OYO bets big on analytics

Hospitality technology major OYO has announced that it will be heavily focusing on analytics going forward — with plans to scale up business, through technology.

Talking to DH, OYO Vice President (Engineering) and Chief Culture Ambassador Ajay Shrivastava said, “Over the last one-and-half years, we have placed 6,500 hotels under our umbrella, across 170 towns and cities in India. Our next focus for development is analytics. We are building platforms, through which we would be able to predict demand for accommodation, and also assured supply of room inventory.”

OYO has a dedicated data science team for analytics, to collect and catalogue data of all searches and activity that takes place on its app, online and mobile sites. “The need for analytics is that it’ll help identify the right demand, especially in terms of seasonal predictions, which will facilitate efficient pricing of the room inventory. For instance, in terms of hill stations, data may suggest greater demand during summers. Through analytics, it’ll be easier to target the right supply for that period, with personalisation,” Shrivastava said.

“We have a repository of all searches, from where we will derive insight. It will also help us advice our partner hotels on driving their business, apart from our own,” he added.

For instance, the data science insights of OYO have shown that solid lines between cities overlapped with key highways and road-routes, implying that more and more hotel bookings are happening during transit, 4-6 hours prior to check-in.

Talking about the relevance of technology in the hospitality space, Shrivastava said, “The only way to scale everything and make it predictable is through technology, which will set in automation of processes. It will reduce costs in terms of less staff and less errors, making the whole activity affordable.”

OYO’s technology team has unleashed innovations for end-to-end operations including enquiries, room booking, and feedback — primarily catering to four stakeholders namely normal users, property managers, hotel owners, and its own internal team. As of today, the company has raised a total of $225 million in funding.