The process of developing an app has changed a lot in the last few years. Today, there is an app to address almost all of our needs. For instance, on-demand apps can now order food for us, book our cabs, buy us flight tickets and do so much more.

We can also complete our shopping needs on online platforms. Further, with hotel booking app development, we can book rooms, compare the tariff rates, and carry out more such functions. With a global pandemic in full swing right now, we have even begun to feel the need for an app to purchase our daily groceries.

Considering the number of features that mobile apps come with today, it is no surprise that they have become a tech industry staple. As we have seen, one of the industries that depend a lot on mobile apps is the hospitality industry.

A good example of such a mobile app-based hospitality innovation is OYO. OYO is an app that allows users to book hotel rooms easily. As its popularity grows, more tech giants have started to invest in this idea. So, in this article, we will discuss how to create an app like OYO.

What Is The OYO Business Model?

The initial stages of the OYO model were quite similar to how Ola and Uber work. Using the OYO app, users could book a room with any one of their collaborating hotels.

Since OYO could guarantee a bulk of hotel bookings a year, they would be given a significant amount of discount. So when customers book a room through the OYO app, they would also get a room for a discounted rate. The hotels, on the other hand, would have a guaranteed amount of cash flow for a whole year.

As this hotel booking app development model grew, OYO began to change its reselling business model. Today, OYO actually runs fully franchised hotels rather than just lease a few rooms from hotels around the world.

Why Should You Build A Hotel App Like OYO?

There are many reasons to emulate the business model that OYO operates on. But the most important one of them all is that it is highly successful.

Ever since the OYO business model took off in India, it has been able to expand into many other countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, the USA, and others. Today, the company is worth $10 billion. By 2022, the online hotel booking market is expected to exceed $174 billion.

When these factors are taken into consideration, it becomes clear that the OYO business model has a lot of potentials. So, if you are a startup company looking for an in into the hospitality industry, the OYO clone app development is a great starting point.

The Key Steps In Building A Hotel Booking App Like OYO

1. Come Up With An Idea

Having a good idea is the best way to start a project. This idea will be the backbone that makes your app a success. For OYO, the starting point was identifying the needs of users, that is, affordable hotel lodging.

Having recognized that, they came up with a strategy that allowed them to profit off of this need. Similarly, for your own OYO clone app development, you will need to come with an idea that lets you make a profit out of the current market needs.

2. Planning

Next, you need to plan the development process for the hotel booking app. Forming such a plan will help the app development team decide on how to proceed with the project.

This planning phase forms a crucial stage for an app development company because this is where they form a budget and vote on other important factors. This will also make sure that the project is launched on time to take advantage of the market trends before it is too late.

3. Analyzing The Market

Now, your company has come up with an idea and a plan to carry out the development process. For the next stage, your company must assess the target audience whom you think will use the hotel booking app.

Here, you will need to conduct a thorough study of the exact needs of the audience by asking them direct questions. A field survey can help your company gather a lot of information for this stage in your OYO app development process.

Once the customers have provided the necessary information, the project manager and the app development team will study the information to decide what features must be added to the app.

4. Designing The App

The fourth step in developing a hotel booking app is to design its features. In this phase, certain aspects of the app like the control process, interface, data structure, workload, limitation of the system, backup systems, and so on, can be designed. These features can be easily plotted with the help of a design flow chart, diagram, decision tree, or other such figures.

5. Development

In this phase of the development process, the project has received the go-ahead to be transformed into an app. Here, a programmer and a database developer or a network engineer will be assigned to the project.

They will now carry out a major part of the project – developing the app. Here the developers must consider a few things about which platform the app needs to be released on. There are usually three options for a mobile app:

• Android Platform

Android is mobile operating system software that is used by many smartphones, televisions, tablets, and other devices. This software is open-source and available freely on the internet.

There are millions of users who use this software on their devices. To reach these users, developers must upload the finished app codes on Google Play Store.

• Apple Users

Apple is the biggest rival to Android devices today. Apple has a variety of software like iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and others that they use for their numerous devices.

An ios app developer can get this software on their developer center. After the app is created, they can make it available on the Apple Store.

