Global Line Network

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Revenue & E-Commerce Director for a hotel management company managing 20 hotels across Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. My department is responsible in putting our hotel products online and in the mobile app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Global Line Network?

The goal is to build a hotel booking app that allow customer to book directly with us rather than from the online travel agents such as Expedia. We do not have an app nor engineer to build one, and thus we appointed GLN as our developer for this project.

What were your goals for this project?

With this app, we are able to direct our customer to book from the hotel mobile app. This reduces the commission we need to pay to the third party i.e Expedia and thus improve hotel profitability. The goal is to receive as many direct booking as possible.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Peer recommendation, we did not consider another company for this project. We are confident with GLN with their good track record.

Describe the project in detail.

The project is very straightforward. We need to build an app that allow user to book hotel rooms & pay directly from the app. We specify our requirements in details through weekly coordination meeting with input from both GLN and from the hotel. This app was build for iOS and Android. This is not a hybrid app and do not complement a website. We did not engage with GLN for any marketing or branding project.

What was the team composition?

We liaise with 2 persons from GLN from the start to the end of project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The mobile app works as expected with minor bug issues during the first month of the launch. We managed to fixed these issues as we receive feedback from the users. We managed to acquire new customers through the app and happy with the performance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Weekly meeting was conducted to update on the progress. All meeting are minuted and signed by both party for recording purposes. Feedback was taken positively by GLN. No language barrier.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're able to build booking apps that are comparable with market leaders.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It's their first hotel booking engine project, and thus we took more time to put our requirements in details. It could have been faster if they are more knowledgeable on this product.