Novus Leisure, the premium bar and restaurant operator, has revealed that 15% of its total sales come from its website, and the company expects that figure to double over the next three years.
Speaking at the MA300 event this week, Andy Windsor, head of digital at Novus, said the firm has a three-year plan to double the number of total bookings made online, setting a £30m browsing to booking conversion target.
“At present, 15% of total sales are made through our websites. Over the next three years, that will double; some of our sites are at 35%.
“We want to generate £30m in digital sales FY15 by placing the customer at the heart of our business and establish Novus as a market leader for digital,” said Windsor.
As part of the investment, “every venue will have a new website” that will have been specially designed to “recreate the venue experience and convert traffic into sales.”
Windsor said that on average across the estate, every weekend 60% of the company’s web traffic is through mobile phones. He emphasised the need to enhance the mobile capabilities, saying that mobile viewing of the venue “needs to be a bit different and include maps and vouchers.”
He said: “Digital is going to be a big part of the future at Novus. Today’s market is irreversibly different than ever before. The future is very much reliant on growth from digital channels and corporate channels and, on average, 2% of traffic on our websites will turn into a booking.”
Novus has made a £2m investment in its digital operations over two financial years.
