in the search bar on the right side of the screen, including an option to search by property classification rating or by user rating. We selected a user review range of 4 out of 5 and 5 out of 5, and the refined search still showed no rating on the initial search page. It wasn’t until we clicked on a property and scrolled down to the bottom of the page that we found TripAdvisor reviews, but no rating of any kind. All we found were internal rankings within the 473 properties that fell into our search parameters.
eKomi
We hope these case studies gave you a taste of how seller ratings can benefit you. Despite confusing web designs and miles of reviews and ratings to sift through, a seller rating is one quick and easy way to find trusted accommodation and book the hotel that is right for your style and travel needs! Additionally, remember to consult a reviews-based website, like eKomi.com, before committing to your travel plans. So, hop to your search and get ready for the trip of a lifetime!
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