QR Code Success in Real Estate

Luxury villa rental company Wimco recently released its annual Vendôme Guide to St. Barts with a multitude of QR codes that lead consumers directly to mobile-optimized real estate listings for the first time.
The large print catalog acts as a travel guide to St. Barts, offering information and editorial on hot spots, restaurants, transportation to and on the island and real estate options. A QR code leading to the Wimco mobile bookings page is found on individual listing pages along with other calls-to-action.

“The advantage of a magazine is delivering large-scale, gloriously colored images,” said Stiles Bennet, Wimco president and head of marketing, Newport, RI. “The advantages of the Web is delivering information.
“The Vendôme Guide tempts readers with lush photography and doesn’t clutter the page with pricing information and specifications,” he said.

“The QR codes then link the reader to all the associated content for the villa of their choice including pricing, amenities, bedroom descriptions and availability calendar.”

Wimco is a private luxury villa rental company in the Carribean and Southern Europe. The travel company also has a private concierge service on the island of St. Barts to cater to its clients transportation and booking needs throughout their vacation.


Diving in
The Vendôme Guide to St. Barts is a large-format, 100-page glossy catalog that acts as a guide for guests on St. Barts and an information resource for affluent consumers wishing to travel to the area.
For example, there is a map of the island and an events calendar in the front-of-book and then various sections on the local restaurants, beaches and regattas of St. Barts.
There is also real estate listings, an article on how to rent a villa, hotel options and a section on transportation to St. Barts.

There are five pages dedicated to Wimco’s private villa listings. There is one page each for one-, two-, three-, four- and five- bedroom villas.

Each of these pages features a QR code that links consumers directly to the Wimco mobile bookings page.

Villa listings in the Wimco St. Barts guide

On the mobile bookings page, travelers can simply enter the 5-letter code accompanying the villa listing in the catalog to access and reserve that particular villa.

The mobile user can also browse the online bookings page by the number of rooms and nights they wish to stay. She can also check a box for a a kid-friendly villa or one with a pool.

Once the traveler has entered this information, she can browse listings and click on them to see additional pictures, pricing information and use a click-to-call button to make a reservation .

Wimco mobile landing page

Going the distance
Wimco’s mobile site is clean and easy to navigate. The QR codes were likely a good idea to drive mobile site traffic as well as increase customer loyalty.
Additionally, the catalog also included a one-line instruction of how to download a QR code reader. Above each code was a small line of text that read, “Don’t have a reader on your phone? Please visit www.wimco.com/scan.”

Wimco helps readers learn how to use QR codes

Wimco also includes phone numbers, a regular Web site link and a mobile site link on numerous pages throughout the catalog.

QR codes are becoming an increasingly easy way to include calls-to-action in print or direct mail piece.
For example, the inside back cover of the latest Orient-Express Traveller catalog features a QR code that leads readers to the Orient-Express Web site at http://www.orient-express.com (see story).
Indeed, print is still a viable way for travel companies to promote and display their properties and trip offerings.

For example, National Geographic sent out a brochure this summer to highlight its 24-day around-the-world trip to Chile, Peru, Morocco, Egypt, Tanzania, India, Tibet, China, Cambodia, Australia and Samoa (see story).

By combining the two channels, Wimco will likely see a greater consumer engagement rather than having just a catalog or mobile site.

“Large-format magazines are still more effective in delivering sexy, full-page images that motivate travel than any Web site can be,” Mr. Bennet said. “A villa vacation will always be a highly considered, discretionary purchase.

“We do not believe that making our products available on mobile phones will all of a sudden lead to impulse purchases,” he said. “It is simply an acknowledgment that many clients receive most of their email and information via their mobiles these days.

“By placing villa content and search tools in mobile-friendly pages we make the product more accessible,
which is the first step in starting a conversation with a client about renting a villa.”


Final Take
Kayla Hutzler, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

Originally posted on http://www.luxurydaily.com  Please take a moment to check them out!