Stayflexi Launches Empower Tool: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence for Small and Mid-Tier Hotels

Stayflexi Launches Empower Tool: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence for Small and Mid-Tier Hotels

By Nishang Narayan

Published on August 18, 2024

In today's data-driven world, access to market intelligence is crucial for staying ahead, particularly in the competitive hotel industry. For far too long, vital metrics such as city demand trends, price predictions, and market opportunities have been the exclusive domain of top-tier hotel brands like Marriott and Hilton. This disparity has left small and mid-sized hotels at a significant disadvantage—until now.

Enter Stayflexi, a Y Combinator-backed company dedicated to leveling the playing field. In line with its mission to empower independent hotels, Stayflexi has launched the Empower tool, a groundbreaking solution designed to close this critical gap in the market.

The Empower tool is nothing short of a game-changer, offering three intelligent features: City Demand Trends, Price Predictions, and Competitor Analysis. These features work together seamlessly, allowing hotels to dynamically adjust room prices and optimize revenue based on real-time demand fluctuations.

Unpacking the Empower Tool

  • City Demand Trends: This feature provides hoteliers with a comprehensive view of demand patterns in their city. By analyzing data from multiple sources, the Empower tool identifies peak periods, low seasons, and emerging trends. This insight enables hotel operators to plan ahead, capitalizing on high-demand periods and strategizing effectively during slower times.

  • Price Predictions: Leveraging advanced algorithms and historical data, the Empower tool forecasts future room rates with remarkable accuracy. This predictive capability helps hoteliers set competitive yet profitable pricing, avoiding the pitfalls of overpricing or underpricing rooms. By aligning room rates with market demand, hotels can maximize occupancy and revenue.

  • Competitor Analysis: In a competitive industry, understanding the strategies of nearby hotels is crucial. The Empower tool offers in-depth competitor analysis, providing data on pricing, occupancy rates, and promotional activities of rival hotels. This feature enables hoteliers to benchmark their performance and adjust their strategies accordingly, ensuring they remain competitive in their local market.

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Integration with Stayflexi Hubs

The Empower tool seamlessly integrates with Stayflexi's comprehensive platform, divided into four hubs: Operations, Sales, Guest, and Payments. Each hub addresses specific aspects of hotel management, and the addition of the Empower tool enhances the overall value proposition for hoteliers.

  • Operations Hub: Comprising the Property Management System (PMS), Point of Sale (POS), Expenses Manager, and Inventory Manager, this hub automates up to 70 percent of manual tasks. By integrating the Empower tool, the Operations Hub now provides additional data-driven insights that streamline operations further. For instance, predictive data from Empower can inform inventory and staffing decisions, reducing waste and optimizing resources.

  • Sales Hub: This hub includes the Channel Manager (CM), Booking Engine (BE), Revenue Manager (RM), and Direct Billing products. Historically, Stayflexi's Sales Hub has boosted hotel revenues by 35 to 50 percent. With the Empower tool, the Sales Hub's capabilities are amplified. The price predictions and competitor analysis features ensure that hotels can set optimal rates and implement effective sales strategies, driving higher bookings and revenue.

  • Guest Hub: Featuring Magic Link for automated check-ins and check-outs, QR Kiosk, Guest Reviews, and Guest Messaging, the Guest Hub focuses on enhancing the guest experience. Empower's city demand trends can inform guest engagement strategies, such as targeted promotions during high-demand periods or personalized offers during low seasons, thereby improving guest satisfaction and loyalty.

  • Payments Hub: This hub consists of Flex Collect, Flex Pay, Flex Settle, and Flex Protect, automating end-to-end hotel payments and reducing cancellations. By integrating Empower's predictive capabilities, hotels can anticipate revenue streams more accurately, manage cash flow better, and reduce financial uncertainties.

Affordable Innovation for All

One of the standout features of the Empower tool is its affordability. Traditionally, access to such sophisticated market intelligence required substantial financial investment, often running into lakhs of rupees, placing it out of reach for many small and mid-sized hotels. Stayflexi, however, has made the Empower tool accessible to all, offering a powerful solution at a fraction of the cost typically associated with similar tools.

