How have Info-communication technologies changed hotel room reservation services?
Introduction / Background
Electronic commerce, or for short, e-commerce, although only rising in popularity in the last decade, has become an integral and indispensable part of most businesses. Be it between corporate entities or business to customer (B2C) dealings, it has definitely increased business and expansion opportunities, allowing companies to take themselves to the next level.
Our focus today is on the hotelling industry and how it has become increasingly easy and convenient for potential customers to compare and secure the best deals offered across the market at any particular period. The hotel and airline industry were among the first to venture into e-commerce as these are the most essential concerns of travellers, and we will look at how the various aspects of e-commerce on a chosen site aids clients in providing the necessary information they need for the best experience attainable.
Feature: Hotels.com
A key feature for success of a site such as hotels.com is the ease in which potential clients can arrive at the site rather than that of competitors in an almost perfectly competitive industry. It has achieved this by liaising with Google to allow a simple keyword search of 'cheap hotels asia' to link hotels.com in its top 3 sponsored links, effectively directing traffic flow to themselves.
Also, sites as such caters to niche markets such as budget travellers, which have significantly increased in recent years with the advent of budget flights, making pocket friendly travel that much more attainable. A feature unique to hotels.com is that they do not have pop-up or sidebar advertisements which makes surfing distracting and hassled. Its simple orange and white layout is also clean and easy to navigate within, making it attractive for fuss-free clients
Another plus point is that they do not cater to any one country in particular, with the option of choosing country and currency of preference, it allows clients to view all prices accurately and compare with ease. Last but not least, the site allows bookings up to the very day of check-in, an attractive and extremely convenient feature for last minute travellers.
Advantages
Sites such as these are a dime a dozen and every site definitely has its plus points making them that bit more attractive to potential clients and hotels.com is no exception. Below are just some of these advantages that make the site stand out from the many others.
#1 Personalised criteria searches
Every client has differing needs and priorities, by checking these boxes, the site can better match the needs of the client to the availability of facilities and features in different hotel locations. This allows for a more personal customer service and a better overall experience
#2 Fuss free booking
Relatively fuss free and simple steps can get you the hotel of your choice without having to decline random invitations to other non-related sites are definitely a plus point. Instructions are simple and straightforward, and it takes less than 5 minutes to complete the booking process if you have done the adequate prior research.
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#3 Customer orientated
Being part of the service industry, stellar customer service is key to survival and this site places emphasis on that by providing services that allows cancellations without additional charges, and a dedicated toll-free helpline that is available 24/7 in different languages.
#4 Security
Customers key in personal details and credit card numbers into the system and top of the line security is essential and of priority for any e-commerce business. Hotels.com makes sure of this by making the site 'https' which provide encrypted communication and secure identification of a network webpage. Also, Verisign, a network that provides security services and digital certification, validates the site and assures that personal details and transactions will be properly handled.
Disadvantages
People generally still have doubts about online transactions and those concerns are not at all unfounded. Private information about individuals could be subject to unknown handling post-transaction and result in spam, cold-calling and web viruses and other inconveniences
One disadvantage about booking sites as such is that there are often hidden costs that are not revealed till checkout. The additional taxes and fees sometimes add up to a substantial amount and could result in more expenditure than expected.
Also, 'Best price' is often guaranteed but there is no physical comparison to other competitive sites, but it is also on the part of the client to do prior checks and comparisons.
There are reviews on the respective hotels offered, but most of them look suspiciously positive and negative reviews are almost non-existent, making it a little difficult to ensure credibility for the positive reviews.
Finally, another disadvantage of e-commerce booking via hotels.com is that full payment is required upfront for the entire duration of stay instead of the 1 full day payment scheme in which other competitors use. Although there is the assurance that they (hotels.com) do not charge cancellation fees, there is the instance that the hotels themselves do and that would not be ideal for the last-minute traveller with no concrete plans.
Conclusion
The rise in popularity of e-commerce businesses has definitely increased options and convenience for travellers of all types and budgets. Rather than go through travel agents, people can do bookings themselves now, which has made travelling that much easier and free and easy. E-commerce is still a field under constant improvement and increasingly reliable with the technology age, but like everything else, proper prior research is absolutely essential and offers that are too good to be true usually are. This new technology definitely helps more than hinders and advances to this can take hassle-free travelling to the next level and phone and manual bookings might become a thing of the past with the convenience of e-commerce and vast array of choices and information available on the internet for the informed decision maker.
Disadvantages
People generally still have doubts about online transactions and those concerns are not at all unfounded. Private information about individuals could be subject to unknown handling post-transaction and result in spam, cold-calling and web viruses and other inconveniences
One disadvantage about booking sites as such is that there are often hidden costs that are not revealed till checkout. The additional taxes and fees sometimes add up to a substantial amount and could result in more expenditure than expected.
Also, 'Best price' is often guaranteed but there is no physical comparison to other competitive sites, but it is also on the part of the client to do prior checks and comparisons.
There are reviews on the respective hotels offered, but most of them look suspiciously positive and negative reviews are almost non-existent, making it a little difficult to ensure credibility for the positive reviews.
Finally, another disadvantage of e-commerce booking via hotels.com is that full payment is required upfront for the entire duration of stay instead of the 1 full day payment scheme in which other competitors use. Although there is the assurance that they (hotels.com) do not charge cancellation fees, there is the instance that the hotels themselves do and that would not be ideal for the last-minute traveller with no concrete plans.
Conclusion
The rise in popularity of e-commerce businesses has definitely increased options and convenience for travellers of all types and budgets. Rather than go through travel agents, people can do bookings themselves now, which has made travelling that much easier and free and easy. E-commerce is still a field under constant improvement and increasingly reliable with the technology age, but like everything else, proper prior research is absolutely essential and offers that are too good to be true usually are. This new technology definitely helps more than hinders and advances to this can take hassle-free travelling to the next level and phone and manual bookings might become a thing of the past with the convenience of e-commerce and vast array of choices and information available on the internet for the informed decision maker.
