OYO, one of India’s largest networks of branded hotels, has introduced a self-serve platform for hotel-partners to purchase goods and items necessary for day-to-day operations. Started six months ago to serve select markets, OYO Bazar has witnessed terrific response from OYO’s hotel-partners.
Speaking on the initiative, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, OYO said, “We are thrilled to introduce yet another innovation for the unbranded hotels sector. All across the country, thousands of small hotel-owners work hard to provide the best experience to their guests. This platform ensures they receive easy access and preferential rates to the most-commonly used goods such as bed-linen, electrical fixtures, furnishings and lights – that add to the guests’ in-room experience. We have received an overwhelming response to this initiative and will boost category-coverage and SKUs in the coming months.”
OYO Bazar leverages OYO’s ability to generate bulk business and drive better cost-effectiveness for partners. OYO uses the platform to provide partner-hotels access to best quality products required for day to day running of hotels.
Elaborating on the objective behind this platform, Agarwal added, “Since inception, OYO has pioneered first-in-category innovations to build a thriving ecosystem for hoteliers in India. We were the first company to create and provide a tablet-based hotel-management app through which our partners could manage their day-to-day operations smoothly, integrating inventory-management, revenue-management and CRM on a single app. With OYO Bazar, we will deepen the existing relationship with our partners by offering three core benefits of buying convenience, product quality and great prices. OYO Bazar takes away procurement hassles enabling the hotelier to focus on core hospitality business development.”
OYO Bazar was piloted for Delhi and Gurgaon region, with a basic website and limited SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) mostly in the linen category. In March, OYO Bazar was launched with a refurbished website in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, serving 180 SKUs in three categories including linen-items, maintenance services and LED lights. The initiative has seen a good response with bulk business queries received from as far as Bhubaneshwar, Goa, and Jammu & Kashmir.
OYO Bazar intends to become a one-stop solution for hotels to order any item required for smooth operations. The number of SKUs listed in the platform will increase to about 500 SKUs in the next couple of months and the category coverage will also increase to include cleaning supplies, crockery, bathroom wares, and room and kitchen appliances.
