Using the Web for Business Assignment

1. Using the Web for Business Assignment Batch: BABM7 Group E team members: Su Tzouh Yang Jerel Wong Shi Yun Ng SeokHarMagadalene 1

2. Website: http://www.zuji.com.sg

3. About: Zuji • “Online travel agent” that provides travelers in the Asia Pacific with wide variety of options in flights, hotels and packages at attractive rates online. • One-stop online site that provides travel insurance, car hire services and recommend places of interest for the travelers Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/help/corporate/about_zuji.html?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg

4. Website Evaluation Methodology • Using “Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines “ (Koyani, Bailey and Nall, 2004) • Number of guidelines used: 14 • Levels of “Relative Importance” reviewed: 5 & 4

5. Website Evaluation Methodology

6. Business Model • Operate as a brokerage intermediaries that provides travel related services ranging from flight bookings to travel insurance (Rappa, 2006). • Provide a platform for travel and tour related industries to advertise their services and promotion (Rappa, 2006). Sources: http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html

7. Business Model • Provide useful content • Useful and relevant online content provided to the consumers is important as there is a direct link between consumers who looking for “product information” on the internet and their tendency to purchase (Kim & Kim, 2003).

8. Business Model • Provide useful content Zuji has put “Today’s top deals” and hotels that Zuji customers frequently book on one page, to bring customers straight to the best deals available currently. Zuji has indeed provided “engaging, relevant and appropriate” content for customers looking for travel and travel-related information (Koyani, Bailey and Nall, 2004). . Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg

9. Business Model • Website Credibility • Updated and trustworthy links that are easy to access information will affect the consumer’s decision to purchase. (Corritore et al., 2003)

10. Business Model • Website Credibility Updated and reliable link to Ministry of Foreign Affair, Singapore • It is important that Zuji, as an online service provider of travel related services, have to ensure that information presented on its website is accurate and up-to-date. • The credibility of the website will be affected if the information link provided to consumers is broken. Broken Links to Ministry of Foreign Affair, Singapore Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/travel_deals/travel_extras/?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg

11. Website Benefits • Creating A Positive First Impression • Homepage is the “key to conveying the quality” of their website (Koyani, Bailey and Nall, 2004) • Visual appeal: a “poor design and layout” can turn away customers (Park, Gretzel, & Sirakaya-Turk, 2007). • A well-designed website helps to boost sales volume as well as the organisation’s reputation (Law and Leung, 2000).

12. Website Benefits • Bright and cheerful colourful scheme of blue, orange and red. • Fun illustrations and pictures of holiday destinations • Fancy fonts and catchy headlines of promotions • Leaves impression on viewers and make them want to continue browsing the site (Siu & Fung, 1998). Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/

13. Website Benefits • Be Easily Found in the Top 30 • Website has high chance of being visited, if it is in the “top 30 references presented from a major search engine” (Koyani, Bailey and Nall, 2004) • Keywords: “Cheap travel deal” used in Google and Yahoo! Search. • Google – 4th place. Yahoo! – 5th place.

14. Website Limitations • Search Result and Engine • An option to search for results and a search engine are important for travelers when deciding whether to transact with online travel agencies (Lexhagen, 2005). • Easily accessible and effective search services will increase the probability of purchase from the consumers.

15. Website Limitations • Search Result and Engine • The search database was only made available at the “Customer Care” link and not the home page. • The search database has low visibility on the website and so does not effectively serve the purpose of allowing customers to use it conveniently. Zuji has provided consumers with a comprehensive search result for flights, hotel availability and package deals. Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/help/customer-care.html?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg

16. Website Limitations • Search Result and Engine When users makes searches through the search engine, the website will direct users to an advanced search engine regardless of whether there is any return from the initial search Easy access of the search engine Source: http://www.travelplanner.com.sg/ Source: http://www.travelplanner.com.sg/?s=United+Kingdom

17. Website Limitations • Responsiveness • Prompt responsiveness have always been critical in retaining customers (Yang & Jun, 2002). • Ease of contact and a prompt response to urgent matters like flight and accommodation issues are important determinants of their service quality.

18. Website Limitations • Responsiveness • Misa, another online travel agency, provides emergency contact numbers for consumers. • Can give assistance to unforeseen circumstances relating to any air tickets and hotel bookings issues which were made on their website. • Zuji provides a hotline and email address as forms of contact for consumers to establish communication with them. • However, the hotline numbers are not made available for 24hrs Source: http://www.airfares.com.sg/storedir/contactus1.htm Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/help/customer-care.html?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg

19. Website Architecture • Part of the process of website development • Understand the objective of the specific group of Target Audience • Ensure that the interface is user friendly • Create a smooth online consumers experience Reference: Khosrowpour, M 2006, Encyclopedia Of E-Commerce, E-Government, And Mobile Commerce, n.p.: Idea Group Reference, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 1 December 2012.

