Back ground – overview

ESEN Brands, an established company in Kenya specializing in fast-moving consumer goods, is expanding its scope into the hospitality industry. Our primary aim is to offer a diverse range of tailored solutions to meet customer needs, leveraging an intuitive and user-friendly online platform.Building on a solid foundation in consumer goods, ESEN is venturing into the hospitality sector, emphasizing accessibility and personalized service. Our focus lies in developing an online platform that simplifies the customer experience, enabling easy access to a variety of hospitality services.

Project objective

The main objective is to develop a user-friendly, interactive website that serves as a comprehensive platform for individuals seeking various lodging and accommodation options. The site should offer easy navigation, detailed property information, secure booking features, and a personalized experience aligning with ESEN Brands’ customer-centric approach. The platform aims to provide users with an intuitive interface to search, compare, and book various accommodations available in the region.

Key Deliverables:

Website Development:

• User-friendly interface for easy navigation and search functionality.
• Registration and login options for both accommodation providers and users seeking lodging.
• A comprehensive listing database for hotels, lodgings, and Airbnbs, including detailed profiles for each listing.
• Review and rating system for users.
• Mobile responsiveness and compatibility across different browsers.
• Self-listing functionality where clients can update their business details and upload location, photos, contacts. – to be approved by the back-office team.
• Integration with mapping services to show the locations of accommodations.
• Functionality to boost listings upon payment of a specified fee.
• Implement targeted advertising and remarketing functionalities, utilizing cookies and tracking mechanisms, to display relevant ads on Facebook and Instagram based on user interactions on the website.

Content Management System (CMS):

• Support the ability to schedule content for future publication, enabling strategic planning and a consistent release of information.
• Offer intuitive tools for users to create, edit, and organize diverse content types such as text, images, and videos within a user-friendly editing environment.
• Provide different user roles and access levels within the CMS for multiple users to collaborate on content without compromising website security.
• provide integrations and plugins for e-commerce functionalities to manage products, orders, and payments seamlessly.
• Integrate with analytics tools to enable the tracking of website traffic, user behavior, and other relevant metrics for data-driven decision-making.

Website Security:

• Set up regular data backups and a well-defined recovery plan to ensure data can be restored in case of data loss or security incidents.
• Implement strong authentication methods to verify users’ identities and control access to sensitive areas of the website.
• Develop safeguards against common threats like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and other injection-based attacks.
• Establish strict controls over access to sensitive data and functionalities, assigning privileges according to roles and ensuring that access is granted on a need-to-know basis.

Website testing and documentation:

• Conduct thorough testing to ensure the website’s functionality, security, and performance, resolving any bugs or issues before the site’s launch.
• Verify website performance across multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) for consistent functionality and appearance.
• Confirm the website’s responsiveness by testing and adapting the layout to various screen sizes and orientations.
• Provide comprehensive technical documentation detailing the website’s architecture, structure, database schema, and technology stack used.
• Compile detailed reports outlining the results of various testing phases, highlighting issues, resolutions, and improvements made throughout the testing process.

Timeline  

The website project is expected to be completed within 6 months after contracting with regular progress updates every month to ensure the project stays on track. Expected timeliness will be discussed at the inception stage.

Requirements

The prospective website developer should have the following:

• Demonstrable experience in developing similar listing or booking websites. A portfolio will be required for review.
• Proficiency in web development languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) and platforms.
• Strong understanding of UI/UX principles.
• Ability to integrate payment gateways and ensure secure transactions.
• Good communication skills and a collaborative approach.
• Degree not necessary, ESEN is interested in the skill that you possess rather than academic qualifications