Custom Software and Database Help Redesign a Vacation Rental Platform
Finding Meili is a digital platform where guests and hosts can meet to provide and receive room and board accommodations. Theirs is a subscription-based curated platform where users can discover professionally managed destinations and vacation rentals, such as resort residences.
Finding Meili had been operating with a semi-professional website that they weren't necessarily proud to show-off or grow with. With more than a handful of complaints from users and backend administrators about security, trustworthiness, accessibility and web responsiveness, the owner knew it was time to shift priorities to the website. The needs were clear
After a year of investigating other web design and software development companies, the owner landed on a team she could trust. The time and effort invested into this process provided her the opportunity to learn and hone down on her project requirements. The mounting complaints from users and the technology buffer limiting her own personal management style was crippling any advancement.
Built software:
The need for building a custom rental management software guided the majority of the project. The main goal was to simplify management and guest operations while maintaining the ability to scale up―manage more rental properties and users with little extra effort.
The backend management of rental units was improved to easily create, update, and manage rental units for the administrator of the platform. A new user interface development and design minimizes the effort required to maintain new rental sign ups and answer rental owner requests.
Built messaging system:
The communication between renters and owners adds to the platform’s ease of use for everyone. A custom messaging system allows renters and owners to communicate about availability, booking requirements and emergency notifications and reminders. Everything that’s necessary and nothing that’s not.
Integrated with Stripe subscription method:
Recognizing the critical phase of payment gateway development, our team chose to integrate with Stripe for its subscription management capabilities. Stripe's robust API allows us to implement an elegant and secure solution that streamlined the subscription process. This decision supports the automatic recurring payments with a trustworthy and hassle-free experience.
The result of this integration was twofold: enhancing user satisfaction due to the simplicity and reliability of transactions, and improved operational efficiency on the platform. Subscribers can easily manage their plans - upgrading, downgrading or canceling. with just a few clicks inside their accounts.
Custom products within stripe:
The rental payment solution created through Stripe's flexible API, simplifies payment processing for rental units. Designed to handle the nuances and changes of recurring subscriptions and altering charges. This integrates seamlessly with the rental payment philosophy, providing all users with an automated, transparent billing process.
Custom database and fully designed / implemented frontend:
Built Custom Database and Fully Designed / Implemented Frontend: To optimize the management of user data and rental property listings, we engineered a custom database tailored to the needs of our platform. Alongside the backend development, we modernized the frontend design with an emphasis on usability.
Here's the key to simplifying web navigation to accelerate user actions for a better overall experience - a dual approach between data and desired action. This approach ensured seamless interactions between the data infrastructure and the interface functionality, providing both administrators and users simple but powerful tools for managing transactions effectively within the website.
CRON events scheduled for emails:
CRON jobs are scheduled tasks that are set to automatically execute actions at designated times. These jobs facilitate regular functions like sending emails after user actions such as bookings or updates, enhancing efficiency and ensuring consistent operations without the need for constant oversight. Based on the CRON details, this dictates each email response.
The new platform elevates user engagement by leveraging CRON events to produce automated emails that align with rental bookings, financial transactions, and unique account notifications. This precision in timing cultivates consistent, context-aware messaging at every pivotal stage of the customer's journey.
For Finding Meili, we streamlined the administration of rental units, enhanced communication channels between buyers and renters, and reduced payment fees across the board. We’ve also developed curated lists of vacation rentals to improve the buyer experience. Additionally, we've implemented an efficient system for collecting subscription payments, further optimizing the administrative aspect of property management.