Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Hertz Corp. has just launched numerous travel apps for 11 major US cities. These apps let customers plan a trip by browsing content which is cutomized to that city and having it wirelessly sent to the GPS system in their rental car. The apps complement Hertz's NeverLost Gen 5 GPS route-guidance system. While in the car, this service will deliver certain information based on which city they are in and can be taken with them once they leave the car as well. Hertz is using this as an attempt to reach out to potential customers and expand their clientele. In an effort to remain unique, each app includes six categories: Explore, Top Must See, Events, Favorites, Tours, and Neighborhoods. There is also a feature that allows you to track the weather as well as see the nearest restaurants and attractions by simply pointing your iPhone at the horizon. The first app purchased is free and each subsequent app can be downloaded for only $0.99. Hertz already has an app for making reservations and confirmations so these apps are being used to build upon that and take it to the mobile level.  This is smart as people who are renting cars are more likely to be unfamiliar with their whereabouts than when driving their own vehicle. Being able to take GPS voice directions and find specific attractions while outside the car is a step in the right direction for m-commerce.

Good for Hertz! They seem to be differentiating themselves from other rental car brands with this unique service to their customers. Its also a good way to capitalize on the immediate needs of their customers who are the perfect target market for this app. I wonder if you can 'hands-free' your mobile device and sync it with the rental car while on that would be extremely helpful!

This article talks  the new application that Hertz is introducing on the iPhone to allow customers to plan their trip that can be wires sly  delivered to the GPS system in their Hertz rental car .  This apps have been lauchend for 11 cities so far. Each city app includes six categories: Explore, Top Must See, Events, Favorites, Tours and Neighborhoods. So far the map can be downloaded  for free on the app store. Those apps on the iPhone give herts a chance to advertize  their merchandise to the user of iPhone with age varies .

This article talks about the acquisition of Restaurant POS system company, Breadcrumb, by Groupon. This will provide seamless service to all Breadcrumb and Groupon  customers. This will also allow Goupon to observe customer spending patterns which it was not be able to see before. 

This article describes one of the worst situations that could occur when operating a hotel. According to the text, Wyndham Hotel Group failed to implement a strong enough security system, resulting in hackers breaching the network and stealing over 600,000 credit card numbers and over 10 million dollars in fraudulent charges. The FTC is suing Wyndham Corporation for failing to take the proper security measures to guarantee the security of the most important customer information. The FTC also states that Wyndham used improper software configurations that presented credit card information in a manner that was clear and easy to read. Michael Valentino, spokesman for Wyndham Worldwide, the company made prompt efforts to notify those whose information had been compromised and according to Valentino, no hotel customer had experienced a financial loss as a result of the attacks.  Despite Valentino's claims, the FTC is suing Wyndham for unfair and deceptive practices in failing to protect the privacy and personally identifiable information about guests. The FTC claims that Wyndham failed to address the security failures that occurred after the first breach in 2008 and did not implement technology that could have detected unauthorized access to networks. In 2009, hackers used similar techniques to break into the network again as steal as much personal information as they could. 

Hotels compete with others by providing excellent service which has been defined as giving outstanding technology. It means technology innovation has become one of the most important strategies to attract customers. WiFi has become one critical success factor in hospitality industry. Besides, people tend to interact and shop more through social media. Research shows that Facebook usage is up 40% since last year. 2.5 billion photos are uploaded to @Facebook each month. It's estimated that there will be 76.9 billion apps to download in 2014. And customers are predicted to spend $35 billion on apps in 2014. According to high demand of iPhone and iPad, some hotels set up iPad in concierge to assist guest with further information and iPad in rooms to help guests to control room temperature, light and TV. As going green has shaping a big trend for hotels, LED light and PlugOut Gym attract hotelier's attention to catch up with. Thus, technology is not only a way to give convenience to guests but also a way to ease management team.

