Slimtrader Launches Hotel Rewards Scheme For Its Customers

Slimtrader, a Nigerian-based turnkey e-commerce solution provider for sub-Saharan Africa, has announced the launch of a hotel rewards scheme for users of its e-commerce platform, MoBiashara which currently powers over 1,500 hotels in Africa.

The scheme – Mo’Rewardz Club, allows travelers and hotels to accrue points via any first or third-party sellers that uses the MoBiashara online reservation system.

For every reservation, guests are rewarded with points which can be used towards future reservations, to buy airtime, pay bills and even cashed out while front-desk staff receive loyalty points for creating reservations on the MoBiashara for Hotels admin area and checking in guests with the system when they arrive the hotel’s premises.

“Aggregating Africa’s fragmented network of hotels under one loyalty programme is a big step for the travel market. The launch of this new feature signifies, for us, the maturing of Africa’s hotel and travel sector, as we work more strategically with hotels large and small to deliver choices and incentives for a new class of traveler on the continent, who expects more from their travels,” Founder and CEO of SlimTrader, Femi Akande said in a press release made available to TechLoy.

He added, “We are uniting the Davids and the Goliaths of Africa’s growing hotel market, under one loyalty scheme that is mutually beneficial to both hotels and travelers.”

The scheme, claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, is totally different from traditional loyalty schemes where customers are rewarded for their loyalty to either a hotel chain or a third-party booking platform.

Some of the hotels using MoBishara, which literally means ‘more business’ in Swahili, include Trip Advisor, HotelNowNow, Lagos Oriental Hotel, Protea Hotels and Maison Fahrenheit Hotels.

SlimTrader recently raised US$1million from Interswitch’s US$10 million Growth Fund in a series A funding round, which it plans on using to expand its operations and reach into the hospitality sector through MoBiashara.

Through MoBiashara, 2009-founded and Seattle-headquartered SlimTrader has provided everything businesses need to set-up and sell their products and services directly to consumers across the world or via distribution channels.