Shopee makes leap into hotel scene with Agoda and Booking.com tie-up

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Shopee is moving into the hospitality scene by partnering with global digital platforms Agoda and Booking.com to launch Shopee Hotel. This exclusive partnership will allow Shopee users to access the travel platforms' inventories of hotels, resorts, homes and apartments through the app. Shopee Hotel will be rolled out across seven Southeast Asian markets - Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The launch of Shopee Hotel is timely, the eCommerce marketplace said, as it will be able to meet the needs of consumers since more of them are planning holidays amidst the gradual reopening of domestic and international travel in the region. Shopee's latest hotel offering is also a unique one for an eCommerce marketplace and comes as players in the eCommerce scene expand into other areas such as food vouchers and groceries.

According to Shopee, Agoda's search data revealed that, collectively, searched for domestic stays in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines have increased by over 57%, compared to May this year. At the same time, the platform also saw a 37% increase in Southeast Asian users searching for international destinations.

To hype up Shopee's 11.11 campaign, Shopee Hotel aims to provide users with greater savings and exclusive travel deals, while also increasing the reach and visibility of hotel partners to boost domestic and international tourism. Shopee Hotel will also facilitate the planning of travel itineraries within the app. As users browse for accommodations, they will be able to discover top landmarks near their chosen hotels, which will help them to explore local enclaves, neighbourhoods and attractions. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Shopee for comment.

Terence Pang, COO at Shopee, said that it is pleased to partner with Agoda and Booking.com to launch Shopee Hotel, which serves to provide its users with easy access to a wider variety of travel products and experiences. "We also look forward to supporting the recovery of local travel and related tourism industries by promoting fun staycation ideas together with hotel partners," he added.

Agoda's chief commercial officer, Damien Pfirsch, said that its partnership with Shopee will conveniently bring its deals and offerings to Shopee Hotel customers, on a platform they are familiar with. “At the same time, we can better support our hotel partners and tourism operators by connecting them to the biggest online community of shoppers in Southeast Asia. Such partnerships will help accelerate the recovery of the domestic and global travel and tourism industry in the long term," he added.

Separately, Shopee launched the Shopee Mall Brand Memberships in July this year, a new customer management and retention tool that enables brands on Shopee Mall to build deeper connections with potential and existing customers. Currently available across seven markets in Southeast Asia, The Shopee Mall Brand Memberships works much like loyalty programmes to drive more conversion and repeat purchases for brands on the Shopee platform.

Brands can customise their own membership programme for shoppers, including the welcome gift, number of membership tiers and brand loyalty points awarded to members for every purchase. Members can accumulate and redeem these loyalty points for exclusive benefits such as upsized vouchers and gifts with purchases.

Shopee Mall Brand Memberships vouchers can also be stacked with other Shopee vouchers. It also allows brands to identify and manage different customer segments through data analysis of customers’ profile, purchasing habits and preferences.

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