Notesale: Turn your study into money

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths:​ The concept of Onefinestay’s ‘unhotel’ accommodation service is
relatively new and ​differentiate​ itself from other players in the hospitality industry
...
Customers
enjoyed their travel staying at a place feel like home and living like a local, whereas
the homeowners think it's convenient to rent out their home with the company
...
The ​beds​ they have now exceeded
a few hotels all put together
...

The lack of some ​facilities​ such as on-site gym and business centre also stop a
number of business travellers stop renting a private home
...

*branding - unsure about which approach to take to meet different market needs
*uncertainty about (direct) competitors
*appeal to the market through emotional benefits (Page 8)
Opportunities:​ Based on those difficulties to start up a business like this and the
problems that the company had already gone through and still facing, it's hard for
other competitors to copy the business model and get this far to compete with
Onefinestay
...

*growing market
Threats:
Niche marketNot enough demand
Lots of emerging competitors, companies
Legal regulations in some countries
Housing bubbles

PEST
Politics​:
Difference in legal and regulatory issues of housing in many countries
Tax - varying in different states and countries
Some countries were developing regulations to support the sharing economy but
some haven’t(p3)
Economics​:
As global economic conditions has improved since 2014, tourism is projected to
increase
...

Two aspects
-a source of to come for homeowners
-a competitor to the hotel industry and Airbnb
Demand for hotel rooms was outweighing supply since recovering from the
economic recession-included decline in the late 2000s
...
The vast majority of Onefinestay guests booked their stays
online
...

(P6)
An apple phone with internet data, local maps and restaurant recommendations are
provided to the customers once they check in
An built-in app on the phone will give guests instructions about the facilities, artworks
and so on in the house
There’s also a contact service line in the app in case customers need help for any
problems during their stay(p6)

PORTERS 5 Forces
a)Threat of New Errant
The threat of new entries into the market for Onefinestay is ​low​
...
For those companies who try to compete with Onefinestay will have to
search for the homeowners and homes from scratch which will take years to get to what
Onefinestay had achieved today
...
When Onefinestay is expanding to more
cities, those competitors who offer the same concept had already had a lot of choices that
are well-developed and has customer reviews accessible online at the same location for
everyone to choose from
...
Compare to those options like Airbnb or hotels, Onefinesaty is a
relatively pricey option for most of the travellers
...

d)Power of the Suppliers
High​ as hosts are the main suppliers, providing their properties and they were
exclusively chosen through a long process where stuff were discussed about what to
change/give access to the guests
...

e)Industry Rivalry
No direct competition but there are alternatives to choose from such as Airbnb and
High end hotels
...
With its business in the industry
for more than ten years and a strong base of users and homeowners worldwide, Airbnb is
only going to be growing further
...

*strategies to personalise services - 1FS is providing personalised services but so
are other companies such as hotels, etc so it is not as unique and raises

competition
...

*resources - 1FS is a manufacturing company that offers services whilst other
competition may have a broader range of resources and may own their property
such as hotels which 1FS does not so their properties may be seasonal
...
They want to
expand by revolutionising the Accommodation industry with the new idea of an “unhotel”
which has not been established yet but is a growing industry opening a new segment for
travellers of all sorts
...

There would be “cross over customers” from using hotels and Airbnb for a more premium
personalised stay
...

*1FS has a good customer orientation for both the hosts and guests
...
The hosts know what
they are getting themselves and many are referred by word of mouth showing
...
Other similar
companies are still growing and entering the industry but hotels are one of the competitors
for now but are a low risk
...

*Inter-functional coordination - the employees have increased over time with the size of the
company but it seem flat as there are two main teams - commercial and operational
...

The firm’s resource base (e
...
, technical skills, quality management process) helps it to
exploit technological advances (it is at the forefront of technological innovations) and the
resource base (e
...
, brand management, customer adaptation) helps with demographic
changes (the emerging case of lone travellers)
...
They (e
...
,
security of supply, customer relationships, innovation process) do mitigate the threat of
rivalry
...

*FOR INIMITABILITY​ — This firm is in good shape since its resource base includes
intangible assets (e
...
, the brand) and processes; the R&D, and since the firm is
self-sufficient using the own employees to carry out different roles and working with network
agents to promote the properties
...
g
...
Many companies are trying to move into the services industry but
1FS has established itself already so it will be hard and properties that are listed have gone
through a thorough process and can only sign with one company so 1FS has their properties
on lock
...


ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES / CAPABILITIES:
List of resources and capabilities:
• Locality - local expertise
• Employees - 3 different groups
• Loyal customers - hosts and guests
*process of picking buildings capabilities?
• Partnership-building capabilities with hosts
• Global choice of Accommodation
• 1FS brand name(s)
• Quality of service and buildings provided
• organisational culture - WHAT TYPE?
• Quality in customer support
• Easy and fast customer service
*experienced senior management
*high quality employees
*reputation
*brand
*innovation process (includes marketing, r&d research and development, manufacturing all
together)
*quality management process
*branding process - brand onion

STRATEGIC FIT OR MISFIT:
1FS was able to anticipate a potential gap in the marketplace for vacation properties
whereas competitors such as hotels were offering a cold unhomely setting for guests in
tourist destinations that wanted more of a local experience in a more comforting and
welcoming place suited to their differing needs
...


CHARACTERISTICS OF SERVICE:
*1FS has all the characteristics of a service since it focuses on ​intangible benefits​ and you
can’t see these (e
...
, local experiences rather than physical products)
...

*They stay cannot be stored for guests as you could do for manufactured products perishability
...

*Having different segments for target audience split into 4 groups is good for matching
demand and supply
*These characteristics also involve a ​lack of ownership​ of the service, as after the holiday,
guests cannot bring with them any part of the service product
...

*Finally, 1FS slightly depends on the performance on their employees and staff as they don’t
have much interaction with guests which has less impact, along with local workers, which
can vary over time and across the different properties- ​heterogeneity
...
As in the Palmatier et al
...
Indeed, without trust we
cannot hope to communicate openly
...

*process-based trust: through consistency of the companies actions, building loyalty with
existing guests and hosts and through WOM
...
Maintaining a good level of contact with their existing customers, they can facilitate
word of mouth (WOM) processes among old and new customers
...

*loyalty is achieved in the long run so they can tackle competitors - using relationships to
retain satisfied customers can improve the customer lifetime value of the customers
...

*returning customers who feel real brand affinity will likely become more price insensitive,
paving the way to higher prices in the future
...


*TARGETING​: niche market, personalising stay, creating a home away from home, building
relationships and loyalty
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*Physical evidence – service should suit both clients needs as it does already, so no
changes need to be made
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*Product – no products offered other than the toiletries and other stuff set out for guests,
could be more personalised like a chef to provide local food or choosing
...

*Place – In more cities that suit guests needs
*Promotion – Targeting high-end lifestyle magazines read by older people, but mostly WOM
...


CUSTOMER RETENTION AND SUCCESSFULNESS
*1FS shows an exclusivity picking of properties from hosts and choosing the right people
and place going through a process to pick the right one out of 10 which forms a strong
relationship
...

*maintaining good relationships with hosts and meetings guests and hosts expectations
...


Managing service quality successfully

GAP 1 -​ by maintaining a good relationship with customers through
...
to avoid
falling in the microconceptions gap
...

GAP 3​ - to avoid Inadequate delivery, there are different groups of staff split into teams to
work on different things and over the years, that has increased to be able to cater to each
guest and host
...

GAP 4 ​- exaggerated promises - a coordination of the benefits promised though promotion
and or WOM and the actual benefits given to customers can help 1FS fill the exaggerated
promises gap
...
Still, they are unlikely to face service quality issues in this space as they
strive to exceed guest expectations
...


The service innovation lay in the Technology that was being used as it is mainly operating
online through promotion, booking, using network agents, it is a radical innovation and a
market breakthrough as it is a different segmented service that is available through a gap in
the market
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5 POINT CUSTOMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS
The five steps would be shortened for the traditional customer as the purchase is about
hedonism and emotions rather than about utility and how functional features deliver this
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*PROBLEM RECOGNITION -​ would be more about wants than needs as there are hotels
and other companies offering that already
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Hosts do not
realise they have A problem until they Know they can make easy money by letting out their
homes
...
Personal
sources are often used to legitimize the purchase especially through WOM
...
Commercial sources
are often about accessing functional information
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- especially applies
to guests as the web can track how many times they’ve looked at a property from different
devices to show others possibly and get suggestions
...
There is HomeAway or
Airbnb but they are for the more average or common client so there is no direct substitute
...
For hosts, there is only a one time purchase stage when they offer
their property to be used by 1FS
...
The loyal customers would want an elevated service
experience to stay close to the brand
...
Hosts just seem to be happy to come back to a cleaner
home after each rental by 1FS so they don’t seem to dwell on it much

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