Here’s the thing.
When companies of whatever stripe and purpose spend millions of dollars on developing a website, it is done for one reason, and one reason alone: to maximise their profits.
When any one of us go on-line to search for an item of whatever purpose, it is for one reason: to minimise our expense, and the rather touching belief in the neutrality of the net leads to many unfortunate decisions
These two positions are, of course, mutually exclusive; while they may appear to combine, particularly in the rather naïve belief that some hold, from time to time, the truth is that for most people they do not. The on-line, world is inherently binary: you ask a question and you get an answer, and the entire promise that most companies base their product line-up on is that you don’t know the correct question to ask.
I love the internet, and I, and my many colleagues spend our lives using the deep resource base it offers to hone our skills and develop our professional knowledge. It is the same in every industry, and the extraordinary growth in our access to information is one of the marvels of the 21stcentury. It is, however, only information, and not knowledge.
For years, one of the most common questions asked of my agency was “What is the cheapest ticket to London?” Our answer was always “Where in London do you want to get to?” This gave us the opportunity to direct them to Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted if appropriate, and offer a sound service.
The answers however were rather interesting; at least 50% said that they were not, in fact going to London, but to Hull or Birmingham or Cardiff or some other UK point. By telling us this, we were able to advise them to spend an additional $50 or so, and fly straight to a local airport, the existence of which had, to that point, been unknown.
Now, in our binary world, the same question will be asked and the correct answer given. However, it is the correct answer to the wrong question in so many cases. Happily unaware of the options that might have been better, our traveller trots off to London in ignorant bliss.
It is curious how many times that travellers have come to our agency to book travel within Australia having already found “a great deal on-line” for a ticket from Canada to Sydney. When the first thing they want to buy is a connecting ticket from Sydney to Cairns, and are advised that a “Canada to Cairns” ticket would have been the same price as the ticket to Sydney that they had just purchased, disappointment often set in.
It is not that the information is unavailable, and had they asked The Web for a ticket to Cairns they would have found out that it was the same price, it is that sadly, most people don’t know what to ask for.
The biggest problem, I believe, is that traditionally there have been a lot of very, very bad travel agents. It has not been a respected profession, and by and large, with virtually no entry requirements, it became a default career for friendly people who liked beaches and drinks with umbrellas in them.
This, fortunately, is a professional model that has, for a large part, passed on. Travel professionals are now considerably fewer in number, and those that remain do so because they offer expertise and a very valuable input into a vacation decision. More are also offering a pure consultancy, paid for on an hourly rate; this option, to pay $500 - 750 for four or five hours consultation on a trip that will cost some $15-20,000 is well worth the money; insight, expertise and the ability to synthesise the information that can be gleaned on-line is well worth the investment.
It also makes sense.
In virtually every facet of the travel world, be it airlines, accommodation, tours or whatever other service you can imagine, the cost of sale is between 25 and 30 per cent. This figure is a macro-number, and applicable to the overall cost of distribution, not the cost of any single unit. It make no difference if the money is invested in commissions paid to the network of brokers, wholesalers and retailers who make up the chain between a fishing guide in Nunavut and the client in Hannover or if the money is invested in sophisticated web presence and the associated costs of servicing enquiries and reservations. The number firmly remains stuck at 25-30%
So from the sellers’ perspective, better to build a web with which to lure then unsophisticated with promises of a better and cheaper life, last-minute deals or whatever gimmick they dream up then risk losing a client to the comparative consultation that the (good) flesh-and-blood travel professionals offer.
From the purchasers’ position, I would think that more thought should be given to the benefits of shopping at a store that discourages questions, and only offers comparisons based on its own sales algorithm.
After all, a major European airline did not pay a major on-line retailer £1 million per month for advantageous placement on their availability displays for nothing.
Neutrality on line? Think again!
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