How we created "Hotel for this night!"
Hi, Habr!
We launched a new feature in our mobile application - "Hotel for the night!". This is a feature that helps a person to book a hotel at the last minute. Why we did it, how and what came out of it, we decided to tell on Habré. We welcome your feedback and comments on what can be further improved in the new function and in general in applications.
')
In December 2012, we launched mobile applications for the iPhone and Android , through which you can book hotels around the world. These are bookings made in advance. After that, we began to think about how to help people who need a hotel urgently, right here and now. This is how the idea of ​​the Hotel for the night! Function appeared. And, since Ostrovok.ru works with 5,000 hotels directly, we have agreed with some of them about connecting to the new option and offering discounts of up to 50%. It’s convenient for the customer, he can quickly book a room and then enter it, and we help hotels to fill in empty rooms.
The first meeting on the "Hotel for the night!" Was held in late December. To make a seemingly small function in a mobile application it took the work of at least seven departments of the company:
As a result of the meeting, we decided that:
In January and February, the main work fell on the shoulders of the Supply Department: they had to agree with the hotels about a new tariff, determine the list of cities and hotels that might be interested in such a tariff. As part of the nightly fare with each hotel, the size of the discount was determined (from 20% to 55% per room) and various conditions from the hotel were approved (for example, the beginning and end of sales, late departure, payment without a card, compliments: champagne, water, bathrobe and even slippers :). Looking ahead, not every hotel went to such conditions, because they did not have such experience and / or understanding that this would bring them additional reservations. As a result, we managed to add 45 hotels: seventeen in Moscow and St. Petersburg and eleven in Kiev.
In early March, the first nightly rates were added to our Extranet system.
During this time, a new feature design has been developed for the iPhone and Android, new mobile API methods and communication with OTA functionality are ready.
In the iPhone version of the application, we tried to simplify the interface of the search for night tariffs. We understood that the number of hotels at such rates in each city is small, so we removed various sorting and filters. In addition to the new feature, we managed to make a number of changes and improvements in the application. So, for example, they added very beautiful and understandable tips (so that all-all users know and understand how to use our application), as well as optimize the download and operation of the application.
In the Android version, due to the particular implementation (the only active search available in the application at a time), we decided to add the search for night tariffs in a separate tab in the search form. We deliberately went for a similar experiment, making different ways to access the "Hotels for the night!" Function on the iPhone and Android.
The name of the new function in the application has changed several times, we have long picked up a short and clear name. Just before the release of the application, we stopped at the name “Hotel for this night!”.
As a result, we managed to release new versions of iPhone and Android applications for the App Store, Google Play and Yandex. Store in one day - March 27, 2013. And by chance, the release of our mobile applications coincided with the announcement of the third round of investments received by the company.
After launching the new version of the application, we received a number of positive reviews in the App Store, here are some of them:
Handsomely! - Beautiful design in the "hotels for this night." We are waiting for 20.00!
Please friends, the application has become much easier. At least for those who see him for the first time, there are clues. Good, concise design. Even easier, more convenient.
Review - The application has become much more convenient, the new function “Hotels for this night” significantly speeds up the search time.
Tips made the product better - I haven’t yet booked this night, but now it’s very easy to figure out where the settings are.
Super app - Very handy thing! Just super!
Application users are still familiar with the new function, waiting for eight o'clock in the evening and looking at what interesting offers are. First bookings via iPhone and Android are already in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Unexpectedly for us, most of the night fare bookings went through calls to the call center. People call and want to check in right now.
In our database there are more than 45 hotels in three cities for the night rate, we are going to increase these figures by 2-3 times.
In the near future in mobile applications, we plan to launch:
As implementation will tell you.
While “Hotel for the night!” Can be downloaded here for iOS and here for Android .
Posted by: sharifulin
We launched a new feature in our mobile application - "Hotel for the night!". This is a feature that helps a person to book a hotel at the last minute. Why we did it, how and what came out of it, we decided to tell on Habré. We welcome your feedback and comments on what can be further improved in the new function and in general in applications.
History of creation
')
In December 2012, we launched mobile applications for the iPhone and Android , through which you can book hotels around the world. These are bookings made in advance. After that, we began to think about how to help people who need a hotel urgently, right here and now. This is how the idea of ​​the Hotel for the night! Function appeared. And, since Ostrovok.ru works with 5,000 hotels directly, we have agreed with some of them about connecting to the new option and offering discounts of up to 50%. It’s convenient for the customer, he can quickly book a room and then enter it, and we help hotels to fill in empty rooms.
