Perhaps no segment of the traveling public receives as much abuse
as the electronic travel customer.
Few of those advocating ever-more electronic commerce and
Internet-based travel services seem to have seriously asked what
beleaguered customers really want to buy.
The answers might be surprising. In a day when electronic
commerce is so important and controversial, one wonders why trade
groups or consortia do not devote adequate resources toward
developing definitive, comprehensive and unbiased studies that
might help their members make crucial decisions.
Although it sounds strange, some technology-based travel
reference and ordering systems appear to meet only the needs of
their designers -- the products being so ill-conceived that agents
would be ashamed to offer them in nonelectronic form.
Industry experts alternate between predictions of either the
demise of agents or an Internet-driven Valhalla where e-dollars
await those business warriors able to operate a Web site. All such
predictions are driven by assumptions, usually anecdotal, as to how
customers will behave.
This results from attempts to develop businesses using an a
priori strategy, meaning reasoning based upon one's own
presuppositions or knowledge without evidence. It works for logic
systems but it's a risky business tool. People do not always behave
logically.
As with any controversial subject it is appropriate to call upon
the people making assertions to assume the burden of proof.
Here is a short list of common assumptions about the electronic
travel customer that ought to be questioned or rejected outright
until reasonable evidence is forthcoming.
There are lots of customers. This sounds true and probably will
be over time, but for the present, no one has been able to say
anything definitive about the number of real or potential
electronic-travel customers.Electronic travel is important to the traveling public. This
has never been proven. In fact, most of the unbiased (albeit
limited) studies available suggest the opposite may be true.Travel purchasers want as much control as they can get
concerning the planning, reservations and fulfillment processes.
People assume this because it makes sense to electronic commerce
advocates. Reasoning from "causes" (some people are dissatisfied
with the travel process) to "effects" (therefore they will embrace
electronic travel) doesn't necessarily follow and has yet to be
demonstrated satisfactorily. The most critical error in any selling
environment is measuring what everyone wants by referring to what I
want.Over time, travelers will take on more work in exchange for
more control. This is a critical part of the electronic travel
proposition. There is no escaping the fact that do-it-yourself
research and bookings take time, energy and commitment. Beyond
highly motivated early adopters, no one has shown that this is a
sustainable business proposition.The customer craves self-booking so much that marginal products
will be tolerated. This is the hypothesis of many electronic travel
developers. Were it not so, customers would not be subjected to the
slow, cumbersome and annoying software they now endure.Customers will trade agents for control, convenience, price or
some combination. Unbiased studies usually indicate the
opposite.Electronic bookings are cheaper for vendors than agents. This
is unsubstantiated; evidence indicate that, where all customer
service activities are included, some cost increase is
inevitable.I strongly believe in electronic commerce and its potential in
the travel industry, but I am far from convinced that more than a
few people in the field know where they're going. Still fewer are
qualified to make predictions about the industry or teach others
how to prosper in an emerging market where so little is known about
key behaviors and desires.
David Wardell is president of USMatrix, a travel technology
company based in Washington. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].