Some distribution channels charge a fee, or sales commission, which is paid by you. This is the distribution channel’s fee for bringing the customer to book through their website and/or for listing your business on their website or advertising your business online.
A distribution commission is generally a percentage calculated based on the total price paid by the consumer. Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia use this model. Alternatively, some channels charge a fixed listing fee or an ‘advertising fee’ based on pushing customers to you at a cost per click. Some do both. Google and Tripadvisor are examples.
Some distributors also charge the customer a fee, for example Airbnb, Homeaway.
Yes, you can embed your Rezobx booking page into your Facebook or other social media page. Contact our Customer Service and they will explain how to do to this.
Yes. These are Online Travel Agents (OTAs) available for you to connect with using Rezobx. These distributors typically process payment and manage the customer on their own website.
Rezobx automatically delivers your rates and availability to OTAs and synchronises OTA bookings back into your booking system.
A distribution channel is a website or a physical centre that sells tourism products, like Expedia, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Airbnb or destination sites like your national or regional tourism website, your local visitor centre, and even your own website.
Allotments are the inventory (rooms, cottages, villas) you have manually allocated to distribution channels, e.g; if you are a 10 room motel, you may choose to manually allocate three rooms to a wholesale distributor, two to your local visitor centre leaving five to book yourself.
The beauty of Rezobx is you can put all 10 rooms live on each distribution channel of your choice. When someone books a room, Rezobx is automatically synchronised and updated in your calendar.
In most cases the responsibility rests with you, the merchant. This is not a legal opinion about for your own business’ sake you should make sure you are clear on this.
If a customer thinks they are paying for a booking online but rather the card is passed on to you to process manually, and their card number is stolen or compromised and used to make purchases by someone else, the following could happen;
The customer will likely contact their bank to notify them that they didn’t make the purchases.
- The bank will ask the customer for a statutory declaration confirming they didn’t use the credit card for the illegal purchases.
- The bank will then find out where the fraud occurred. In most cases they then pursue the merchant (you) first. It’s the operator’s responsibility to prove that they handled the card-transaction properly and that they weren’t responsible for the theft of the card.
- If an operator can’t prove that they used proper precautions then they face legal action from the bank for recovery of the total fraudulent purchases.
When you decide to accept credit cards online you must ensure your online payments are secure. If you use unsecure methods, banks can take away your facility to process any credit cards, offline and online.
Rezobx offers PCI secure online payment through an approved payment gateway.
Yes, your Online Payment Facility can be used for online and offline transactions. Processing offline payments manually via your computer can be less expensive.
Online Payment Facilities have a merchant transaction fee set by the card issuer or bank. Credit card transaction fees apply whether you accept payment by card using EFTPOS or an Online Payment Facility. Online Payment Facilities are typically less expensive than EFTPOS because there is no need to rent a terminal.
The Online Payment Facility simply enables money from your customers booking to be deposited safely and securely, directly into your bank account, which means you receive payment quicker.
With Rezobx’s payment system, customers’ card details are processed instantly through our secure payment gateway, which is the most secure way to process booking payments. Customer’s card details are not captured, stored or passed on.
Rezobx can assist you with establishing your Online Payment Facility.
An Online Payment Facility is not the same as your EFTPOS Merchant Facility, as it specifically manages secure online transactions where the customer is not present. EFTPOS is for offline transactions, in which the customer is physically present and the card is sighted by the merchant.
An Online Payment Facility (OMF) is effectively the same as EFTPOS but is specifically designed for online when the customer is not physically present to swipe their card.
The only charge for bookings made through your website is a success fee for the use of Rezobx’s automated secure booking payment management technology.
There is no refund of distributor fees or commissions through the system. If a consumer cancels their booking, it is up to you to decide on refund rate through your Booking Terms and Conditions.
Most businesses charge a 15-20% cancellation fee or allow/help the consumer to move their booking to a mutually convenient date.
