Airbnb vs COVID: The battle for community and connections!
Will COVID take down the community connections that Airbnb built over years? Or will Airbnb strengthen its community to defeat COVID and emerge stronger than ever?
Hospitality
Hello Alfred: automating the on-demand economy
In a world crowded with on-demand apps and services, Hello Alfred created an aggregated service platform for recurring and widely demanded services to simplify the life of their customers. The platform is assisted by company employed “Alfreds” who coordinate the delivery of the services. The company adopted a B-to-B-to-C business model where it leverages on the proliferation of on-demand service providers and the relevance of local specialized vendors by using them as suppliers. To capture users, Hello Alfred partners with landlords of buildings that cater to young professionals. Hello Alfred profits from the difference between the wholesale prices it negotiates with its vendors and the retailed price charged to customers.
As of today, Hello Alfred has raised $63 M in venture funding, has completed 4.5 million to-do’s and saved 50 years time to its members. In this post I will discuss the evolution of Hello Alfred’s business model and the strategic decisions they made to scale the business.
OYO – Standardising budget hotels across India
OYO is an online,curated, hotel room marketplace that provides reliable and quality budget rooms.
The Battle to Book and Host Travelers Continues to be Changed by Digital Innovation
Digital disruption has had a huge impact on the hospitality industry. Companies like Airbnb and Priceline have done a great job of creating digital platforms and applying pressure to traditional hotels, but hotels are fighting back with consolidation and differentiation.