The GSO is often asked, "I know there is Amazon business in my market. What do I do next?” We are here to help, but there is some information that is needed to do so. Before contacting the GSO, please research and find out the following information:
a. Is your Amazon market a High-volume market (1000-2000 RNs annually)?
b. What kind of center is it? Is it existing, new or still being built? How far are you from the center?
c. Have you already made contact locally?
Once you have this information you can reach out to the GSO Account Director as listed on the GSO Account List - All Regions.
Amazon new build centers are often sourced locally and/or go through a third-party construction company unaffiliated with Amazon. Hotels near the new build center are usually the best source for identifying and developing these opportunities, as they are often contacted directly by the construction company. Other significant hotel spends associated with Amazon-related construction comes from the transport of materials (i.e., trucking), which is sourced by CLC and managed by the CLC team. The Amazon Travel Department does not provide us with this information as it is sourced outside of their purview.
Amazon travel and their third-party sourcing partner (i.e., HelmsBriscoe) typically get involved at the later stages of the build for training, leadership meetings, etc. Once a new build center is identified, the GSO works with and advises the hotel in market on the process and how best to pursue associated travel spend. Given how this is sourced (construction companies not managed by the GSO, established third-party such as CLC, or hotel direct), the hotel’s involvement in identifying the construction company is critical.
Hotel spend related to Distribution Facilities vs. Fulfillment Facilities, is not black and white. There are actually 22 different site types that fall under the Amazon network. Each of these 22 sites have a specific role in the delivery process depending on what is packed or delivered at that site. Amazon keeps a lot of information private, so we rely on our global partnership with Amazon as well as the local partnership you establish to work together to secure business. Some helpful information obtained is provided here. Under the “getting packages to customers” sections, it gives an example of the most common sites in the network.
-AR Sortable (Amazon Robotics Sort Center), are the largest of Amazon’s network and most likely to drive the highest hotel spend/nights. This is due to headcount volume and the maintenance required by the robotics. Amazon often has teams at these locations and some on projects that call for extended stays.
-Traditional Sort Centers have a high headcount, but as they are traditional pick and pack centers, they typically don’t have much tech-related needs resulting in only an average need for travel.
The Amazon stations that drive a very low travel spend are more of the specialized centers and delivery stations. Amazon typically has multiple delivery stations in a city and these locations usually have a low headcount. Most of the time there is little to no travel associated with delivery stations.
As a rule of thumb, first and middle mile centers are going to drive most of the travel in ops while last mile centers will drive the least. Even with that it depends on what kind of site is being built in that specific area. Once the hotel identifies which type of site is being built nearby, you’ll have a better idea of the potential volume.
- “How do I get into Amazon’s Hotel Program/RFP?”
Submit a business case! The GSO team takes submitted business cases and develops a presentation for Amazon to raise awareness of Wyndham hotels, communicate their proximity to the Amazon sites and convey the hotels’ desire to work with them in the future.
Business Cases:
Business cases should be targeted, strategic and specific to Amazon in that market. Hotels need to do some due diligence to gain local intel in their own market. General descriptions from the hotel website alone are not useful to the GSO for advocating for the hotel and they are not useful to the account travel manager in considering the hotel.
To effectively advocate for the hotel the GSO needs insight that would distinguish your hotel from the comp set as it relates to proximity to the new site, features & benefits compared to the comp set and any insight as to why your hotel would be a more favorable option to the comp set.
To develop a business case with information specific to Amazon’s requirements and the questions they will ask, the primary factors that Amazon evaluates in considering whether to solicit a hotel for their RFP are:
- Enough volume/demand in the market to add another hotel (Amazon typically requires a market to have approximately 1500+ TRANSIENT room nights projected annually, otherwise they consider it a secondary market)
- Tracked production from their travelers (minimum of 150 room nights is typically required).
- The features and benefits of your hotel are more favorable for their travelers than their existing preferred hotels in the market
- That your proximity to their local site is closer than their existing hotels in market
- That your hotel has developed relationships with Amazon locally
An email with bullet points will suffice. Please address the above requirements and include the following information:
- How many Amazon room nights are in the market? (For access to H360 data contact your Operations Representative)
- How many room nights the hotel has tracked YTD? (Please include room nights from the construction crews and training, but do label them accordingly if they’re not Amazon employees)
- Your proximity to the account’s local office. Even if you are within walking distance, you need to explain if your hotel is the closest.
- Your features & benefits compared to comp set. (i.e., Why is your hotel a better option?)
Amazon re-evaluates their demand/projections every quarter and adds hotels as needed. In the interim, being loaded on their online booking tool/GDS with our chainwide discount provides the hotel with the same exposure/access to their travelers as being accepted into their program with a static rate.