Kayak Company, Essay Example

Company Overview

Kayak is a travel search engine that is operated by software from Kayak Software Corporation. Products of Kayak are available in more than 20 different languages worldwide. The company runs travel search engines, which include swoodoo and check Felix. The company was started in 2004 under Paul English and Steve Hafner as the directors. The Priceline Group acquired Kayak Company later in November 2012.   Kayak is an international company since it is serving all people worldwide irrespective of their location. It offers travels services, search options and advices to the clients traveling to various destinations. Since the company operates online, it will attract many customers because almost all people are accessing the online services using their phones (Huang & Yoshida, 2013).

Kayak Company is targeting all people irrespective of their age, as they are free to travel to various destinations. To reach all customers; Kayak has involved its services on the social media web pages and even YouTube. Many people are registered on the social media, and the company will reach them by posting their products and services offered including the prices. The company registers on the social media web pages like facebook, histogram, and twitter where the products and services offered are posted and frequently updated by the staff. The customers will get updated in case of any changes in the prices or introduction of new products and services.

Assessment Tool

Assessment tool is a key component used by companies when working with clients in their internal strategy or planning. The assessment tool used by Koyak.com is social media having installed software that captures the information about customers accessing the company’s products.

In addition, it captures the comments left by the customers that the staff will work on. The assessment tool will enable the company to know the level at which the customers are satisfied. From the text, Usability testing is exclusively designed to see if the site works in a user- friendly fashion according to the expectations of members of the target market (Roberts, Mary-Lou & Debra Zahay, 2013).  So every organization needs to conduct usability testing to assess the satisfaction of target populations and if the website is user friendly; depending on the comments and reaction of the public.  In the case of Kayak Company, assessment should be conducted frequently to assess whether or not the customers are satisfied both in the ways by which their demands are met through the online portal of the company and in the ways by which the products they offer actually meet up with the primary demands of the people.

Given the chance that the clients are satisfied with what they are able to offer both through online and offline operations should prompt the company to engage in more developmental options that could further improve the products that the business offers to the public. Practically, the target of the organization would be towards the distinct indication on what else the public wants, what the people expect given the concept of development that the organization is noted for. Particularly, Kayak Company could also utilize the option of innovating their products to be able to make sure that the business would be able to respond to the current demands of the public.

When the instance by which clients are notably dissatisfied with the products provided by the business, it is essential that the management find relative reasons that could pin point where the problem really is. Through effective development of operations, such problems could be resolved accordingly. Once the problems have been pinpointed, assessing how they could be improved and redeveloped to be able to reach the customers’ expectations could be the source of strength for the company, something that could improve the way the operate in an overall context.

Assessment Tool for Koyak.com

The customers accessing the services of the organization are served within a short time. This is because there is no a delay or long queues. It follows a self-service pattern since it is online, and the customer follows the instructions. There are links where the customer can access help or leave comments, which the staff will act on later. The link is in a strategic position that it can be accessed easily. According to Finn (2011), the responses of the clients impose that “all the information including prices of flights are clear as well as everything else with regards the products and programs that the company provides the clients with; overall, this experience prompts that the customers are indeed satisfied with the current status of the website especially in consideration with the kind of service they get from the said portal.

Customers enjoy the services offered on the social media since they interact and communicate with friends and at the same time, they get useful information about services offered by the company. The page is decorated with various attractive colors that will motivate the customer to access the social media web page where the products and services offered by the company are offered. It is user friendly because in case the customer fails to travel part of the money can be refunded. The privacy of the company has been preserved since there are private links that are accessed by the company staff where the customers will not access them. In the case of privacy, the company scored 9/10.

The consumers are happy with the services offered. They can book their flights online without moving long distances to book a service. The customers can access all the information that they need about different flights to various destinations. Kayak.com did their best by making their information clear especially the links that are placed at the top of the page that can be seen easily without straining. The company scored 8/10 on the clarity of information.

To present a more detailed indication of assessment on the primary operations that the company website undergoes to provide the demands of the clients, here are some aspects to give attention to:

Value:

According to the discussion presented above and the collected data from clients’ responses, it is evidently true that when it comes to defining the value of the website, the customers believe that majority of the information they need to know about the organization, their products and their services are all included into the website. Practically, it is because of this fact that the clients do not have a hard time deciding that it is with Kayak Company that they want to complete their travel transactions with.

Navigation:

The website is considered to be user friendly. Its quick links from social networks make it easier to be accessed. The tabs and tables as well as the in-links of the website makes navigation easy for regular clients particularly on the part of those who are novice when it comes to computer utilization.

Presentation:

The color-splashes in the website make the eyes of the navigators busy. Somehow, in a way, this might be a down-grade on the defining the concept of good and practical design for the website. But then again, since it is a travel site, it is expected to have some ecstatic design that would prompt clients to push through with their travel options. The design is basically dedicated to cater to all ages of clients the business is expected to provide service to. Making it less busy though might improve the visionary presentation of the website itself.

Trust:

Clients trust the system used by Kayak Company in completing transactions with loyal customers. This is the reason why most of the time, after reading through the programs and the background reviews about the services the company provides, clients become more convinced that they are in the right company to whom they could trust their money, their travel plans and their journey to.

Based on the general assessment of the overall process of operation of the company’s website, it could be realized that the clients are indeed satisfied with what the company offers. Nevertheless, they could still improve well when it comes to providing ample information on the booking options for the clients to choose from when they pick the company as their primary travel service provides for the journey they would like to complete. Giving ample attention to how he website operates in par with the companies they are in competition with should provide the managers a clear vision on what more needs to be improved in the website and in the product presentations they make through the said portal.

Recommendations

Customer satisfaction assessment is critical and important measure that should be incorporated with marketing strategies when reaching customers. The assessment will allow the company to realize the weaknesses associated with services offered to customers or poor quality products at an early stage (Evanschitzky & Wunderlich, 2011). The company will act on rectifying the issue before it reaches a point that the customers move to competitor companies seeking quality products and services. To offer quality products and services, frequent assessments should be conducted, and the company responds to the results immediately. Some companies might conduct assessment and after receiving the results they fail to respond immediately and the customer will be disappointed. The employees should be trained such that they can design or even understand how to access the information from the software. Through the training offered they would learn how to respond to customer’s requests through help links.

References

Evanschitzky, H. & Wunderlich, M. (2011). How employer and employee satisfaction affect customer satisfaction: an application to franchise services.Journal of service research.

Finn, A. (2011). Investigating the non-linear effects of e-service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction.Journal of Retailing and Consumer services.

Huang, S. T. & Yoshida, S. (2013, August). Service Quality Assessment Based on Customer Satisfaction in International Freight Forwarding Industry: An Empirical Study in East Asia. In International Forum on Shipping, Ports and Airports (IFSPA) 2013: Trade, Supply Chain Activities and Transport: Contemporary Logistics and Maritime Issues.

Roberts, Mary Lou & Debra Zahay. (2013, 3/e) Internet Marketing: Integrating Online and Offline Strategies. Cengage Learning.

Spitzer, H. Methods and Tools for Corporate Impact Assessment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development.  http://www.sd-network.eu/pdf/case%20studies/ESDN%20Case%20Study_No%2014_final.pdf. (Retrieved on July, 5, 2014.

Yee W.Y. Rachel & Yeung C.L. Andy C. L. The Impact of Employee Satisfaction on Quality and Profitability in High-contact Service Industries .