News from the Wire

Best Western selects BirchStreet Procure-to-Order platform

Monday, November 14, 2016 — 12:01:19 (EST)

Phoenix, Nov. 14, 2016 -- Best Western® Hotels & Resorts and BirchStreet Systems today announced the selection of BirchStreet’s Procure-to-Order platform to modernize the procurement process at Best Western’s 2,100 hotels in North America. The BirchStreet technology platform will enable hotel owners to access an online Best Western marketplace to easily shop for Best Western’s approved and branded suppliers, compare prices, establish order guides and process requests on one system.

“Best Western is thrilled to partner with BirchStreet Systems to advance our procurement process,” said Ron Pohl, Senior Vice President of Brand Management for Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “We continue to look for new ways to enhance support for our members, and I’m confident this platform’s simplified and streamlined approach will be of great value.”

Pohl announced the BirchStreet technology partnership before thousands of Best Western hotel owners at the brand’s recent North American Convention and Global Conference. In his remarks, Pohl pointed out that BirchStreet’s integrated cloud-based Procure-to-Order platform will allow Best Western to quickly onboard all of its member hotels into a single marketplace that is flexible and easy-to-use for purchasing the things Best Western owners need to run their hotels. Users will be able to find the lowest contracted pricing, eliminate manual errors and access transactional reporting for business intelligence to drive savings, reduce time spent on all purchasing activities and optimize early payment discounts. The platform is scheduled to launch spring 2017.

“As the leader in cloud-based Procure-to-Pay technology for the hospitality industry, BirchStreet is delighted to welcome Best Western as our customer and partner. At launch, every Best Western in North America will have easy access to their suppliers in a centralized, cloud-based purchasing environment which will greatly improve efficiency and profitability at the hotels,” said Sushil Garg, CEO of BirchStreet.

From its inception, BirchStreet’s solutions have been developed for, and in collaboration with, its large hotel brand and hotel management company customers. As a result of the deep functionality that has come out of BirchStreet’s focused approach to addressing the technology needs of the hospitality vertical, nearly all of the largest hospitality companies worldwide have chosen to standardize on the BirchStreet Platform.

About Best Western® Hotels & Resorts Best Western® Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is a privately held hotel brand with a global network of 4,100* hotels in more than 100* countries and territories worldwide. Best Western offers seven hotel brands to suit the needs of developers and guests in every market: Best Western®, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Premier®, Executive Residency by Best Western℠, Vīb®, BW Premier Collection® and GLō℠. Now celebrating 70 years of hospitality, Best Western provides its hoteliers with global operational, sales and marketing support, and online and mobile booking capabilities. More than 26 million travelers are members of the brand’s award-winning loyalty program Best Western Rewards®, one of the few programs in which members earn points that never expire and can be redeemed at any Best Western hotel worldwide. The brand’s partnerships with AAA/CAA, Minor League Baseball, and Harley-Davidson® provide travelers with exciting ways to interact with the brand. Best Western continues to set industry records regarding awards and accolades, including Business Travel News naming Best Western as the best midscale hotel brand in 2014 and Best Western Plus as the best upper mid-price hotel brand in 2014 and 2015, four consecutive Compuware Best of the Web gold awards for best hotel website, and seven consecutive AAA/CAA Hotel Partner of the Year awards. Nearly sixty percent of Best Western branded hotels earned a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award in 2016.

*Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.

About BirchStreet Systems, Inc. BirchStreet Systems, Inc. provides global enterprises with a complete procure-to-pay business solution deploying a SaaS model using cloud technology. BirchStreet software focuses on improving business processes by automating eProcurement, AP Automation, Inventory Control, Recipe Management System, Capital Projects and Executive Dashboard modules. Thousands of businesses in over 100 countries currently subscribe to BirchStreet to connect and do business with a network of more than 400,000 suppliers. Established in 2002, BirchStreet is privately held and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California with offices in Denver, China, Singapore and India. For more information, please visit www.birchstreet.net .

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Source: Company press release.