Industry Insights: The Rise of E-commerce in Corporate Hospitality Sales

3 April 2023

In today’s digital age, businesses have been increasingly adopting e-commerce platforms to sell their products and services, and the corporate hospitality industry is no exception. With the rising demand for corporate hospitality services, companies are now turning to e-commerce as a means of streamlining their sales processes and reaching a wider audience.

In 2020, the percentage of global internet users who purchased tickets online was 34.6%, and this number is expected to reach 36.6% by 2024 (Statista)

To gain more insight into the rise of Ecommerce in Corporate Hospitality Sales, we spoke with Tim Radcliffe, Head of Hospitality at Chestertons Polo in the Park.

FIRSTLY, CAN YOU GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE EVENT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN’T BEEN BEFORE?

“It’s a three-day, polo festival in London. Not your traditional polo, its 10,000 people, every day in London, enjoying polo in a shorter and faster format that’s easy for everyone to understand.  It’s an all-day experience, where people dip in and out of the polo as much as they want. Everyone walks away having had an amazing day having spent genuine quality time with their guests”.  

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO SELL HOSPITALITY ONLINE AND CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE BUSINESS DECISION BEHIND TRANSITIONING TO E-COMMERCE? 

“Hospitality had a small presence on the main Polo in the Park website. We were getting a few enquiries, but we weren’t getting enough enquiries for such a good event. I joined in 2016 and the first thing we did was build a polo hospitality site, which was separate to the main polo event, with the main purpose being to generate enquiries. It worked well, we were increasing sales, but what I found was the hard manual work that goes into an enquiry. The process from enquiry to confirmed booking, the 5 or 6 steps of emails, etc is labour-intensive and manual. Whilst we were generating enquiries, the lack of automation meant so much time went into each booking. The amount of time spent on each booking was onerous and we could not look after every enquiry properly, which we always want to. We then decided to invest into an e-commerce site after proving that the separate hospitality site was successful”.

“We had a challenging couple of years between 2020-2021 for obvious reasons, but we were delighted to see our client return in 2022 and they are now booking 2023, where we are on course to sell out.

“E-commerce is ideal for those who know what they want or if you are familiar with the event. Which in turn frees up time for those people who want to speak to someone in person to understand the event and why it might be better than a competitor…Putting the customer first is everything. Those who want to have a phone call can have a phone call, or a WhatsApp exchange and those who want to make their own decision and need no input can book online. It gives people the choice of how they want to interact”.

WHAT EFFECT HAS IT HAD ON SALES? 

“Private individuals were difficult to convert because that heat of the moment purchase is right then and there, and it becomes more difficult if there’s more back and forth between emails, checking with colleagues, friends or family, signing a booking form etc. You end up missing that opportunity. We were getting more private individuals converting, particularly families booking the Sunday when they are so busy, and that’s the market we were struggling with converting on a manual process previously”.  

In 2020, global e-commerce sales reached $4.28 trillion, and this number is projected to grow to $5.4 trillion in 2022. (eMarketer)

HAS THE ABILITY TO SELL HOSPITALITY ONLINE CHANGED THE TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND THE EVENT? 

“In short, no… We attract the same type of people, but we’ve managed to increase the visibility and accessibility, and bring Polo in the Park to a wider audience”.

ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES TO BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLIENTS THAT ARE BROUGHT IN THROUGH ECOMMERCE?

“It does have some challenges, perhaps you haven’t spoken to them at all… But at the end of the day, the customer comes first. There are other opportunities to build relationships, not just before the purchase stage. You can communicate once they have booked as a thank you, during the event, follow up after the event, there’s always an opportunity to build relationships. If a couple came on Sunday for a garden club package, I still want to receive their feedback and understand what they enjoyed the most or what we could do better, but there may be no conversation to be had…They know about the event, they booked it, they loved it and they want to come again.

From a customer point of view, we want to give everyone the opportunity to have and build that relationship, but we want the customer to be able to dictate how big that relationship is”.

HOW HAS ECOMMERCE IMPACTED THE CORPORATE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE? 

“Post covid, it’s really interesting when you consider the costs of e-commerce for an event compared to a full-time salesperson. I’m not saying it should replace salespeople at all,  but it’s a great asset to any sales team”.

“For events rightsholders, the window to the world for products is the internet. If you have a sales team of ten people with ten fishing rods, you can only catch ten fish at a time. Whereas giant trawlers casting across the ocean (the internet) are there 24/7 ready to catch anyone interested and google will point them in the right direction. If you can get the call to action right for each person e.g. a phone call for one or a basket and check out for another… the e-commerce piece saves customers time, man-hours and serves customers who want that. For a small amount of investment, it’s a no-brainer”.

WHY SHOULD PEOPLE COME TO CHESTERTON’S POLO IN THE PARK THIS SUMMER THEN?

“Despite being in Fulham, West London, in the peak of summer. The event still slips under the hospitality radar… It’s essentially 10,000 people enjoying champagne in a garden while watching top-level polo which for most is a new and engaging experience. It’s what a wide range of people want to do at the weekends. Whether it’s client entertaining, people partying or families spending quality time together, it ticks all the boxes.

“From a corporate point of view, Polo in the Park is one of the best event platforms to build or strengthen working or personal relationships as people will talk about it for years. We also offer incredible value with more inclusions in hospitality, for a longer period of time, in an easily accessible part of London. People want something different to more traditional events be it tennis, rugby or cricket this event is exactly that”.

“We’ve grown due to word of mouth, greater awareness but fundamentally that the experience is memorable. People come, they enjoy it and they come again. Our love and passion for the event keeps us growing every year. Corporate entertainment means different things to clients. If your purpose is to build relationships, then sitting quietly in a stadium for large parts of the day might not be the best fit. When I first saw Polo in the Park, it was the best client experience I had seen, and this is what we want to share with everyone who is yet to discover it. High-end sporting events are fantastic but if your key driver is building relationships, you’re spending a lot of money to not talk to someone.

E-commerce is transforming the way that the corporate hospitality industry sells its services. With the benefits of cost-effectiveness, global reach, and increased revenue, it’s no wonder that companies are increasingly turning to e-commerce as a means of streamlining their sales processes.

Get in touch for information on hospitality packages at Chestertons Polo in the Park
020 8222 8420 | cavendish@aokevents.com