Founders of the TravelGround Group, Marcel van de Ghinste and Jonathan Womersley, have launched WorkTripper, which they call "'South Africa's first" business-ready accommodation-booking platform.
According to the founders, WorkTripper is built entirely for business travellers, allowing users to find the features and services they need, such as WiFi, flexible cancellations and negotiated rates from over 12 000 establishments across the country.
The new platform is the group's third e-commerce venture in nine years and follows in the footsteps of TravelGround and LekkeSlaap, which are both leisure travel booking platforms. Together they attract an average of 750 000 unique users a month, with thousands of bookings made each week, say the founders.
"The local e-commerce market has changed significantly since 2009. Back then, traffic from mobile devices was almost insignificant, while today it accounts for half of our traffic," says Van de Ghinste.
"Our Web sites have had to continuously adapt to the changes in mobile Web technologies and consumer browsing habits. It's important that our Web sites look and feel great on any platform, whether it's a desktop computer, or mobile smartphone. This is essential to any e-commerce business as customers want an experience that gives them what they want, quickly and easily."
WorkTripper, he continues, lists thousands of establishments tailor-made for business travellers, seeking accommodation from Pretoria to Pofadder, many with flexible cancellation policies and negotiated business rates.
"Establishments that are particularly suited for business trips are WorkSmart accredited, meaning they have WiFi, secure parking, are of a high quality and serve breakfast. WorkTripper is available around the clock to find and book business-ready accommodation online, and users can contact friendly WorkTripper staff for assistance until midnight 365 days a year via e-mail or phone," adds Van de Ghinste.
Van de Ghinste and Womersley note they have seen the consumer market change over the years and the duo say they have adapted their Web development strategy accordingly to tap into customers' needs and behaviour.
"We noticed that certain business travellers were using our leisure booking platforms to find accommodation, even though the experience wasn't tailored for them. And through market research we discovered that, while corporate travel agents are great at serving large corporates, SMEs have no one to turn to," explains Van de Ghinste.
"We realised we were uniquely positioned to negotiate business discounts on behalf of South Africa's smaller business travellers. We've coupled those discounts with a platform that is built to help them easily find business-ready accommodation," explains Womersley.
WorkTripper does not charge service fees, as it is a commission-based Web site, he adds.
"Of course, we go to great effort to ensure establishments pay us this commission without increasing the cost to the consumer. And, in fact, in the case of WorkTripper, we have even negotiated business-exclusive discounts with over 1 500 establishments across SA," concludes Womersley.
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