Distributors range of fees vary. Because Rezobx is a low-cost model, many distributors connected to Rezobx offer a much lower cost, many in the range 0% -7.5%.
Distributors charge a fee for displaying and ‘selling’ inventory through their channels. This is an increasingly common practice, as they spend marketing funds on attracting customers. You benefit from bookings directly through Distributors and through the high number of customers who find your website through distributors’ sites
The distributor commission is different to and separate from the fees for use of Rezobx.
Commissions are charged only if and when you receive an online booking through a third-party distribution channel. The only fee payable for all online bookings is the booking fee.
Distribution channels set the commission fee and you then decide whether or not you want to opt into it and at what price. You maintain the power to determine exactly how much commission you pay and to dictate the price point for your product.
Please note that Rezobx users typically achieve around half their bookings through their own website, meaning you are paying super low fees on the majority of bookings.
The Rezobx booking fee only applies when a booking is made, that fee covers:
- Training support and implementation
- Upgrades and maintenance
- Database storage and server hosting
- E-commerce enablement of your website (valued at over AUD2000)
- Automated access to multiple online distribution channels
- Customer service and business support services
In our experience, most Rezobx users see more bookings incoming by allowing customers to securely pay upfront and get immediate confirmation.
With Rezobx, 100% of direct booked funds are paid automatically into your bank account, so you are paid upfront in advance of the stay. The system automatically and seamlessly processes the payment and settlement, meaning you are cash positive from time of booking.
This process is a huge advance on the way things were done in the past when you had to wait weeks after guests’ stayed to get paid.
You are sent a reconciliation statement 10 days prior to any money being direct debited, so the direct debiting of your account will not occur until and unless you are satisfied with the details.
Rezobx’s fully-automated billing process relies on Direct Debit Authority to handle settlement of any distributor commission and booking fees.
Here’s how it works for direct bookings;
1. The full amount of the reservation will be deposited directly into your bank account at the time of the booking.
2. On or around the 5th of each month, we will send you a tax invoice identifying any charges for the preceding month.
3. On or around the 16th of each month, your account will be debited for the amount shown on the tax invoice. Please note: the full amount of the booking has already been deposited into your account from the time of the booking.
Online payment gateways charge what is called a transaction fee. This is not charged by Rezobx.
A transaction fee is a small fee charged by the gateway provider to protect you against card fraud and to securely, automatically, and directly process the customer’s payment into the operator’s bank account. Customers’ credit card details are not captured, stored, held, or passed on. This replaces any costs and time associated with email, fax, and internet transfers for each booking, which cuts down the cost for a single transaction.
An online payment gateway is the technology that processes and securely submits online payments to your nominated bank account. Payment gateways are approved and authorised for operation based on strict security criteria.
Yes, Rezobx creates a mobile friendly micro-site for customers booking through their mobile devices. Rezobx recognises what device the customer is using and automatically presents the best (mobile/tablet or desktop) booking pages to them. Mobile booking pages are specifically tailored for bookings to be made on mobile devices.
Rezobx provides you all of your clients contact details via an instant automated confirmation email. You can contact your client at any point to make special arrangements and personalise their stay.
Rezobx provides the best of both worlds: it allows you to personally contact your customers, and also gives you the greatest opportunity to convert those customers who want to book in the online environment.
Rezobx allows you to take bookings under your own booking terms and conditions. When a customer makes a booking, they must ‘tick’ that they have read and understood your conditions. This gives you a legally enforceable ‘screening’ process in the online environment. It still allows you to talk to your customers based on your requirements/rules in your booking Terms and Conditions of Use. If customers haven’t been honest or break your explicit booking rules, you will have the legal right to cancel their booking on your terms if you choose.
Yes, all customer information in Rezobx is automatically stored on secure servers with continuous backup.
