Customer type: Property Manager
Region: United Kingdom
Products: Dynamic Pricing, Portfolio Analytics, Market Dashboards
Channel Manager: Uplisting
When pricing errors started affecting business revenues and growth, JP Palombo, CEO of PureStay, set out to replace his inaccurate manual system of updating pricing with an intelligent data-driven dynamic pricing solution that would help him;
- Maximise revenues while maintaining a premium yet competitive brand image
- Save time and improve processes and productivity
- Integrate seamlessly with his Channel Manager – UpListing
- Study local market data to make informed decisions regarding his properties
- Train his team to configure, update and monitor pricing and performance
About PureStay
PureStay is a UK-based Serviced Accommodation Provider that offers guests premium and affordable hospitality and accommodation, great returns for high-net-worth investors, and hands-off management service for short-stay hosts.
JP Palombo, CEO of PureStay is an architect turned entrepreneur. After dabbling in long-term rentals for a few years, he realized the ROI on long-term rentals was too low and long drawn to make commercial sense. At this stage, he went back to the drawing board to learn, explore and research how to turn his passion into a profitable and scalable business venture. It was then that he discovered the financial potential of short-term rentals.
“Before PriceLabs I was manually pricing all my properties and my pricing was based on my own primary research and knowledge of local events, peak seasons or holidays. But a lot of it was guesswork – of what ‘felt’ like the right price . As I added more listings this became a very laborious task on a daily basis. When I realised I was dropping the ball I decided we needed to move on to an intelligent software to manage our pricing.”
– JP Palombo, CEO of PureStay
Before PriceLabs
When JP first started off, nightly pricing of his short-stay vacation rentals was updated manually by him using his channel manager. He maintained a spreadsheet of peak/off times, events, school holidays, and weekends/weekdays. This was ok as long as his offerings were limited.
Challenge 1: Significant time spent on manual “guesswork” pricing resulted in costly errors
As his business grew rapidly, it became a laborious and time-consuming task that left ample room for error. When he started noticing slip-ups, for example – a local event that he missed taking into account, resulting in having his prices too low during those nights resulting in significant money lost, he knew he had to upgrade his pricing system and fast.
The revenue lost from the manual updation of pricing was critical, especially since he had decided to venture into managing revenue for clients. JP was clear that there could be no room for error once he began managing revenue for customers.
Challenge 2: No clear-cut way to train his staff on pricing
JP realized that, as he grew his business, he needed to structure, scale and automate as much as he could, and pricing was one of the activities/processes that topped his list. At the time, he wasn’t sure how to set rates. He described it as more a “feel” for the pricing that he felt worked or didn’t work for a particular property rather than data-driven reasoning.
Many factors go into pricing and revenue management, and updating and managing them manually leaves room for too many errors and too much revenue that could be lost. He realized that this system made it near impossible for him to train his team on rates. As he started to take on clients, he wanted a pricing system to be as quick, easy, and efficient as possible.
Choosing PriceLabs
JP put his Sales and Marketing Head, on the job of evaluating an intelligent, automated software solution for pricing. One that:
- Saves time with improved processes and productivity
- Provides data and intelligence to keep up with the market
- Was easy to use / easy to train the team to use
- Helped maximize revenue/make more money for the business
She studied the options, did her research and due diligence, and picked PriceLabs. PriceLabs ticked all of the boxes they were looking for in a Revenue Management/Dynamic Pricing solution because it;
- Was straightforward and easy to use
- Provided them with all the data that they needed to make informed decisions on pricing
- Allows them to manage all factors that go into the pricing of a short-stay vacation rental, such as discounts, price increases and reductions, local activities and events, and more.
How PriceLabs helps PureStay stay efficient
With PriceLabs, JP and his team have been able to:
- Grouping similar properties in the same block or street and applying pricing rules and customizations to the group, thereby saving valuable time and increasing overall efficiency
- Reduce revenue lost through pricing errors caused by missing local events or other local activities
- Setting minimum stay restrictions and identifying and filling orphan/gap/one-night stay days, thereby reducing revenue lost significantly
- Maximize revenue by controlling price discounts, price reductions, and increases
- Maintain a premium yet competitive brand image through intelligent pricing. With the option of price over-rides PureStay has been able to add a blanket percentage increase on all their prices versus the market, maintaining competitive yet premium prices
- Monitor portfolio performance and study booking patterns to make informed strategic decisions
- Draw comparisons and study the developments in the market pre-and-post Covid with PriceLabs Market Dashboards
What’s next for PureStay
JP, along with his team, aim to grow their short-term rental properties 5x in the coming year. Focused on consistently growing revenue month-on-month to become a global leader in short-stay vacation rentals within 3 years, PureStay has its sights set on having a PureStay Resort and Spa as a part of its offerings.
A data-driven pricing strategy combined with market intelligence and insights is the most important factor contributing to their success and achieving their goals. With PriceLab’s customizable features, data-driven insights, constant updates, and market intelligence coupled with unparalleled customer support, PureStay is confident about their road ahead.
