Marketing and Plan for E-commerce Travel in Indonesia - Research Proposal Example

MARKETING RESEARCH AND PLAN FOR E-COMMERCE TRAVEL IN INDONESIA Marketing Research and Plan for E-Commerce Travel in Indonesia Recent trends in the business world have seen increased focus on e-commerce following the increased internet spread. Increased internet coverage across the globe has enabled organizations to have unlimited access to a wide customer base through facilitation of advertising and awareness creation. As such, organizations in different parts of the world are mobilizing resources towards engagement and improvement of online platforms. However, amid the rising participation and reliance on the internet, levels of competition between organizations in the same industry have risen significantly. In efforts to mitigate levels of competition by individual organizations, online research strategies such as web analytics have been created. Web analytics delves on collecting, measuring and analyzing web data to facilitate comprehension of web efficacy consequently leading to web usage optimization (Cutroni, 2010, p.1). This has enabled computations of highly essential information such as market size, growth rate, and relative stage of development. Additionally, web research advancements such as web analytics have enabled organizations in highly competitive industries such the travel industry to compare their performance against competitors in a bid to retain relevance (Burby and Atchison, 2007). Effective market plans are heavily dependent on accurate market research in determining crucial aspects such as target group and the general market status. The travel and tourism industry is a major backbone and contributor of economic development in many countries such as Indonesia. For example, the tourism and travel industry in Indonesia contributed about 9.2 % of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 and was expected to have an increment of 7.5% of GDP in 2014 (Scowsill, 2014). This implies that tourism and travel industry is a relatively large industry in Indonesia. Additionally, the expected increments in relation to GDP are indicators of the growing market. The increased growth rate of tourism and travel industry is facilitated by increment in number of tourists visiting Indonesia. According to World Bank data on tourism, there has been a constant increment on the number of tourists visiting Indonesia from 2010 al through to 2012 (The World Bank). Moreover, development of the tourism and travel industry has facilitated growth of organizations within its territory such as hotels and travel agencies such as MyGlobalTrip. Although the levels of utilization of the internet are relatively low, increased focus by travel agencies is bound to significantly boost productivity and the overall development of the tourism and travel markets. Especially in developing countries such as Indonesia, e-commerce is expected to contribute heavily to the advancement of businesses (Chiou, Lin, and Perng, 2011). Nonetheless, competition levels among travel agencies in online platforms are on the rise amid market expansion. This implies that travel agencies such as MyGlobalTrip need to incorporate effective marketing strategies to gain competitive advantage. Travel agencies have a wide client base covering both domestic and international markets. Travel agencies are mainly used by people seeking to travelling services such as car rentals, hotel bookings, and plane tickets. Generally, travel agencies offer solutions to travelers including giving advice on the befitting destinations depending on clients’ needs. Due the wide client base, online platforms are key to the success of travel agencies. This implies that the main commercial functions provided by online travel agencies include marketing, offering basic information, customer service, and electronic transactions (Abou-Shouk, Lim and Megicks, 2012). Provision of such services in an online platform however presents some challenges especially for small firms. The main challenge arguably emanates from the need to create a highly effective transaction platform, website, since there is a direct link between usability and visual aesthetics to customer loyalty and satisfaction (Sanchez-Franco and Rondan-Cataluña, 2010). In an online platform, geographic concentrations arguably have little influence on the performance levels. However, travel agencies have to make geographic considerations despite the increased reliance on online platforms. For example, situation in a concentrated area with proximity to main contributing factors such as airports may increase efficiency of the firm. Additionally, considerations on distribution strategies is also important since it can be affected by geographic concentration. This is especially considering that the main distribution channel will entail direct interactions such as when delivering rental cars. Nevertheless, increased utilization of the internet facilitates interactions with clients. In the modern day, most people rely on the internet for information while travelling either domestically or internationally. More so, people rely on information provided by travel agencies for information and other transactions pertaining to travelling especially internationally. As such, travel agencies have seemingly less challenges accessing their target groups. Nonetheless, creating awareness of the existence on travel agencies online is still an issue of consideration especially for new firms. However, advertising is arguably the most effective strategy of creating awareness on existence. Effective advertising relies on different platforms ranging from online to media and direct advertising among other channels. For example, making arrangements with related organizations such as hotels and airports may serve as an appropriate advertising strategy. These related organizations can have information pertaining to MyGlobalTrip both in their geographical locations and online platforms. As such, people interacting with various related organizations are made aware of the existence of MyGlobalTrip consequently increasing customer base. Moreover, advertising is essential in creating the desirable image of the firm. This is mainly done through giving information on the available services including benefits associated with these services. For example, maintaining relatively low prices compared to consumers while simultaneously ensuring quality of services offered builds is bound to improve the firm’s image. Also important is creation of a brand that befits clients’ needs and offers satisfaction. This is done by ensuring that the quality of services is high and ensuring that services are parallel to consumer needs consequently attaining customer satisfaction. In a bid to build a desirable corporate image, timeliness is of great essence especially for travel agencies. This entails ensuring that products such as rental cars are delivered at the right place at the right time (Kotler, 1977). A company’s image can also be improved by ensuring effective public relations practices such as taking part in community development activities. On a global scale, the MyGlobalTrip can take part in environment conservation campaigns. Conclusively, the wide spread of the internet has facilitated involvement of organizations in e-commerce. However, due to increased participation levels of competition have increased greatly prompting market research in order to employ effective marketing strategies. Market research entails evaluations on market size and growth to measure the potential of the market. Effective marketing strategies need to not only increase sales but also maintain a desirable corporate image and contribute to establishment of a reputable brand. For example, since travel agencies are heavily dependent on online platforms, there is need to carry out market research with specific concentration on the online environment. With accurate market research and effective marketing strategies, organizations involved in e-commerce are bound to attain success. References Abou-Shouk, M., Lim, W., & Megicks, P. (2012). Internet Adoption by trvale agencies: a case of Egypt. International Journal Research. Burby, J. & Atchison, S. (2007). Actionable web analytics using data to make smart business decisions. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. Chiou, W., Lin, C., & Perng, C. (2011). A strategic website evaluation of online travel Agencies. Tourism Management, 1-11. Cutroni, J. (2010). Google Analytics. Beijing, China. Cambridge, MA: OReilly. Kotler, P. (1977). From sales obsession to marketing effectiveness. pp. 1-9. Sanchez-Franco, F. & Rondan-Cataluña, J. (2010). Virtual Travel Communication and Customer Loyalty: customer purchase involvement and website design. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, Vol. 9, pp. 171–182. Scowsill, D. (2014). Travel & tourism: economic impact 2014 Indonesia. World Travel and Tourism Council. The World Bank. International tourism, number of arrivals. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL. The World Bank. Internet users (per 100 people). Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2. Read More