With Rezobx, very little maintenance is required once products have been entered during set up. Rezobx is ‘cloud’ based which automatically updates all online bookings in real time. Rezobx is designed to reduce the time spent running your business while maximizing your marketing and managing multiple distribution channels.
No, Rezobx is designed specifically for small and medium operators and is incredibly intuitive to use. Training is provided free of charge. Rezobx can be easily learnt by even novice computer users. Additionally, Rezobx customer service is available to talk you through any issues you may encounter.
All online bookings are automatically updated into Rezobx so you can receive bookings even when you are unreachable to potential customers. They will be displayed when you are back in range and/or next connect to the network.
Rezobx software is loaded onto your computer and all data is mirrored in the ‘cloud’. This means you can still access all your information, check customers in/out, etc. even if the internet goes down. There is also web access for accommodation.
The system offers an SMS function to notify you of a new booking. Rezobx can also be loaded onto multiple computers at no extra charge, so you can still access bookings and information remotely from a laptop or other device through the web wherever you can get online.
Your website is your most important and potent marketing tool. Rezobx will drive more bookings to your website, as potential customers find you on one of the numerous connected channels. If you don’t have a searchable, bookable website where customers can securely pay and confirm instantly, potential customers are likely to book elsewhere.
Yes. Rezobx has been designed specifically for small to medium tourism-related businesses. Being online maximises your profile, capability and booking ability to deliver a wealth of bookings through the online environment. Rezobx offers you the potential to grow your business, by managing your business and increasing exposure, therefore boosting potential bookings.
Rezobx’s Book Now button allows your customers to book directly and instantly through your website or social media pages. It also allows payment to be processed instantly and securely to your bank account via your Online Payment Facility. After booking, customers receive instant confirmation of their reservation and so do you. The Book Now button can be embedded into your website through Rezobx’s free local customer service team.
If you use an online enquiry ‘webform’, however it will inhibit conversion so you should give consumers the opportunity to book immediately. They will typically choose the instant option rather than an enquiry.
Enquiry forms often involve a 24-48 hour delay for response, resulting in customers pursuing other instant book/pay options.
Unsurprisingly, there is very low booking conversion from enquiry or ‘on request’ forms. If a potential customer is on your site, you want to do everything possible to capture their business and allow them to secure their reservation as quickly and easily as possible.
Online consumers want the option to book instantly. If you don’t offer this convenience, you will lose business.
Yes. Rezobx is designed to manage your entire business. For best results, use Rezobx for online and offline bookings, distribution, and other management operations.
Live inventory is presentation for booking of your products, availability and rates in real time. Rezobx syncs online and offline bookings and in your calendar/diary and updates all your chosen channels.
As a single point of inventory management Rezobx allows you to manage all inventory. This gives you the ability to automate manage your business including tasks such as facilitating reservation management, accessing distribution channels, managing customer information, handling check-in, check-outs, reporting etc.
Yes. It is a user-friendly Property and Booking Management System designed for people with little time and small businesses. Everything from online marketing, to operations and distribution can be managed using Rezobx. Rezobx distributes inventory to external, third-party websites, manages bookings and inventory, processes payment securely, and allows you to manage the day-to-day activities associated with running your business.
Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA) is an alliance between V3, the creators of Rezobx, and ATDW. It combines live booking and payment capability with your ATDW listing, giving customers the ability to search, book, pay and confirm instantly. TXA gives Australian tourism businesses more exposure by making Australian travel products both visible and bookable on a variety of regional websites, State Tourism websites, national and international websites, Visitor Centres, as well as through other distributors. This is an animated demonstration explaining how TXA works: Tourism Exchange Australia
Rezobx has an advanced connection to TXA. This allows websites such as TripAdvisor, your State tourism website, and a variety of additional channels to be bookable, in addition to traditional channels including Wotif, Expedia and visitors’ centres. A ‘book now’ button will be installed on the applicable websites, allowing booking funds to be automatically and directly deposited into the operator’s bank account.