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.
Introduction:
What is an e-Commerce Transaction Broker?
An e-Commerce Transaction Broker crafts a transaction by bringing a willing buyer and a willing seller together and assists with the closing of details. It doesn't represent either party, but handles the transaction only. It owes no responsibility to either party, but must abide by law as well as professional and ethical standards.
Research Study: - http://www.latestays.com/
Purpose:
Latestays.com is a last-minute accommodation website. Its purpose is to sell accommodation online for destinations all over the Asia-Pacific and beyond, offering great deals for rooms still available for the next 28days. This website is an example of a Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) model.
The picture above illustrates a B2B and B2C model.
Features :
Latestays.com only sells accommodation for the next month because they get the best available room rates from their hotel suppliers by selling their rooms still available with 28 days to book. As a date gets closer, hotels can often drop their room rates, to avoid them going unsold. This allows consumers to book their desired hotels at a low rate and the hotels to sell their remaining rooms.
Design :
1. It provides an overview of all the hotel rates in the selected country at one glance.
2. Allows you to view rates in your desired currency, and many features in their website which allow you to learn more information.
3. Displays information of the Hotel such as :
- Hotel History
- Photographs
- Hotel Facilities
- Room Facilities, etc
Strengths :
1. Layout of the website
The excellent layout of the site makes it easy for users to view, navigate and obtain the relevant information which they need. Users are able to have an overview of all the hotel rates at a glance, able to compare rates between various hotels.
2. Unique feature of Latestay.com
Unlike most websites which encourage advance bookings by offering lower rates at earlier dates, latestays.com works differently. They offer great deals for rooms still available for the next 28 days. Rates are generally lower than those offered on other sites.
3. They are an operator of leading online travel brands in the Asia-Pacific region
They have offices in Thailand, Singapore Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada. They also have people working for them in Beijing, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.
4. Customers are able to obtain the best rates through Latestays.com
The local teams work closely with hotel suppliers to ensure they get the best results out of being listed on their site and that LateStays.com offers the best rates for their consumers.
5. Easy conversion of Exchange rate
Availability of rates in several foreign currencies makes it convenient for consumers.
Weaknesses :
1. No Reviews of the hotels on the website.
Customers will not be able to get a better understanding of the service quality of that particular hotel, especially first -time customers. Thus, they are unable to compare between hotels and maximise consumer welfare.
2. Not able to book hotel in advance.
Customers are not able to pre-book their hotel rooms beyond 28days. Hotel rooms shown on the website are only those avaliable in the next 28 days. This means that if customer wants to enjoy the cheaper rate of the hotel they would have to wait book their hotel one month before. This can be quite rush, considering that the waiting time for the confirmation of the hotel rooms and any unexpected circumstances that may occur.
Security:
As you proceed to entering your credit card details on latestays.com, these important icons will assure you that you're on a secure website and that your information is handled in a secured manner.
Privacy :
At Latestays.com, they are committed to protecting the privacy and security of any personally identifiable information ("PII") customers provide them. PII includes information that can be linked to a specific individual, such as name, address, phone number, or email address.
Latestays.com use the PII only for the purpose of responding to and fulfilling the customers' requests for their products and services.
To ensure the confidentiality of the customers' PII, Latestays.com use leading security technology and procedures that are updated and reviewed regularly.