An Exclusive Offer for ET Readers

To celebrate the launch, Stayflexi is offering a free one-month demo of the Empower tool, allowing hoteliers to experience firsthand the transformative impact of advanced market intelligence. This trial period is an excellent opportunity for hotels to explore the tool's features, understand its benefits, and see how it can drive their business forward. Hoteliers interested in this exclusive offer can reach out to Stayflexi at info@stayflexi.com.

In an era where data and intelligence are paramount, Stayflexi's Empower tool stands out as a revolutionary product for small and mid-tier hotels. By providing insights previously only available to top-tier brands, Stayflexi is democratizing access to crucial market intelligence. The integration of the Empower tool with Stayflexi's existing hubs creates a comprehensive, all-in-one platform that addresses every aspect of hotel management. As a result, hoteliers can operate more efficiently, compete more effectively, and ultimately thrive in an increasingly competitive market.


Mews expands Digital Key with Salto integration for seamless guest access

Mews expands Digital Key with Salto integration for seamless guest access

By Nishang Narayan

Published on July 12, 2025

Mews has announced a strategic integration with Salto’s smart locking system, enhancing its Digital Key offering and paving the way for a more seamless, contactless guest experience. Through this partnership, hotels using Salto’s access control can now enable guests to unlock rooms via their mobile devices using the Mews Hospitality Cloud—eliminating the need for physical keys altogether.

This move streamlines the check-in process, reduces manual front desk tasks, and strengthens overall security. Matt Welle, CEO of Mews, said, “Every step of the guest journey should be effortless. With Salto smart access for hospitality compatibility, more properties can reduce the friction around arrival and check-in. Digital Key is a win-win because it’s as much about operational efficiency as it is about improving guest satisfaction.”

Early results from Belgian brand YUST, which operates a hybrid model for short and long stays, show the integration’s impact. At its Antwerp property, 12% of guests checked in using Digital Key in the first month without any promotional push, and 64% of those with an active digital key used it to access their rooms. Dirk Van Gompel, CTO of YUST, shared, “Digital Key makes it easy for guests to go straight to their room, while creating real-time savings for our team, who can then focus on building real human connections.”

Salto’s Nora Urquiza highlighted the value of this collaboration, stating, “Our integration with Mews reinforces our commitment to delivering a seamless, secure, and modern digital experience through strong technology alliances.”

Beyond convenience, the integration also cuts down on environmental waste by removing the need for plastic keycards and supports a fully digital, on-the-go check-in and check-out process. Fully embedded within the Mews Hospitality Cloud, the Digital Key capability allows hotels to customise and automate the guest experience, opening new avenues for upselling and enhanced guest engagement.

Mews has been on a roll with tech enhancements, recently rolling out a Multicurrency feature for customers across Europe.


OYO Joins Hands with Yatra to Strengthen Business Travel Offerings

OYO Joins Hands with Yatra to Strengthen Business Travel Offerings

By Manu Vardhan Kannan

Published on July 12, 2025

Hospitality tech firm OYO has entered a strategic partnership with leading online travel platform Yatra, bringing over 500 company-serviced hotels under mid-premium and premium brands to Yatra’s booking platform for the first time. These hotels will cater specifically to the rising demand in the business travel segment across India.

The hotels listed include OYO’s SUNDAY, Palette, Clubhouse, Townhouse, Townhouse Oak, and Collection O brands. The collaboration covers key business hubs like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad, along with fast-growing industrial and transit corridors.

OYO plans to list 1,000 more company-serviced hotels on Yatra by September 2025, enhancing Yatra’s accommodation offerings in emerging metros, where business travel is expanding due to infrastructure growth and regional economic activity.