This article is a comprehensive analysis of the problems existing in E-Commerce from the perspective of a CEO in New York. According to Kim, a lot of bad behaviors in offline commerce translate to online. Identifying those problems, he asserted, is the first step toward developing solutions. There are mainly four problems in E-commerce including pushy sales, No-service Sales, No Data, Wrong Data. He suggests four solutions to solve these problem. At first, they remind that not all consumers should be treated the same. The simplest ,most effective way is segementation, dividing customers into several groups. Moreover,he mentioned that merchant should offer different product to people of their own targeted values. The other two solutions are listen and serve, one chance.That means the merchant should be patient enough to let customer tells them what they want and provide updated activities to the customers on time.

This article talks about how to increase customers' loyalty by rewarding them for spreading the word on social sites. Since social media grows stronger those days, it is becoming a trend that businesses use them as a marketing approach. Some businesses build loyalty programs with help of social media. With the high traffic and huge net of connection, word-of-mouth can be easily spreaded via social media. Although it brings lots of benefits, social media also brings negative effects to business, such as adding processing time to transactions. But fortunately, we have a solution already. It is called SNAP(social network appreciation platform). Anytime you swipe your loyalty card, the opt-in program of SNAP will automatically post a message on your social media web site, and every purchase you made gives you points, you can trade them for free staff when you accumulate enough points. As a future manager, you can not ignore the growth of social media, and the way it is going to affect marketing strategy. You should take good advantage of it, and i think loyalty program is a really good idea.

In this Article: "The Best Restaurant Marketing In the World" resiliently describes the marketing world and the amounts of money restaurants spend obsessively to bring in more customers. Instead of focusing on all the new technologies for new ways to advertise and spending thousands of dollars there are other things to consider such as bringing in more customers over the quality of the food, excellence in the service, cleanliness of the place, and having an agreeable unique dining experience. If all these requirements are not met that's when marketing comes in to place. There are many ways possible to improve your business such as changing or simplifying the menus, training the staff properly, making sure the restaurant is spotless, creating a nice ambiance and lastly making sure you have total commitment to all of these basic necessities. These requirements are essential when it comes to exceeding your customer expectations and important for your business in order to succeed. . With all of these categories fulfilled you will bring in a happier, lively and contented crowd; therefore, bringing in more regulars.

This article discusses the importance of ecommerce becoming a more personalized experience for customers. It talks about how Amazon and Netflix do a great job in finding items their customers may be interested on based on their past purchases and recent searches. I found it interesting how social networks such as Facebook are being targeted to assist with ecommerce. Companies want to take what Facebook members put on their page and use it as data for when they visit their website. That way they already have some information on the customer before they even visit. Companies are being challenged in the way they maintain this data. Many companies are having issues figuring out how to store the data they receive from their customers. I think it's a great idea and absolutely love when online shopping sites show me items similar to what I was looking at. A majority of the time I click on what was suggested and purchase it or at least like it. I agree that ecommerce needs to become more personalized because it is the future of shopping. Many people are lazy and find it easier to just purchase items via the Internet than actually visit a store. The internet needs to find a way to provide that customer service feeling that customers are provided when they visit a physical store.

In Amazon's last quarter, net income dropped by 57 percent from a year ago. Sales for the three months before December 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holidy season. It is predicted that for the next quarter outlook, there could be anywhere from a gain of $100 million to a loss of $200 million. While Amazon continues to profit in sales of its best selling Kindle devices, there were a variety of factors that contirbuted to its losses. The flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies. Third-party sellers (which give a 13% commission to Amazon as oppsoed to 100% commission when Amazon sells themselves) were used more than usual. Promotions such as the Amazon Prime program which allows the customer to pay a fixed rate and get umlimited two-day shipping hurt the retailer hard over the busy holiday season with shipping costs. Other reasons were lower demand for skimwords

POS can energize the hotel service cycle. POS system offers an ideal opportunity to move from a manual system to technology that stores customer data, which can be mined for business intelligence and thus facilitates improvement and efficiency at customer touch points. POS system can be fully integrated with room service and front office to ensure accurate and faster billing. It is fairly easy to use, getting staff acquainted with the application and interface will help to ensure faster ROI on installation. Using POS software, hotel staff can spend less time on formalities and more on delivering better customer service. It is integral for both order generation and tracking inventory shrinkage. Proper implementation of POS functions increases business profitability by providing management with details on fast moving products, time of sale and profitability. Now apps with Android market enhanced the use of POS. In the future, POS systems are going to get smarter, faster and better.

