SiteMinder Launches AI-Powered Dynamic Commerce Engine to Close Hotel Revenue Gaps
SiteMinder has launched Dynamic Commerce Engine, which uses AI to close room distribution gaps and increase revenue for hotels worldwide.
SiteMinder, a global hotel room distribution management platform provider, launched a new tool called Dynamic Commerce Engine on 23 September. It uses machine learning and AI to help hotels close the gap between their pricing strategy and how rooms are actually distributed, a problem that many hotels overlook but that has a major impact on revenue.
The invisible gap quietly eating into hotel revenue
Until now, most hotel revenue management tools have only been able to calculate and suggest a recommended rate when someone searches for a room. They have not gone deeper into structural problems, such as distribution channel connections that fail or room types that are not mapped correctly in the system. SiteMinder says these problems cause hotels worldwide to lose revenue opportunities worth billions of US dollars combined each year.
Dynamic Commerce Engine is therefore designed to analyse and fix issues at both the pricing strategy level and the foundational level of the room distribution system at the same time, while still leaving the hotel to approve every change before the system acts on a recommendation.
A database built over more than 20 years behind the AI
The AI model behind Dynamic Commerce Engine runs on the room distribution database that SiteMinder has built up over more than 20 years of serving hotels. It covers more than 4 billion data points on availability, room rates and remaining inventory. The system uses this data to assess and rank the highest-value opportunities for each hotel, putting the most valuable first.
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Launch date | 23 September |
| SiteMinder's years in service | More than 20 years |
| Number of hotels using the platform | More than 56,000 |
| Number of rooms supported | 2.6 million rooms |
| Bookings per year | 140 million |
| Room nights per year | 300 million nights |
| Data processed | More than 4 billion data points |
Why travellers cancel bookings
SiteMinder cites a survey of more than 12,000 travellers in 14 countries, which found that more than half of them, 51.4%, had cancelled an online room booking because of an unsatisfactory experience. At least one in four, or 26.5%, said the cause was reviews, photos or hotel details that seemed untrustworthy.
Sankar Narayan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of SiteMinder, said that hotels need to keep pace with changing traveller behaviour, but limits on time and staff mean many can only do the basics to stay online. This has long created a gap between goals and real-world execution. He sees AI as the solution that can help close this gap, with hotels remaining in control of all decisions.
Narayan added that pricing should not be the only thing hotels focus on. An effective room distribution system is the essential foundation for ensuring that guests see available rooms at a price they are willing to pay.
This news is of direct interest to hotel revenue management and room distribution professionals, as well as hotel executives looking for technology to reduce repetitive work and close the gaps that cost them revenue without their knowing.