The City Lodge Hotel Group has 59 hotels situated throughout South Africa. Over the last 12 years of working with their very capable team, we have built a true omni channel experience for the customer.
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E-commerce
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Description & Defining
The CLHG group comprises 59 hotels in four categories, aimed at business and leisure travelers across South Africa.
For over a decade, we’ve been their digital partner, rebuilding all their online systems to create a truly omnichannel experience. We have achieved this by constructing and integrating multiple platforms to create an immersive user experience.
Challenge & Solution
Over more than a decade of building custom systems and platform integrations we have had the pleasure of creating a meaningful ecosystem, to both the City Lodge Hotel Group as well as the customers that frequent their national hotels. The platforms developed include;
- The CLHG E-Commerce booking website
- The CLHG Mobile App for iOS and Android
- Creation of the CLHG Loyalty Club
- Rate Us – An automated rating system with multi-integration
- Custom CRM System
- Custom CMS System
- Bid2Stay – A gamification platform for distressed stock
- Custom BI Tools
- Segmentation for mass communication
- Partner integration
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. David Mitchell
The CLHG E-Commerce booking website
At FGX, we designed and developed the entire digital eco-system for the City Lodge Hotel Group, including all platforms and systems.
Our team hosts and maintains these custom-built solutions, utilizing both primary and redundant failover systems to ensure continuous operation.
Even brief downtime can lead to significant revenue loss. That’s why we provide 24/7 support to keep everything running smoothly, ensuring the hotel group’s digital platforms are always operational and optimised for success.
The CLHG Mobile App for iOS and Android
- Point of Sale integration authentication
- Hotel specific features enabled
- Hotel specific content enabled
- Member specific content enabled
- Member specific push notifications
- Make bookings
- Booking history
- Booking ratings
- Social media stream
- SIP phone activation, tracking and billing
CLHG Loyalty System
This loyalty programme was developed to encourage and change user behaviour based on customised incentives. It serves multiple user tiers, from general clients to corporate organisations, and is managed via a customised CMS system.
The reward level can be split among multiple parties and is dynamically configurable. Basically, it’s all carrots, no sticks. And that carrot gets to taste however the end user wants.
CLHG Rating System
We integrated their rating system into their POS. All reviews are collected and channelled to different operation teams to resolve and close. No rating goes unreviewed, whether by a sophisticated computer system or a team member.
This system automatically replies to and records ratings set within a satisfactory bracket.
For sub-par ratings, a time-sensitive ticket is created that must be closed by the hotel’s General Manager. Failing this, the instance is escalated to the CLHG Operations Director, who ensures client feedback is recorded and all issues have been addressed.
Recorded results are used to automatically calculate the GM’s annual bonus structure based on guest satisfaction, incentivizing greater employee performance.
Custom CRM and CMS System
All client information and behaviour is stored in their CMS system. It manages the website itself, allowing the marketing department to edit rates, add hotels, update and set promotions, and operate everything else contained within the site.
The CRM system is a customised bolt-on that allows H/O to track the full guest’s lifespan behaviour from inception to repeat visits or stagnant accounts.
With the data collected through the rating, loyalty, and communication systems, we can entice unsatisfied return guests back. We do this through custom promotions, loyalty point allocations, and rewards.
Bid2Stay – a gamified distressed stock sales system
By allowing visitors 3 “spins” a day on a randomised in-app slot machine, the hotels can sell out distressed stock availability to ensure maximum occupancy is reached each day.
With the integration of the CRM, loyalty, and communication system, winners are instantly rewarded with deals and discounts. All visitor behaviour is tracked to compile business analytic insights.
Custom BI Tools
The CLHG executive board reports, insights and tracking have been automated using Google Data Studio. Reports of all hotels, guests, ratings, loyalty points, and income are displayed and tracked.
These BI documents are fully dynamic and draw live data from all the systems developed and described above. This gives executive management a summary of historic and predicted performance.
Segmentation for mass communication
All client communications are managed through a custom-developed system. Transactional and marketing communications are sent via text message and email, dynamically populating client-specific data.
Automation allows for personalisation based on historic behaviour, such as previous accommodation reservations, loyalty point status, customer type (corporate or leisure traveller), and historic segmentation marketing campaigns.