This article discusses a company that has released a software what lets managers and employees access the PMS and POS remotely from a mobile device. This allows a more personal feel when checking in because the person who is checking you in doesn't have to be behind a desk or behind a computer. A hotel in canada actually is using this technology to check guests in directly in front of their own villas. When a person is walking down the hall and needs something for their room such as towels and other amenities, and stops an employee in the hall that employee can help them right away there in the hall instead of having to direct them to the front desk or to someone else that can assist them. The company is called front desk anywhere. and i believe that this will bring back the more personal feel to travel that used to be. This will allow every guest to feel special which i believe that not been the case the last couple of years.

I really like the idea of making relationships between hotel agent and customer less linear more mobile. Customer should feel help and comfort. Furthermore customers love to try some innovations and will definately choose hotels with new and unusual practice just to experience something really interesting.

The fact that employees can now serve customers basically immediately will be very valued by many customers. This type of service is what generates more repeat customers and great reviews by word of mouth.

It is knowledgeable why retailers would be skeptical over self-services in grocery stores, which include lack of floor space, the ability to lower labor cost, and the concerns of consumer acceptance and usage, but this has changed with the future of technology. The permutation of self-checkout technology now gives the retailer opportunities to reduce labor intendment, and it also orchestrates the front-end operations to offer state of the art customer service to the consumer Self- checkout allows retailers to save space and it easily fits into the store's existing layout. Five self-serve lanes can accommodate the floor space of only two conventional lanes. Cash balancing and reporting for each station remains the same as it was before the device was installed.

I cannot imagine the human factor completely disappearing in stores. I have three young children and I cannot go through teh self check-out if I have more than a couple of items. There will always be those people who need the extra help. I do enjoy self check-out lines, so hopefully there will be a balance of machine and man in the stores.

after the invention of the first POS system of 1974 and the self- check out counters of 1992 researchers projecting 430,000 of self check out counters to be opened by 2014.  The benefit of the Self Check out counters is very tempting for the owners.  Article mentions that some customers are still not too happy with the self check out counters, because of possible bad experience in the past.  Managers are delaying the installation of the automated check outs, because of the scare of the theft, but it's proven that theft is not as issue because usually losses occur from the cashier's negligence.  Article provides some of the proves that self check out counter , can help customers to lose weight, and check out faster, and provides extra privacy. 

What hotel call accounting does is to track, manage, and bill or allocate phone calls made by guests or employees. It has played a critical role in the lodging industry for decades. By the mid-1980s, call accounting was a very profitable source for most of hotels/motels because it generated thousands of dollars each month. However, hotel call accounting has been less important due to the presence of cell phones, decrease in long distance rates. At this point, hoteliers may wonder if they really need call accounting systems. The author emphasizes that hotel call accounting is still important and beneficial for hotels/motels in many ways: billing hotel guests for all phone calls, detecting phone misuse or abuse, decreasing billing errors, etc. Mostly, revenues from call accounting alone can cover the costs for phone equipment and service, so hotels do not take any risk. The author also stresses that call accounting has a bright future. Even though the importance of call accounting has decreased, hotels still need a way to track and bill phone calls to guests and departments as PMS and phone systems get more advanced, as Internet and VoIP are used more and more.

                  This article talks about the importance of call accounting in hotels. Call Accounting is a hotel's ability to track and analyze the phone calls made from its grounds.                   Call Accounting is a software that is still a necessity even though it no longer makes as much money as it used to. Warner says, "Now that cell phones are everywhere and long distance rates have significantly decreased, call accounting does not allow properties to bring in nearly as much revenue as before. For many hotels/motels, call accounting has been forced to take a back seat in their organization."       Call Accounting shouldn't be eliminated simply because the ROI is less. Tracking where a 911 call originated and providing quality customer service is more important than money. If you provide proper customer service, the money will come.          In another article on Ezine articles, Warner said, "Without a call accounting system, hotel managers do not have the information needed to quickly resolve guest concerns and may be confronted with headaches and disgruntled customers. However, by using a call accounting system, managers can have the added security and peace of mind that they have the information needed to help their guests and to understand, manage, improve, and control telephone activities."                  

