This project was completed in collaboration with Thought Castle, a strategic, brand-building outfit that envisioned the purpose of this project.
The client was a lifestyle resort that included a hotel, apartments, wedding venues, restaurants, a winery, and event spaces. They required a technology stack and an optimised sales and customer relations management process.
Their existing process was very manual, and their systems were disconnected. They were not able to capitalise on the data in their systems. This prevented them from maximising their sales, optimising their marketing, and building customer loyalty. The project aimed to build a system that would create a smooth guest experience from booking to checkout.
The key metrics of success for the project were built on five requirements:
- Guests must be able to book any product, or a combination of products, from the main website, including:
- Hotel accommodation
- Restaurant bookings
- Concert tickets
- Spa reservations
- Boat rides
- Wine tastings
- Special events
- Group bookings
- And any other available products.
- Appointment management must be accessible for all the products mentioned above.
- A customer loyalty program, with product discount opportunities, must be included.
- A CRM system must be implemented to track guest purchases and keep all communication centralised and easily accessible.
- Communication channels must be improved and expanded to include email, online chat, and WhatsApp.
The available solutions on the market fell short of many of these requirements, especially when it came to booking combinations of products. Any solution that worked for one requirement, could not be used for another. This meant that a variety of systems on different platforms would be necessary.
The final solution was using WordPress for the eCommerce shop and ZOHO CRM for guest relation management.
The flexibility of WordPress allowed us to centralise bookings in WooCommerce and manage schedules and appointments with integrated plugins.
Website Functions
- Hotel accommodation bookings and management
- Restaurant bookings
- Concert and event ticket sales and management
- Venue hire bookings
- Loyalty program and discount management
- Payment gateway
- Automated sales conversion optimisation
A custom integration transferred sales and guest information from WooCommerce to ZOHO CRM. The CRM system keeps track of each guest and records every purchase, email, chat, and website visit. Customised and individualised marketing campaigns are sent from there and
CRM Functions
- Centralised guest information
- Email Help Desk
- Web chat
- Website analytics and visitor records
- Email campaigns
- Questionnaires and automated Surveys
The implementation of this solution streamlined the operations of the resort and helped the staff deliver a better guest experience.