India’s business travel sector reached $38.2 billion in 2024, making it the 8th largest market globally and 4th in Asia-Pacific. The OYO-Yatra partnership aligns with this growth by offering curated business accommodation solutions with added benefits such as:

  • Standardized amenities like clean linen, AC rooms, Wi-Fi, and hygienic washrooms
  • Centralized billing and GST-compliant invoicing
  • Flexible cancellation/rescheduling policies
  • Expense tracking and dedicated account managers for corporate bookings

Yatra, with over 800 large corporate clients and 10,000+ SMEs, earns 65% of gross bookings from corporate and B2B travel. This partnership adds substantial value to its users by expanding quality lodging options in previously underserved regions.

Earlier this year, OYO launched Oravel Travel Solutions, a vertical focused on corporate travel, offering end-to-end services like smooth check-ins, meal plans, event support, and custom holiday packages.

Speaking on the development, Varun Jain, COO of OYO, shared:

“While direct demand continues to be our mainstay, contributing nearly 80% of our total business, we are now looking to tap into a niche segment of business travelers who are exploring emerging business hubs. This partnership also opens up opportunities to cater to companies embracing blended travel programs, combining business and leisure.”

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the business travel market is on track to return to pre-2019 levels by 2025, backed by strong corporate earnings and a rise in in-person meetings. This trend suggests a sustained increase in demand for reliable and quality stay options.

With this partnership, OYO and Yatra are set to redefine India’s corporate travel landscape, delivering convenience, flexibility, and consistency for the modern business traveler.


XECH Eyes Pan India Retail Growth, Launches Experience Centres in Ahmedabad & Hyderabad

XECH Eyes Pan India Retail Growth, Launches Experience Centres in Ahmedabad & Hyderabad

By Nishang Narayan

Published on July 3, 2025

XECH is making bold strides in its retail journey with the opening of its latest Experience Centre in Ahmedabad, located at Dhanlaxmi Complex, Ashram Road, Usmanpura. Designed to provide an immersive, hands-on shopping experience, the store caters to walk-in customers, resellers, and corporate buyers alike. This is XECH’s third major retail expansion, following the successful debut of its Hyderabad Experience Centre on 31st May, 2025, at Rudram Towers, PG Road, Secunderabad, and its flagship outlet in Pune which launched on 19th October, 2023.

The Ahmedabad inauguration saw participation from the company’s leadership team and local channel partners, making it a standout moment for tech enthusiasts and the retail community in western India.

Each of XECH’s stores is strategically set in high-growth urban centres, functioning as brand hubs where customers can explore the expanding range of lifestyle tech products, smart gadgets, and premium corporate gifting solutions. With robust expansion plans in place, XECH is targeting a 2X revenue growth this fiscal year, driven by its omni-channel approach, innovative product portfolio, and scalable business model. These Experience Centres are central to XECH’s goal of bridging the digital-physical divide — creating spaces where quality, speed, and tangible engagement meet.

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Speaking on the expansion, Mr. Pranay Punjabi, Founder and CEO of XECH Technologies Pvt. Ltd., shared,

“Each city plays a strategic role in our retail vision. Pune gave us our first physical touchpoint, Hyderabad validated our scale strategy in a dynamic tech market, and Ahmedabad will strengthen our presence in western India — connecting us to customers who value smart, dependable tech. These are more than just stores; they’re brand experience hubs where people can interact with our innovations firsthand. We’re focused on making practical, well-designed technology accessible to those who need it — whether at home, work, or in business.”

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Shoppers visiting these stores can explore XECH’s entire tech ecosystem, including its bestsellers and upcoming launches, all in an interactive setting. From portable kettles and cordless vacuum cleaners to Bluetooth clocks, eye massagers, tyre inflators, and garment steamers, XECH’s range is sharply focused on addressing real-world needs with intuitive, multi-functional, and thoughtful tech — equally suited for individual users and corporate gifting.

To celebrate the Ahmedabad launch, XECH is offering an exclusive 10% in-store discount throughout July, inviting customers to experience their innovations firsthand.

Looking ahead, XECH plans to continue expanding its retail footprint across India in the coming quarters, building more such immersive spaces that blend tactile experiences with the convenience of modern retail.

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