An app has been created that allows clients and staff to communicate. It enables staff to perform many of the six functions of a pms system that was discussed in class, it's easy to use and it's a discreet way of companies to get customers to create and update their customer profiles. This is a benefit because companies in the hotel industry oftentimes use customer profiles to improve service.

When Pilot Travel Centers chose to deploy the NCR RealPOS workstations in 306 travel centers nationwide, it was a definite sign that POS has become a standard tool for the travel industry. Pilot operations are the largest sellers of over the road diesel fuel. Also initiated was the utilization of this and NCR's RSM (Retail Systems Manager) which monitors and manages retail operations remotely with a help-desk interface which ensure ongoing operations in the event of the onsite workstation is operation. Pilot commented that this technology ensures their commitment to customer service, and includes such features as self-service kiosks which allow OTR and RV customers to obtain receipts without standing in lines.

The new relationship between hotel marketing automation provider ZDirect and global travel technology company Sabre Hospitality solutions has proven to be a very successful new way for connect a company with its customers. customers can make reservation easier and faster way through this new technology. This technology also increases brand-recognition for customers and two way communications between customers and retailer. It also help a company from building up its brand to make sure the brand will operate smoothly to make this combination a very powerful technology for hospitality industry. One of its very successful technique is that it will create a unique personalized profile for each customer based on his or her behaviors.

The article highlights what Pegasus Solutions can offer their customers, and who those clients are tending to be. Pegasus Solutions offers many different pieces of software for an affordable rate to their customers and this is a large reason as to why customers are using their services. It also touches on a few differences in Western hotel business and Indian hotel business.

This article is about how email marketing can help the local restaurants. Local restaurants generally do not have enough budget to advertise on local television, radio, or newspapers. Local restaurants would make most of the Email marketing that could overcome the advantages of chain restaurants' expensive advertisement. The Email marketing strategy is affordable for all sizes of restaurants and does not need IT specialist. So, there is no need to hire IT specialists. Anyone who has minimum experience of computer can deal with managing Email marketing. The Email marketing benefits the potential customers also. The potential customers are able to know the detail about the menu and promotional contents when they check their email. Even they are not going to go restaurant right away, they could remind the promotion and information on their mind and retrive the mail before planning to go restaurant. Email marketing is one of the savvy ways for the local restaurants, and mom and pop properties that want to target more potential customers with efficiency.

It is hard to forget how thousands of Target customers financial information was compromised last year due to a breach in security of the company's POS. Target is not the only company that has been infected with this program that steals credit and debit card information. Actually, there have been more than a thousand businesses affected by this malware that has come to be called "Backoff." The malware targets POS systems and has stolen millions of credit card numbers as well as personal information on millions of customers. A large majority of cybercrime is focused on attacking business's POS systems. The malware attacks systems by going through a list of common passwords until it is able to hack the system. "Backoff" then disguises itself as a compatible Java component and collects credit card information. However, Apple has recently announced Apple Pay and many believe this can diminish a lot of cybercrime.

It is hard to forget how thousands of Target customers financial information was compromised last year due to a breach in security of the company's POS. Target is not the only company that has been infected with this program that steals credit and debit card information. Actually, there have been more than a thousand businesses affected by this malware that has come to be called "Backoff." The malware targets POS systems and has stolen millions of credit card numbers as well as personal information on millions of customers. A large majority of cybercrime is focused on attacking business's POS systems. The malware attacks systems by going through a list of common passwords until it is able to hack the system. "Backoff" then disguises itself as a compatible Java component and collects credit card information. However, Apple has recently announced Apple Pay and many believe this can diminish a lot of cybercrime.

This is an amazing technology. A customer can use his cellphone to do the reservation, check-in, enter the room and pay the bill. If  this technology can be widely used in this industry. It really can bring a lot of convenience to both the hotels and the customers. It is also very safe, because only your cellphone can open your room and the cellphone is also a identification of a customer. But there are two concerns. First is the cost of this technology and the hardware. It can be too much to afford for the hotels. Second, is it really that safety. What if someone lose his mobile?