Passengers have the option to choose their seat on the plane, car model during car rental, and movie theater seat. Despite this, hotel patrons are still unable to handpick their desired room amenities when reserving their stay. The guest is left to the discretion of the hotel to provide a room that meets their standards at check-in or must contact the establishment beforehand to request particular accommodations.
However, hotels possess rooms that belong in the same classification but possess distinct elements such as locality, dimensions, bedding, and arrangement. By only selling 3-4 sorts of rooms, hoteliers are foregoing the chance to enhance customer contentment and losing out on significant profits.
It would be ideal if guests could select room features and activities while booking instead of being restricted to a few room categories.
Attribute-based selling and pricing is gaining popularity among hoteliers, who believe it is the way forward for hotel room merchandising. With this approach, both consumers and hotels stand to benefit from various advantages.
- increase in guest satisfaction and loyalty
- guests receive control, flexibility, and customization of the experience
- shift share from OTAs to less expensive direct distribution channels
- growth in total hotel revenue
- incremental revenue generation
- competitive advantage
Although it is an excellent method for selling rooms, hotels face a challenge that hinders their successful use of it. The truth is, the majority of booking platforms do not offer the necessary technological solutions necessary for incorporating feature-based selling.
Does this imply that attribute-focused sales tactics will always remain a mere concept and never manifest as actual practice?
The development of hospitality technology is fast-paced and GauVendi is a system specially designed for this industry. With its distinct features, GauVendi enables hotel managers to personalize their room inventory by creating customized combinations of room features that cater to the unique preferences of individual guests.
GauVendi is a hospitality sales and revenue system that departs from the traditional approach of managing room inventory based on fixed types and instead adopts a dynamic and feature-oriented method of inventory management.
GauVendi, established in 2020, employs intelligent AI and machine learning with its data structure and product data points. As a result, it offers innovative opportunities for any kind of accommodation business, such as sales, revenue management, marketing, and automation.
Q: What is your 30-second pitch to investors?
In the past, lodging facilities were typically administered, priced, and marketed based on rigid room categories, resulting in limited transparency for guests during the reservation process and missed revenue potential for operators with unoccupied rooms. However, we are now implementing a more flexible and personalized approach to room inventory management that takes into account various features and amenities. Our Central Sales System offers numerous advantages, including expanded sales potential, more efficient revenue management, improved marketing, and increased automation. As a result, all parties stand to benefit from this advantageous new system.
- Guests can book individualized room experiences through direct sales channels
- Operators can stand out from competition, benefit from an average of 14%-plus higher average rates, more direct and higher value bookings
- Owners increase asset appreciation and gain new insights for better CAPEX decisions
Q: Describe both the business and technology aspects of your startup.
We aim to empower accommodation operators, enhance the quality of guests’ stays, and increase asset returns through our business.
An effective combination of innovative sales psychology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning can be achieved through a new inventory data structure and additional product data points. This enables accommodation providers to sell room and stay experiences in imaginative ways and regain full control of their inventory. As a result of more granular and real-time shopping behavior data, the digital guest journey can be automated, providing increased opportunities for automation.
People frequently inquire whether we function as a booking engine, a central reservation system, an upselling tool, or a revenue management system. To clarify, we embody aspects of each of these functions, yet we refuse to be classified within a single category. Therefore, we are pioneering a new system category called the sales system. As our name suggests, Gaudium (joy) and Venditio (sale), our objective is to promote sales with a sense of enthusiasm and gratification.
Q: Give us your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the company.
Our strength lies in being the first to offer customized and automated room experiences, albeit with a significant learning curve. Our services provide accommodations providers with a unique selling proposition that sets them apart from the competition and third-party booking sites, offering direct booking incentives, optimized pricing, and positioning for third-party channels.
One drawback is the implementation of new technology. However, for optimal gains from our system, it is necessary to establish two-way interfaces that link with the PMS provider utilized by the customer.
The potential for generating additional income and automating the digital experience for guests is the goal. By revolutionizing the way room and stay experiences are handled and marketed, entry into a larger number of booking platforms is achievable.
The hospitality industry faces hazards posed by legacy systems and a sluggish evolution of technology. Refusal to adopt modern solutions contributes to the persistence of outdated methodologies.
Q: What are the travel pain points you are trying to alleviate from both the customer and the industry perspective?
Regrettably, the act of reserving lodgings nowadays is viewed as a routine purchase that requires speed and convenience. However, guests are often taken aback when they realize that the room doesn’t align with their expectations upon check-in. Online travel agencies (OTAs) have transformed accommodation units into commodities, making the room – the most crucial value-added aspect of our industry – comparable. As a result, the process of booking lodging is frequently distinguished solely by the price and customer feedback. Our industry has neglected its ability to market unique room experiences, or has been unable to do so due to the intricate distribution network and traditional property management systems’ lack of progress.
