Research Report on Agoda.com

Background - Mini-Research Project: e-Transaction Broker

This research is carried out in conjunction with the recommendations of the UOL-ISORG study guide. This is a group research to investigate into the nature and operations of one e-commerce transaction broker website. A transaction broker is an intermediary who acts as a middleman, merely providing the business link between a buyer and a host of sellers, and earning a commission for each successful transaction. Transaction broker do not own the end products or services transacted. They are NOT wholesaler or retailers (e.g. NTUC, Amazon.com, Vehicle Resellers)

About Agoda.com

Agoda.com is an online hotel reservation service. They specialise in the online booking of hotels,providing consumers with a wide range of hotels to choose from. Agoda is primarily an online business and they operate on a B2C(Business to Consumer) platform.
Agoda is part of Priceline.com, one of the largest and most established online travel agents in the world. It is operated by Agoda Company Pte Ltd, a Singaporean company that is managed by a multi-national team. Agoda has been a trusted provider of discount hotel services since 1997, servicing over 1,000,000 travelers.

Features

Booking hotels with Agoda is very simple. The website is straightforward and easy to navigate.
Destinations can be chosen from the menu and hotels can be listed according to their popularity,star ratings or their locations. There are 85,000 hotels worldwide to choose from; Asia to South America. Agoda also provides a search engine for you to search for specific hotels that you may be looking for. If a consumer is unable to find a particular hotel,the website is able to offer suitable alternatives.

STRENGTHS

• 21 Languages provided in the site

Being able to reach out to everyone is definitely a plus to the business. With no language barriers, customers will feel comfortable and have the confidence to use the services provided.

• Agoda Members receive GREAT REWARDS!

The main objective of the Memebership Rewards System is to retain its customers. By giving rebates that are less then 10%, they are able to retain their customers. This in turn creates a long term relationship between the business and customers.

Book any room on Agoda site and automatically earn points worth 4% - 7% of the price of the room. Use these points on the next transaction to reduce the price of the room by the amount the points are worth. Or just let the points mount up after several bookings and use them to get even bigger savings, or even free rooms!

Example:

• 24 Hours Customers Service

With the wide range of communication choices, customers are able to choose their favourite and most comfortable one. 24 hours services means that customers are able to do last-minute booking with no worries. No matter which country you are from, there is no time differences.

1. E-mail
Email is the fastest and easiest way to reach Agoda. Just fill in the form below and they will get back to you within the next 24 hours. Just include relevant details such as Hotel Name, Location and Dates in your email.

2. Chat online with Live Agent 24 hours
For those who just love chatting online, this is definitely a choice for you. Get your enquires answered immediately. And no worries you will be chatting safely via Agoda Secure Online Chat Program.

3. Call a Live Agent 24 Hours
Those that love chatting via phone, best choice is to call a Customer Service Agent with your enquires.

Asia
Tel: +66-2-625-9100

4. Fax or Voicemail Reservations & Inquiries
Sending a fax or leaving a voicemail is also available through these local numbers, simply to help you save money. All communications will be sent to the central Customer Service Center in Thailand, Bangkok. Travel Advisers are sure to call you back within a few hours.

Local Numbers:

5. Thailand Office Address
Snail mail is available too! Just send your enquires to the following address:

999/9 Rama I Road,
The Offices at Central World
27th Floor, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Tel: +66-2-625-9100Fax: +66-2-613-1763

• Great number of Photos

A great number of photos of the different suites is provided of each hotel. Each photo is clearly stated with a sub-title i.e. Studio, Meeting room. Environment and atmosphere are the deciding points of choosing that particular hotel or suite. Other similar sites do not have such detailed photos of hotels i.e http://www.all-hotels.com/

• Up-to-date customer reviews
  

Customer reviews are recent with guest ratings. Reviews are able to help customers decide which hotel to book among the few they have listed. Every review states the pros and cons of that particular hotel. Reviews that are up-to-date give customers the the assurance that services and amenities are no different from the ones the description give.

• Hotel area map

This feature is powered by Google map. Customers can just click on "show map" to see where the hotel is located. No extra work is needed by the customer! This is one of our favourite feature in the site, so convenient and easy to locate the hotel.


Weaknesses

• Full payment for hotel bookings

The site only accept full payment of the hotel bookings. The most ideal amount of payment is actually 1 full day rate . For example, total 5 days rate is $500 when you do booking only pay 1 day rate which is $100. These rest should be paid only when checking out of the hotel.

• Best Price Guaranteed

Agoda website has the "Best Price Guaranteed" icon on their web pages. However we do not see any comparison between the different sites to show us that Agoda do offer the best prices. Therefore this "Best Price Guaranteed" icon may not be reliable in aiding the customers to use Agoda services.

Payment Methods

• Credit Cards

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB

• PayPal

Most of the similar sites is only payable by credit cards. So the feature of PayPal is a definite plus to win over customers.

Conclusion

As we can see,an e-Commerce transaction broker has to be able to cater to international consumers to be successful. Factors such as providing multiple languages, safe and secure online payments, 24/7 help support and low rates are all pivotal in helping the broker stay competitive in the market. Also, the broker has to be trustworthy in its services.In addition,providing for a reward system,such as a Membership reward system,is a great way to retain customers.