A link to a New York Times article titled 'Worst Part of a Trip May be Booking It'; the article describes how frustrating the on-line booking experience can be for many consumers and how far behind the travel industry seems to be in comparison to other e-commerce sectors. 

We continued the conversation along with William Bakker from Tourism BC about what needs to be done to improve the on-line booking experience.

Having developed e-commerce systems for both tourism and for retail, I've learned a few things about how the two sectors differ.  I've also learned that there is a lot that each of these sectors can learn from each other.  This is the first in a series of posts entitled "Travel Has Much to Learn from E-Commerce".  In this post I will examine The Notion of Limited Shelf Space.

The traditional retail environment is built upon the model that you can only sell what you have on the shelf, or in your warehouse.  Once the products are sold, they are gone.  Retail lives and dies by this and so, inventory control, has been a critical part of the sector for a long time. 

Not so with the travel space (or so it would seem).  There is a perception of abundance of product that creates the idea that there are infinite choices available.  To some degree this is true, however, market economics dictate that an abundance of supply always results in downward price pressure.  Infinite choices also result in a condition that Barry Schwartz refers to as the "Paradox of Choice".  Mr. Schwartz explains that as the potential choices increases, the ability of consumers to make a decision decreases.  So, it would stand that the way to increase the ability for consumers to make decisions is to reduce the number of choices.

But that is easier said then done.  In an industry where there is so much choice, how do you reduce choice? One answer is to specialize.  Yes, that's right, when you specialize in a destination or a product type, you reduce your customer's choice and increase their ability to make a decision. 

If you specialize in Italian bus tours, for example, you are going to work with particular suppliers, you will market to a particular consumer, and you will have  the knowledge to service the customer.

 The key is that you probably won't waste time or effort taking up your valuable shelf space to sell products that YOUR customers are not going to be interested in.

Stephen A. Joyce has been working as a travel & tourism technology consultant since 1995. In 2005 Stephen and his company, Sentias Software Corp., began development on Rezgo.com, a next generation Web 2.0 tour and activity booking engine for SME travel suppliers and tour operators. In June of 2007, Rezgo.com was officially released and now boasts a user base of 650+ companies. 

www.tourismtechnology.rezgo.com