Big data, chatbots, apps and machine learning are making it easy for hoteliers to offer better services
IN recent years, the amount of information in the hospitality industry has grown exponentially, making it critical for establishments to understand and start using big data to engage with customers, co-create value and ultimately strengthen customer loyalty.
The use of big data or predictive data analytics will allow the hotel industry players to enhance business decisions and performance.
This was reiterated by OYO Rooms' chief executive officer for Southeast Asia and Middle East and global brand officer, Ankit Tandon, in an interview. He said that "predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, as well as machine learning, are creating a competitive advantage for players like OYO, and are shaping the future of its services".
CONTACTLESS ONBOARDING
The word "contactless" is becoming a catchphrase among customers and property owners due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tandon said prior to the pandemic, the OYO development team would visit interested establishments to personally evaluate the properties.
However, now with the company's newly updated application, everything can be done remotely.
"One of them is on-boarding. When there is literally a standstill in the hospitality industry, OYO sees more property owners taking this chance to come on board its platform as part of their preparations to gain more visibility when the travel restrictions get lifted in their countries."
OYO launched a self on-boarding tool called OYO 360 in the third quarter of last year, which is a two-click platform.
Tandon said the platform is simple to use and "the team will assist the owners during the whole journey".
"It fits the 'contactless' need for both property owners and we here at OYO. This tool eliminates the need to physically visit properties. We view properties virtually now. It also solves the travelling issue in a way. It has lowered our management cost — a win-win for everyone involved," he said.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Besides the OYO 360 platform, the company also offers a mobile app specially for property owners to help them manage their property.
The Co-OYO or OYO OS "offers everything they need", said Tandon.
"It is a partner-facing app, which is a hassle-free property management solution in an integrated cloud-based system. It has a very intuitive UI (user interface), where owners can refer to 'how-to' videos whenever they need help.
"There's also live support. It packs staff training, reservation and booking management, invoice management, housekeeping management, and dashboard and analytics," he said.
ERA OF CHATBOTS
Engaging with chatbots is like talking to an imaginary friend. In the early days, their responses were quite limited, causing frustration in users.
However, today, thanks to significant developments in artificial intelligence, chatbots have evolved from "brick walls" to become smart customer care assistants with unique insight. This can be seen from the success of their deployment in the hospitality industry.
The Yo! chatbot is OYO's very own customer care assistant that can perform many functions relating to travel and accommodation. What's interesting is that
not only is it able to attend to customer queries, it can also confirm hotel bookings.
It can also change booking dates and locations.
"It is so smart, you can modify your bookings anytime. Let's say you modified your trip... you're changing the destination. You don't need to cancel your booking and start all over again. Yo! will be able to suggest and change the location to another OYO property," said Tandon.
MACHINE LEARNING
Machine learning is also widely used by OYO; the platform is able to suggest available properties based on users' search pattern, and soon, more features will be introduced to leverage its capability.
According to Tandon, a new service by OYO, known as OYO Frames, allows photographers to share photos of OYO properties worldwide.
"The feature uses machine learning to give a score to each image and it is not only useful for property owners, but also for customers to see 'real' photos before making their booking. The last thing we hate is that the reality is not the same as what's seen in photos, right?"