The first meeting on the "Hotel for the night!" Was held in late December. To make a seemingly small function in a mobile application it took the work of at least seven departments of the company:
- Supply - department for work with hotels;
- Extranet - back office for hotels, management of all hotels and rates for hotels;
- Content - the department for working with content (in this case, with mobile content);
- OTA - core product team;
- API - a team responsible for transferring data using the necessary protocols to partners and / or clients (in this case, mobile applications);
- Mobile is a mobile team of mobile mobile application developers;
- Marketing - marketing department.
As a result of the meeting, we decided that:
- The function should be only in the mobile application (iPhone, Android);
- The application should provide an opportunity to find hotels for today and standard booking for the future;
- Special prices and mobile content (information about discounts and bonuses, a brief description of the night rate);
- At the start there should be at least ten hotels from Moscow and St. Petersburg and several hotels in Kiev;
- Design requirements: the user must unambiguously understand where the night rate is, and where the standard hotel booking is;
- Application release - March-April.
In January and February, the main work fell on the shoulders of the Supply Department: they had to agree with the hotels about a new tariff, determine the list of cities and hotels that might be interested in such a tariff. As part of the nightly fare with each hotel, the size of the discount was determined (from 20% to 55% per room) and various conditions from the hotel were approved (for example, the beginning and end of sales, late departure, payment without a card, compliments: champagne, water, bathrobe and even slippers :). Looking ahead, not every hotel went to such conditions, because they did not have such experience and / or understanding that this would bring them additional reservations. As a result, we managed to add 45 hotels: seventeen in Moscow and St. Petersburg and eleven in Kiev.
In early March, the first nightly rates were added to our Extranet system.
During this time, a new feature design has been developed for the iPhone and Android, new mobile API methods and communication with OTA functionality are ready.
A few comments about the most mobile development
In the iPhone version of the application, we tried to simplify the interface of the search for night tariffs. We understood that the number of hotels at such rates in each city is small, so we removed various sorting and filters. In addition to the new feature, we managed to make a number of changes and improvements in the application. So, for example, they added very beautiful and understandable tips (so that all-all users know and understand how to use our application), as well as optimize the download and operation of the application.
In the Android version, due to the particular implementation (the only active search available in the application at a time), we decided to add the search for night tariffs in a separate tab in the search form. We deliberately went for a similar experiment, making different ways to access the "Hotels for the night!" Function on the iPhone and Android.
The name of the new function in the application has changed several times, we have long picked up a short and clear name. Just before the release of the application, we stopped at the name “Hotel for this night!”.
As a result, we managed to release new versions of iPhone and Android applications for the App Store, Google Play and Yandex. Store in one day - March 27, 2013. And by chance, the release of our mobile applications coincided with the announcement of the third round of investments received by the company.
First reviews
After launching the new version of the application, we received a number of positive reviews in the App Store, here are some of them:
Handsomely! - Beautiful design in the "hotels for this night." We are waiting for 20.00!
Please friends, the application has become much easier. At least for those who see him for the first time, there are clues. Good, concise design. Even easier, more convenient.
Review - The application has become much more convenient, the new function “Hotels for this night” significantly speeds up the search time.
Tips made the product better - I haven’t yet booked this night, but now it’s very easy to figure out where the settings are.
Super app - Very handy thing! Just super!
Application users are still familiar with the new function, waiting for eight o'clock in the evening and looking at what interesting offers are. First bookings via iPhone and Android are already in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Unexpectedly for us, most of the night fare bookings went through calls to the call center. People call and want to check in right now.
New Feature Development Plans
In our database there are more than 45 hotels in three cities for the night rate, we are going to increase these figures by 2-3 times.
In the near future in mobile applications, we plan to launch:
- Booking hotels without a card (it will be very convenient for late reservations);
- Callback reservations from the call center;
- The possibility of booking a hotel for several nights;
- Push-notifications when there are nightly offers in the right city.
As implementation will tell you.
While “Hotel for the night!” Can be downloaded here for iOS and here for Android .
Posted by: sharifulin
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/176509/
All Articles