As traveler behavior trends towards last-minute bookings, pretty much every OTA has launched a new last-minute solution.
Booking.com had one of the earlier entrants to this space, with Booking.com Tonight, and has now offered up a full refresh with its newly-minted Booking Now product.
The product announcement (read here) reveals that nearly half of reservations made on mobile devices were made less than 48 hours prior to the arrival date.
The inventory is sourced from Booking.com's inventory of 580k properties and is purposefully targeted to the mobile traveler.
This means the app includes clear directions while searching for hotels (so users can see how far away a hotel is), in-depth user reviews and property amenity information, and a full 24/7 customer support in over 20 languages.
To round out the mobile-first package, there's are two taps to book and a "quick pin" functionality that allows users to keep a short visual list of favorites.
Personalization plays a key role as well here, as the app prompts users to enter in specific criteria for bookings - such as price range, parking, breakfast and WiFi.
The app can then complete real-time searches according to the user's profile - very handy for quick searches that deliver more relevancy and higher conversions.
The app also learns booking behavior and adjusts search results over time as it begins to learn the true preferences of a user.
Priceline Group and Booking.com CEO Darren Huston underscores the continued importance of mobile solutions in the brand portfolio:
With the launch of Booking Now, we're increasing our investment in mobile by leveraging our global scale, assets and partnerships to accommodate the growing number of customers who are booking reservations within two days or less of their stay.
The new App puts users at the center of the booking experience, drawing from our vast database of properties to meet their specific preferences at the very moment they need to book. Booking Now is designed to deliver a seamless mobile experience for spontaneous consumers, fitting perfectly into their multi-device, on-demand lifestyle."
Other OTAs are seeing the same statistics, and are moving swiftly to meet consumer demand and facilitate more last-minute hotel bookings.
For example, Expedia recently announced an update to its extranet that allows hotels to set close-in pricing for the close-in booking funnel.
The global reach of the app is indeed quite unique in the space, as is the raft of compelling features for mobile users. Some mainstreamers are already calling this a Hotel Tonight killer, but we're a bit more hesitant to make that call.
There's a lot of cash flowing through this segment, and it's hard for any new service - even one powered by an incumbent - to unseat a steady community of mobile loyalists.
The Booking Now app can be downloaded here for iOS. Android is coming soon.