Competitive Market Position Constraints

1. Click , then External Data, and then Rate Shopping.

2. Click the Competitor Settings tab.

3. Click the Enable Competitive Market Position Constraints link. The Competitive Market Position Constraints window opens.

Note: If you use both Standard and Occupancy-Based Constraints, G3 RMS first looks for Occupancy-Based, then for Standard constraints. For both types, it first looks for a season, then the default.

1. Click the Standard tab.

2. Next to Default, click to add a constraint.

3. Select a Room Class. The list includes all mapped Room Classes but not Unassigned ones.

4. Select a constraint for each day of the week. For details, view their definitions.

5. Click to save the constraint. If needed, add constraints for other Room Classes.
   Note: G3 RMS warns you if not enough competitors are configured to apply this constraint, see Ignore Constraints.

6. If needed, click next to Seasons to add constraints that differ from the default setup for a specific period.

7. Review and, if needed, edit or delete your constraints. Add optional Occupancy-Based constraints, or if you're done, click x to close the window.

Use this type when you want to constrain pricing at or below a number of competitors and vary that constraint based on the amount of On-Books. Review a scenario or see an example.

1. Click the Occupancy-Based tab.

2. Next to Default or Seasons, click to add a constraint.
   Note: you can set up only a seasonal constraint, leaving the default empty, or a default with or without seasonal exceptions.
   

3. Select a Room Class.

4. Select the Thresholds for each day of the week:

   1. Maximum On Books %: enter a percentage up to which G3 RMS applies the pricing rule defined in the next row.
      Note: The On Books values applies to the Effective Capacity The hotel's physical capacity minus the out of order rooms. at the property, not the Room Class level.
      

   2. Maximum Market Percentile: enter a number for the percentile of competitor prices that you want the system to price below. For example, for a certain day your competitors' prices are 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200. If you enter 25 as Maximum Market Percentile, the system tries to price at or below 125. With 0 as the percentile, at or below 100. Percentile 100 means no price constraint.

5. Click to save the constraint. If needed, add other constraints. For example, adding one for 20% and one for 40% means G3 RMS applies the first constraint up to 20% On Books and the second one between 20% and 40% On Books.
   Note: G3 RMS warns you if not enough competitors are configured to apply this constraint, see Ignore Constraints for details and all conditions that keep the system from applying a constraint.

6. If you set up a Default and have seasonal exceptions, click next to Seasons to add constraints that differ from the default.

7. Review and, if needed, edit or delete your constraints. Once you're done, click x to close the window.

1. After you close the constraints window, you see a new Use in Competitive Market Position Constraints column with all competitors selected. Clear the checkbox for competitors you don't want the system to use. This selection might differ from the one for Use Rate Shopping Data. For example, you want G3 RMS to use a competitor's data to influence the demand forecast, but you don't want their aggressive pricing to impact your pricing in the Above All Competitors constraint. In that case, clear that competitor for Use in Competitive Market Position Constraints.

2. Click Save.

The Mid Range constraint and your pricing setup limit the prices available to G3 RMS to the ones between the two dotted red lines. The optimal price would be higher.

The Maximum Market Percentile is set at 50, so to the lower half of competitors. The constraint (the two dotted red lines) and your configured price range limit the prices available to G3 RMS to the ones in the green area, between 110 and 125. The optimal price would be higher.

After a renovation, your property wants to reposition itself after a renovation and change from a pricing position in the middle of the competitive pricing set to a position near the top. You can quickly change your pricing, but the buying behavior of your guests likely doesn't change quickly. G3 RMS might continue to price in the middle of the market until it sees the change in demand and price sensitivity.

If you don't want to wait for a gradual pricing change, or you think that you can predict the price sensitivity of the market, use a High Range constraint to ensure the higher pricing position until G3 RMS adjusts. We recommend that you monitor the demand forecast and the pricing decisions closely.

For example, your full service hotel is surrounded by limited service hotels. Without a constraint, G3 RMS might propose lower prices that impact your long-term position and brand. Thus, you use a constraint to ensure your property's market position at the top.

If your property uses a Limited Data Build because it opened or changed flags, you might know little about your competitors' pricing. You can use a constraint like High Range until you know more.

Some properties want to build a base occupancy before they focus on maximizing room revenues. For example because they get a large share of their revenues from ancillary sources like casinos. Or because those properties have much larger inventory than their competitors. In that case, use an Occupancy-Based constraint to keep pricing below a number of competitors until you reach a certain occupancy On Books.