In the second quarter, Priceline Group launched a
Facebook Messenger bot through its Kayak brand, putting the company in a good
position if the technology proves to be popular, said chairman and interim CEO
Jeffery Boyd.
The bot enables users to search, plan and book travel via
Facebook Messenger. Kayak also has a travel search application for Slack as
well as Amazon’s Echo, which can answer travel questions.
During Priceline Group’s second-quarter financial report,
Boyd said like most similar technology, Kayak’s Facebook Messenger is fairly
new. However, it is an important technology to develop if it takes off.
“That stuff is all in a very early stage, and I think it’s
terrific for our teams to be innovating on those platforms because it puts us
in a position to participate and benefit if those platforms ultimately grow to
be meaningful sources of demand for e-commerce like ours,” he said.
Also on the call, Boyd addressed an analyst’s question about
hotels’ recent direct-booking campaigns aimed at enticing customers to book
directly through their websites for better rates and/or perks.
Priceline’s approach is to ensure it has the best published
prices for its customers, he said, “and I think we’re doing a pretty good job
of accomplishing that.”
Going forward, he said, the effort to maintain the lowest
published prices will continue.
Boyd said the company has “great long-term relationships
with the hotel chains,” and that Priceline taps markets that the hotels
themselves would have difficulty reaching.
Boyd has been Priceline’s interim CEO since April. He
briefly responded to an investor’s question about the search for a new CEO,
saying it is ongoing through a board committee and a recruiting firm.
“They’re right in the middle of it,” he said.
Priceline reported a 12% increase in net income to $581
million over the second quarter of last year.