When a guest who almost booked comes back to your site, Comeback Offer applies a discount you configured, automatically, right at checkout inside The Booking Widget. There is no code to hand out and nothing for the guest to type. They return, they see a better price, they book.
That is the whole idea. Most win-back tactics ask you to email a coupon, hope the guest finds it, and hope they copy it correctly. Comeback Offer removes every one of those steps.
What is a ācomebackā, exactly?
A comeback is a near-miss guest who returns. They started a booking, saw the total, hesitated, and left without paying. Days later something pulls them back to your listing. On most sites they meet the exact same price they walked away from. With Comeback Offer, they meet a reason to finish.
The discount lives inside the widget, so it applies at checkout without any action from the guest. No copy-paste, no ācode not validā friction, no lost coupon in an inbox.
How you configure it
You stay in control of the offer. Two settings do the work:
- The amount. Choose a percentage, such as 10% off, or a fixed value, such as 25 off the total.
- The trigger delay. Decide how long after a guest leaves the offer should activate, for example 6 hours, 2 days, or a full week.
A short delay catches guests who are still comparing on another tab. A longer delay catches the ones who genuinely went quiet and need a nudge to return. You can tune this to your market and your margins.
How returning guests are recognized
Comeback Offer identifies a returning guest with a privacy-light first-party cookie, set the first time they begin a booking. No IP address is stored. When that same guest comes back within your chosen window, the widget recognizes them and applies the discount at checkout. It is lightweight, it lives on your own domain, and it does not build a profile of anyone.
Lost Basket captures, Comeback Offer converts
Comeback Offer is the natural partner to the Lost Basket feature. They solve two halves of the same problem:
- Lost Basket captures the intent. It records that a guest started a booking, which dates and listing they wanted, and where they dropped off.
- Comeback Offer converts that intent. When the guest returns, it turns the near-miss into a completed booking with an automatic price advantage.
One sees the guest slipping away. The other quietly wins them back the moment they reconsider.
A note on surfacing the banner on your own site
Inside the widget, everything is automatic. If you also want a returning-guest banner to appear on your own site, outside the widget itself, that part can require a little development on your end. It is not plug-and-play everywhere. If you want help wiring it up, TBW offers API support at contact@thebookingwidget.com.
Key takeaways
- Comeback Offer applies your configured discount automatically at checkout when a near-miss guest returns.
- There are no codes for guests to type, so nothing gets lost or mistyped.
- You set the amount, as a percentage or fixed value, and the trigger delay.
- Returning guests are recognized with a privacy-light first-party cookie, and no IP address is stored.
- It pairs with Lost Basket: Lost Basket captures the intent, Comeback Offer converts it.
- Surfacing a banner on your own site may need a little development, and API support is available.
The guests who almost booked are the easiest ones to win back, because they already wanted your place. The Booking Widget is a drop-in booking widget for short-term and vacation rental hosts: free to use, 4% per booking only, with payouts straight to your own Stripe. Turn on Comeback Offer and let those near-misses come back on their own.