• Cross-Platform Development

Today, developers and OYO app development companies do not need to choose between Android and Apple platforms. With cross-platform app development processes, they can simply write codes for both platforms at the same time.

Read More:- What to choose for cross-platform app development? React Native Vs Xamarin

Cross platform app development frameworks like Flutter, React Native and others allow developers to reuse the code for another platform. All they have to do is make minor changes to suit a different platform.

6. MVP Development

In most development projects, there is a need for developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The MVP for an OYO app will allow developers to know if the app can satisfy the needs of the customer base.

If it can, then they can expand on the project to add more features to it. This way, the mobile app development company can save some time, money, and energy on the project if it does not turn out to be a success.

7. Testing

The testing starts as soon as the app codes have been written and compiled. The app codes now need to be checked to see if it has any bugs or security issues.

The developers will check to see if the codes are working as they are supposed to. If they are not, then they can go back and make the required changes.

One major problem that can often occur is the delay in opening the app as more users start using it. When this happens, developers will make the needed changes in the app codes to reduce the lag in the app. Finally, quality assurance testers will make sure that the app is running smoothly.

8. Deploying The App

In this step, the app is now ready to go live. After having undergone weeks of development and fine-tuning, the app can now be released into the market for the use of the public. The feedback collected from the various app stores will help a mobile app development company decide about future projects.

9. Customer Support

In the final phase, the mobile application development company can provide support and maintenance help to their clients. This includes resolving any problems that occur in the app, fixing bugs, and other services.

10. Cloud Services

A lot of mobile app development companies today use cloud functions to provide their services and products. There are four types of cloud services that a company can make their app into the following:

• Platform As A Service (PaaS)

Platform as a service offers a system where a mobile application development company can create an app without having to worry about creating upgrades for native software.

• Serverless Computing

This is an activity that focuses on making applications available without investing too much in infrastructure.

• Software As A Service (SaaS)

SaaS allows developers and companies to make their software available to users over the internet, on the basis of a subscription.

Some Key Features On the App

1. Payment Gateways

The hotel booking app must have a secure payment gateway. This will make it easier for customers to book a hotel room and pay for it then and there. This gateway must be secure so that customer data is not leaked.

2. Customer Support

The app can have a chatbot enabled that can answer the doubts of the users. If there is a major problem, then the chatbot can connect the user to a customer technician.

3. Administrative Features

There should be admin login and a user login on the app. With the admin login, the app should allow admins to manage hotel accounts, user accounts, payment details, and other sensitive data.

4. Hotel Owners’ Account

The app should have a different login for the hotel owners. Here, they should be able to see how many bookings have been made to their hotel, update their information on the app, and other such functions.

5. User Accounts  

This login access will be for the target audience. Here, the users will be able to log in, see the available bookings, make the booking, pay for the room, and carry out other such functions.

6. Online Registration

For new users or hotel owners, there should be an online registration page. This page will allow them to sign up for the service, either for free or with a paid subscription.

7. Track Booking Availability

As part of an undertaking by an on demand app development company, the app should allow the users to track the currently available bookings. This will help them plan their travel and lodging requirements accordingly.

8. Booking Details

The hotel app should show the previous booking details on the user account. This will help users track down the hotels they stayed at if there are any issues.

9. GPS Tracking

An on demand app development company can enable GPS tracking on their app. This way, they can suggest nearby bookings to their users for immediate lodging needs.

10. Web Check-In And Check-Out

The app can also provide an option that lets users check-in or check out from a hotel they are staying in. This reduces the time needed to settle the bills and user IDs at the hotel reception and then check out or check-in.

11. Cancellations

There should be an in-app provision for canceling bookings. The company can hire dedicated developers to create a good cancellation policy for the app.

Conclusion

In these steps, your company can hire dedicated developers to create an app just like the OYO hotel booking app. On the app, apart from the bookings, you can also include advertisements to generate good revenue.

You can also consider charging a fee for a premium membership and give some added benefits for users who choose this option. Other than that, you can offer deals and offers to bring more users to the app. This way, you can turn your hotel booking app into a great success, just like the OYO app.