Travel sector going m-commerce

are you prepared?

[heini]

More than 23 million Europeans will use their mobile phones to buy travel products and services by 2005 [idc.com] according to a new study by IDC.

Travel services are already one of the primary ecommerce products in Europe. Buying tickets, doing reservations for hotels or cars etc - purchasing of online leisure and business travel services becoming easier and more cost-effective than traditional channels.

IDC analysts believe this trend will be mirrored and amplified by m-commerce, as in Europe the use of mobile phones is still spreading, with mobiles becoming an essentiall part of everyday life.

There are already systems for online payment per mobile phones in use - IDC predicts major breakthroughs already in 2003.

So is it time for travel service marketeers to switch from e-commerce to m-commerce?

[wardbekker]

I think IDC is paid considerable by the telephone companies for this outcome.

They have put a lot of money in those G3 licences and they going to fry if they don't earn their money back.

M-commerce sucks bigtime right now (think WAP). Three years is a lot of time, but I think that it is way too short for 23 million europeans to kick in.

[heini]

Wardbekker, you are absolutely right in pointing out the immense sums being invested in the european mobile sector. Many billions of EUROs are at stake.

Now I don't mean to argue those guys can't fail. But they will go long ways to make sure they won't.

Second I just can see people using their mobiles as all-purpose tools. Enhanced SMS services, SMS advertising both are rapidly growing. Using them for payment is an idea with great prospects, I think.

Who would have believed 1998/99 some three years later some 33 Million Europeans would spent an estimated 2.9bn Euro online just for christmas shopping?

[wardbekker]

I see problems on the Interface level. For a decent shopping interface on a mobile you need a decent G3 model and those are pretty expensive. Mobile sales are not what they used to be, so i think that the three years are too short for a big renewal. But on the other end; the telco's are eager to succeed, so they will probably give a nice discount on those phones.
Ah well, i hope they succeed & and an almost free g3 mobile phone is Ok ;-)

[pete]

We operate mainly in the travel sector and currently, our market is 60% Europeans, 30% States and 10% everywhere else!

People spend a lot of time researching their trip - it is not uncommon for a visitor to visit our site 5 times before enquiring and often thats after theyve made an enquiry at 3 others!

I agree with wardbekker- travel is a high involvement product and mobiles will always be limited in terms of selling and promoting a destination!

IMHO, our market research their trip extensively before booking! I dont see mobiles playing a major role, certainly not on long haul destinations ;)

[TallTroll]

See, the problem with G3 is that G2.5 is doing pathetically badly. GPRS stuff is only just starting to become a viable user proposition, and despite the vast quantities spent on the 3G licences, you can currently only use the capabilities (assuming you can wheedle a 3G handset out of someone - you definitely don't want to be buying one yet) in a few wards of Tokyo, or the Isle of Man

hooray. i feel inspired

The telecomms sector is so badly financed at the moment (partly due to buying the licences :)) that I don't think anyone feels they have the cash to splash on a major R&D project (handsets), the end result of which will require massive investment in the infrastructure to make it work (installing 3G equipment) and all the hassles of having to increase mast density (did you know that 3Gs response to an overloaded cell is to shrink the size of the cell? That is really going to hack you off when you are 90% through a d/load, and then lose signal cos some bozo down the street phones his Mum to ask her how he boils an egg)

Also WAP was/is such a disaster I think everyone involved is a bit wary of the hype now