Agoda is one of the world’s fastest growing onlinetravel booking platforms which started its journey as an e-commerce start-up inSingapore back in 2005. Since then, it has built a global network of 2 millionproperties in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Agoda providestravelers with easy access to a wide variety of luxury and budget hotels,apartments, homes and villas to suit all budgets and travel occasions.

Agoda is a part of booking Holdings and has itsheadquarters in Singapore. It employs more than 4000 staff in more than 30countries and the Agoda mobile app is available in 38 languages. It is thethird largest hotel booking channel by revenue in Thailand, and the fourthlargest in United States and Canada.

Business model:

It operates on the merchant model where it acquiresaccommodations at a wholesale price from partner properties and resells them ata markup price. In 2017, Agoda began looking at non-hotel accommodations tocapture the millennial market.

Points MAX:

Points MAX is a new way to earn benefits when atraveler books accommodation on Agoda.com. It is very simple and easy. Thetravelers choose their favorite loyalty program and earn points toward thatprogram with every booking they make with Agoda.

How to earn points:

·        The travelers have to select theirfavorite loyalty program from the 46 participating partners of Points MAX.

·        Then they have to book hotels bychoosing room from over 5,00,000 qualified hotels.

·        Finally, the travelers will earn up to6000 points after completing the hotel stay.

Various terms and conditions are applicable for suchprogram.

Partners:

Properties:

The Yield Control System or YCS is Agoda’sproprietary software that helps Agoda hotel partners to set room rates, manageinventory, upload content, create promotions and view performance reports. Ithas the following features:

·        No fees: Theprocess is fast and is easy to sign up with no registration fees.

·        Seamless Connectivity: Ithas over 150 supported connectivity partners globally.

·        Incremental Booking: Itis possible to tap the fast-growing Asian markets through the regional marketleader.

 The strength of Agoda’s Partner Network:

Agoda has over 5000 partners that rely on Agoda’ssolid product, technological sophistication, dedicated account management andextensive online business management. The purpose is to drive customersatisfaction, brand awareness and revenue.

The partners can earn commission at a rate of 5% oneach $200 booking. This generous commission rate gets even better with morebookings.

Benefits of becoming an Agoda affiliate:

·        Easy integration:Agoda’s promotional tools are easy to set-up and can be used with much ease andcomfort.

·        Multilingual: Agoda’sweb, app and promos come in 38 languages which make it easy to connect with theaudience.

·        Total support: TheAgoda team answers all the questions of an affiliate and gives complete backupthroughout the process.

·        Data at the finger tips: Anaffiliate can track performance, earnings and more on the dashboard with freeand detailed reporting.

Earnings per booking:

Agoda’s marketing and branding:

Branding:

·        Product:Provides a wide range of services and offers 357,000 hotels around the world.

·        Price: Retainsthe “best price guarantee” policy.

·        Uses the above-the-line strategythrough search engines, Flight-booking website and travel magazines, maps andnewspapers.

·        Agoda also uses below-the-linestrategy through booths at travel events and fairs.

·        Agoda also sponsors events of bankingcompanies and provides company retreats.

Marketing Strategies:

1.      Agodauses social proof to drive more sales:

The pillar of sales community is social proof. Whena consumer knows that others have used a service or bought a product, they feelcomfortable buying the product or service. Everywhere in Agoda’s website thereis social proof about the quality of their hotels and their deals.

The travelers can see that high number of travelershave stayed in the above mentioned hotels and there is almost 10,000 reviews inthe second one- and between 50-170 travelers want to stay in these two hotelsalone. This allows the customer to weed out the good from the bad and makeschoosing hotels a lot easier.

2.      Agoda knows theright way to use scarcity and urgency to convert more customers:

If customers are struggling to makea decision, but the product they want is going to be gone by tomorrow, theywill be more inclined to buy. For example, we can take a look at this hotel inManchester. Here, Agoda combines social proof and the amount of deals they haveleft to create a real sense of urgency.

The fact that two people are lookingat it-who might book the room- and there is only one room left adds urgencythat makes someone who wants to stay at Gotham try and beat other two people tothe booking. Whether it is factual or not remains to be seen, but it is aremarkable strategy.

3.     Agodareassures users to create repeat business:

Reassurance removes people’s doubtsor fears and can create loyal and repeat customers. If customers know that theyare getting the best value for their money from someone they can trust andcares about them, they are more likely to return.

Agoda does this job perfectlythroughout the buying process.

They constantly reassure and showsthat the customers are making the right decision. For example, we can look atthis hotel in Bangkok:

The combination of social proof andreassuring copywriting- “Great choice of property!” pulls the customers towardsthis hotel.

4.     Upselling:

The upsells on Agoda are subtle but effective. When acustomer books a room, Agoda slip in an upsell where customers can get more forjust a little more money.

This pageis not just filled with benefits but also combines all the elements to driveextra product sales.

 Awards:

·        In 2016, Agoda wasnamed the best online travel service by Singaporean lifestyle website Asia One'sPeople's Choice Awards.

·        In 2018, it wasawarded by the World Travel Awards for its booking app.

·        In 2019, Viva Glam Magazine included Agoda in its list of the bestwebsites for booking a holiday vacation.