AvantStay Simplifies Hospitality Operations by Automating Procurement
How AvantStay enhanced vendor relationships and reduced time spent on manual administrative tasks with Order.co
AvantStay at a Glance
Monthly orders managed in 1 place
Of direct procurement spend centralized
Saved on products
Order compliance via approvals
Meeting the procurement demands of a vacation rental business
Jack Langenhorst joined AvantStay in March 2022 as their Senior Manager of Onboarding & Supply Chain with over 12 years of experience managing financial and supply chain operations under his belt. In his role, Jack oversees AvantStay’s end-to-end procurement process for a range of essential items that homeowners and their guests need, including linens, consumable goods, furniture, and technology. Jack and his team also manage the entire onboarding process from when a new homeowner signs with AvantStay to when their property is live on their site and online travel agency (OTA) platforms.
From vendor relationships to procurement processes to storage optimization, Jack manages a range of critical tasks to ensure that homeowners have the right items in the right places at the right time to maintain a seamless guest experience. Before implementing Order.co, “We handled each vendor order manually, one at a time, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive.” Jack described.
The Procurement Strategy Playbook for Modern Businesses
How Order.co streamlines AvantStay’s S2P processes
Jack shared that AvantStay has transferred 99% of their direct procurement spend to Order.co. With the vast majority of their purchasing activities now centralized in one platform, they can better understand where cash flow is going. “What stood out initially was the robust reporting capabilities,” Jack shared. “It’s really easy to review our overall spend, and then we can filter and drill down to different segments that we need to, whether that's by market, by product category, or by vendor.”
With an upgraded procurement tool at his disposal, Jack transformed AvantStay’s vendor relationship management. “We are building trust with vendors by ensuring timely, consistent transactions,” Jack explained. When AvantStay places an order, Order.co immediately pays the associated vendors on their behalf. This ensures that AvantStay never has overdue payments with suppliers, helping to build strong relationships and avoid late fees. “This enables the [AvantStay] team to redirect their focus towards strategic planning, cost management, and spending more time on value-added services instead of placing orders.”
Vendor Risk Management Checklist
AvantStay also keeps all of their supplies organized with product lists. Product lists allow their team to build lists of frequently ordered goods across their various vacation rental properties, enabling quick and simple reordering. Jack and his team leverage this feature to ensure that the items in every home are consistent with their atmosphere, offering tailored experiences that guests love.
Jack explained, “We have specific product lists that might be a higher tier worth of product that we only use for some of our estates or our very premium assets, rather than the standard products that we use in other homes. So, we spend less time searching for those items. When it's recurring month over month and week over week, you're saving a lot of time.” This feature helps hospitality teams drive consistent, high-quality guest experiences across all locations with just a few clicks.
Another time-saving feature that Jack and his team enjoy is Order.co’s integration with NetSuite. All of AvantStay’s invoices automatically post to their accounting software with instant, line-level reconciliation into the right expense categories, classes, and locations. “That just flows directly into NetSuite,” Jack said.
How procurement automation enhances hospitality operations
Ensures consistent stock levels through strategic sourcing
Since the beginning of AvantStay’s partnership with Order.co, the platform has helped save time and money through dedicated order support and strategic sourcing. AvantStay now has what it needs to keep operations running smoothly across all 2,300+ of their vacation rental properties – particularly during peak seasons when vendors’ stocks are low.
Gaining proactive order support also empowers AvantStay to address any stock concerns before they can negatively impact homeowners and their guests. “With peak season, there might be low inventory with our standard vendors, and Order.co might have different suggestions elsewhere,” Jack explained. “It's really like having that team and those resources of people that help do some of the dirty work for us.” With Order.co’s 15,000+ vendor network, AvantStay can select relevant substitutions of the same or higher quality when items are out of stock to ensure they never run out of essential products.
Jack also shared, “Sourcing replacements and substitutions saves the company time and money.” Order.co’s AI-powered sourcing technology identifies the best prices on frequently purchased products, cutting costs by an average of 5%. This functionality has helped AvantStay save over $190k to date, giving them the financial flexibility they need to continuously enhance the owner and guest experience.
Simplifies new employee onboarding processes
Additionally, Order.co simplifies the onboarding process for new AvantStay employees. “I appreciate Order.co's simplicity and the user-friendly design,” Jack highlighted. “It’s much easier to learn and train on compared to other tools I've used. That makes it easier to get new members up to speed faster, makes the onboarding and training smoother, and more efficient so they can start providing value quicker.”
“[Order.co’s] efficiency and scalability align well with our growth plans, helping us to maintain momentum as we expand into new areas while keeping operations streamlined and effective. It's able to help us grow and spend less time on admin tasks,” Jack shared.