Challenge

TsugiTsugi is a fixed-price service that allows customers to stay at any location at any time. Customers can choose from over 130 accommodation facilities across Japan. Customers can use the service to fit their needs—from weekend getaways with their family to grabbing a room near the office when they end up working late. Plans range from two to 30 nights per month, allowing customers to stay at city hotels, resorts, boutique inns, and glamping facilities—all for a single flat rate.

Before it officially launched the service, Tokyu performed four trial versions of TsugiTsugi. However, there were still problems with the payment system. One of these was the increased effort and time required to add new plans or change fees during sales promotions or other marketing campaigns. Also, a recurring problem with operating the subscription service was the collection of payments. Having to respond individually to each customer when payment errors occurred, such as an expired credit card, led to more operational challenges.

After reexamining the payment system’s customization and automated operations in preparation for the official launch, the decision was made to migrate TsugiTsugi’s payment system to Stripe.

“We ran the trial versions during the pandemic, but today the situation has changed. Demand has rebounded and workers are returning to their offices. The ability to flexibly customize Stripe was extremely compelling, given that we’re now running ad campaigns, adding new plans, and making other changes corresponding to these shifts in the market,” said Rei Kato, manager of business strategy for Tokyu Corporation’s hospitality office.

Solution

It only took Tokyu two months to implement the entire suite of Stripe solutions: Stripe Billing for subscription billing management, Stripe Checkout for creating payment pages, and Stripe Radar to prevent credit card fraud.

“Due to the comprehensive support from the Stripe team, we were able to successfully switch our payment system in two months after we made the decision to launch. We’re very grateful for the incredible speed that Stripe was able to facilitate,” said Takaji Hataba, senior manager of business strategy for Tokyu Corporation’s hospitality office.

Results

Automated notifications for payment errors

Stripe Billing contributed significantly to solving TsugiTsugi’s billing problems. The service now automatically sends notifications to customers informing them why a payment error occurs and how to deal with it.

20% increase in conversion due to improved functionality and design of Stripe Checkout

The Tokyu Group also experiences another significant benefit from Stripe: the payment page’s excellent design. The payment page is easy for customers to navigate and use, and encourages them to remain on the platform. The results are already apparent just two months after the launch of TsugiTsugi.

“Compared to the previous payment provider, the conversion rate of the payment page using Stripe Checkout has improved by 20%,” said Hataba.

Improving operational efficiency

Stripe’s ease of use is not just beneficial to the customer, but also to Tokyu’s operations. “The Stripe Dashboard is easy to understand. As the retention rate of customers and sales status by plan can be seen instantly, it’s very easy to monitor daily KPIs, which increases our operational efficiency,” said Kato.

TsugiTsugi aims to partner not only with accommodations, but also with work spaces, airlines, and local guides to offer more comprehensive services. Stripe’s partnership will facilitate this growth.

“To date, the individual customer has been our focus, but have recently released new corporate plans and other options. We would also like to expand our accommodation facilities and partners outside of the Tokyu Group. Currently, we make manual payments to our partners, but we are looking at making the transfer of funds more efficient with Stripe Connect in the future,” said Hataba.