If I can easily book a standard or deluxe room through a portal, what’s the point if I desire a room that’s privately situated, has a king-sized bed, a shower on the floor level, and a lovely view? This is precisely where our Central Sales System comes in. We consider both functional and emotional factors when defining room experiences and switch from static room management (1 room is equal to category) to dynamic room management (1 room has countless options). This method allows for smart room pairing with sales grounded on specific features, as well as the chance to market the same room to various purchaser names, prices, or limitations, consistent with the target audience.
Q: So you’ve got the product, now how will you get lots of customers?
Our technology is utilized by operators who are developing new brands or establishments such as hotels and serviced apartments. This approach to sales enables them to achieve genuine uniqueness and generate new prospects for automation. Our clientele spans across various regions including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, India, Australasia, and America.
Our software is available for sale on all the internet stores of the connected property management systems. Collaborating with these cloud-based systems is mutually beneficial. Our Sales System, which offers two-way integration, enhances the appeal of PMS providers by increasing customer loyalty and is frequently the deciding factor for choosing a PMS that connects with GauVendi. Moreover, our sales engine generates substantial instant upsell revenue for our customers at the time of booking, replacing conventional booking engines.
Q: Tell us what process you’ve gone through to establish a genuine need for your company and the size of the addressable market.
As experienced hospitality experts who have held senior positions in multinational corporations, we have a comprehensive understanding of the common challenges faced in boosting RevPAR for accommodation brands, increasing direct business, and improving asset returns for owners. Although some progress has been made with innovative pricing strategies, such as transitioning from static to dynamic pricing, there has been little attention given to the management of room inventory. Fortunately, we are now tackling this issue by breaking down experiences into more detailed data points.
It’s important for the industry to recognize that accommodation operators no longer have autonomy over their inventory. Third-party retailers and online travel agencies (OTAs) are more effective at selling rooms than the providers themselves. Our goal is to regain control for the operators. To accomplish this, we need to revamp inventory management, enabling clear differentiation from third-party retailers and enhancing the guest experience through direct booking channels.
The market for our product/service is extensive, encompassing vacation houses, hostels, furnished apartments, B&Bs, and hotels. Market research by Market Line indicates that there are more than 356 million lodging establishments around the world, predominantly catering to leisure travelers.
Q: A year from now, what state do you think your startup will be in?
We are optimistic about smaller and medium-sized accommodation chains adopting our solution and transitioning out of the early adopter stage.
Q: What is your end-game? (Going public, acquisition, growing and staying private, etc.)
Naturally, we have devised plans for our investors to exit such as through an initial public offering or a tactical merger. Nevertheless, our primary team is determined to establish an enduring business and brand that ultimately advocates for accommodation operators to regain control and possess their own customer base! You could refer to it as a passion for the industry.
Benefits of using GauVendi
GauVendi enables hotels to tailor room amenities and guest experiences, ensuring that guests can expect an all-inclusive experience including access to fitness equipment in their rooms and culinary lessons. Let your creativity run wild!
Dynamic pricing Manage room attributes dynamically based on the demand and different combinations of room features. High demand for connecting rooms for holiday weekends and low demand for weekdays? Set the rates accordingly for connecting feature.
To maximize occupancy, inventory restrictions are based on room features. An option is to make certain desired features available exclusively to guests staying for longer periods or to offer specific features only during days of low demand.
To boost earnings, offer different room features at varying prices. Instead of selling only deluxe rooms at $150 nightly rate, GauVendi allows hotels to sell deluxe rooms with additional amenities like “away from elevator” for $160 or deluxe rooms with both “away from elevator” and “in-room gaming console” for $175. By providing more options, guests have more choices while generating more revenue for your property.
With GauVendi’s segmentation and targeting, hotels can offer promotions tailored to guests’ room preferences. The platform also provides hotels the chance to market the same room under various names, rates, and features, catering to diverse customer segments.
Going above and beyond for guests who show loyalty involves offering exclusive perks such as granting the option to select preferred room numbers or other special features at the time of booking.
Utilize business intelligence to identify popular experiences and room features as well as their peak times. Utilize these valuable insights to make informed decisions on pricing, experience development, room amenities, and renovations. For instance, if a room with a massage chair is increasingly favored by guests, it’s high time to restock.
Encouraging direct bookings can decrease the percentage taken by OTAs while also attracting a higher number of direct reservations. For instance, when a guest requests a ground floor room with a pool view located far from the elevator and with a tea kettle included, an OTA may only offer a standard room. On the other hand, the hotel’s website enables clients to request and customize these features for their standard room, making it the superior option.
The selling approach of hotels is being revolutionized by GauVendi. Instead of relying on room categories, the future of hotel merchandising lies in the combination of room features. This shift is happening presently!