20. Website Architecture • Structure • 3 different types of site structure: • Sequential Structure • Hierarchical Structure • Web Structure Chaffey, D., 2011. E-business & E-commerce Management - Strategy, implementation and practice. 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

21. Website Architecture • Structure

22. Website Architecture • Structure • Based on Zuji website, they uses Web structure that allow freedom of flow by online consumers.

23. Website Architecture • Necessary information is being displayed • Thinking and behaviour of an online consumer is different from traditional retail consumer as the online consumer already knew the purpose of visiting the website. As such, relevant and significant information must appear on the website (Khosrowpour, 2006). Reference: Khosrowpour, M 2006, Encyclopedia Of E-Commerce, E-Government, And Mobile Commerce, n.p.: Idea Group Reference, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost, viewed 1 December 2012.

24. Website Architecture • Necessary information is being displayed • Travellers can also click on quick links on either one of web page to locate the information. • Price Guarantee Cruise web page Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/travel_deals/best-price-guarantee.html?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg Source: http://www.zujisg.cruiseagents.com.sg/

25. Website Architecture Zuji homepage • Show all major options on Homepage The homepage tabs (boxed in black) have almost all the required information by the travellers. All the primary information are reflected on ZUJI, for example, search result for flights, hotels and travel packages information (boxed in red). Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg

26. Website Architecture • Important items are consistently placed • There is a consistent structure throughout the website. Flight page Zuji Homepage Source: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/travel/flights/

27. Website Architecture • Understand and meet User Expectation • On cruise web page, there is different search result and information that will only be require by travellers who are interested in cruise instead of flights or for online consumers who needs option for their wants Cruise web page Source: http://www.zujisg.cruiseagents.com.sg/

28. Website Architecture • Understand and meet User Expectation • Travellers can also include activities for their trips. They can click on the web page and to search or locate the activities deal. Activities page Source: http://www.partner.viator.com/en/1582

29. Use and Usability • Usability - part of the concept of design used for analyzing the ease of use of a product or service (Chaffey, 2011). • Usability is a “necessary condition for survival” (Nielsen, 2000b). • In a study to measure website quality of OTAs, “ease of use” was most important reason for the “willingness to use”(Park, Gretzel, & Sirakaya-Turk, 2007).

30. Use and Usability • Usability for OTAs include: • Ease of navigation • Interactive features like reservation and booking features • Amount of “textual and graphical information” • The number of languages that the site is available in (Scharl, Wöber, & Bauer, 2004).

31. Use and Usability • Use Clear Category Labels • All categories are clearly labeled and some appropriate descriptors on the left menu have been added to give more information • Short, generic labels that are easily understood by the typical user, for example simple words like “flights”, “hotels” and “car hire”.

32. Use and Usability • Eliminate Horizontal Scrolling • The need for horizontal scrolling is an inconvenience to viewers and affects the quality of the user’s experience. • Zuji’swebpages do not require any horizontal scrolling as all content are kept within a viewable width within the browser window, unless user needs to zoom in.

33. Use and Usability Original size of webpage

34. Use and Usability After webpage has been zoomed in to 125%

35. Use and Usability • To gauge overall perception of the usability of Zuji’s website - questionnaire. • 3 broad categories: 1. Content, organisation and readability, 2. Navigation and links, 3. User interface design. • More than 65% - agree Zuji’s website is easy to navigate and the use-interface design of Zuji makes it easy to use. • About 42% - felt website’s layout was a little cluttered and hard to read. Area of improvement for Zuji?

36. Conclusion • Overall, the usability of Zuji’s website is perceived to be on an acceptable level. • It largely meets the quality criteria required of websites of OTAs. • Zuji should look into areas like availability of contact outside of office hours and reduction of webpage clutter.

37. Questions & Answers

38. References • Chaffey, D., 2011. E-business & E-commerce Management - Strategy, implementation and practice. 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. • Corritore, C. L., Kracher, B. & Wiedenbeck, S., 2003. On-line trust: concepts, evolving themes, a model. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 58(6), pp. 737-758. • Kaynama, S. & Black, C., 2000. A proposal to assess the service quality of online travel agencies: An exploratory study.. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 21(1), pp. 63-88. • Khosrowpour, M., 2006. EBSCOhost: Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Government, And Mobile Commerce. [Online] Available at: http://0-ehis.ebscohost.com.brum.beds.ac.uk/ehost/detail?sid=1146daf0-1ad6-4a8e-86b7-ce649b0fcb40%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=nlebk&AN=144637[Accessed 1 December 2012 2012]. • Kim, D. J. & Kim, W. G., 2003. A Perceptual Mapping Of Online Travel Agencies And Preference Attributes. 2003 Annual International CHRIE Conference and Exposition Proceedings, pp. 194-200. • Kim, D. J., Kim, W. G. & Han, J. S., 2007. A perceptual mapping of online travel agencies and preference attributes. Tourism Management, 28(2), pp. 591-603. • Lam, L. W. & Harrison-Walker , L. J., 2003. Toward an objective-based typology of e-business model. Business Horizons, 46(6), pp. 17-26. • Law, R. & Leung, R., 2000. A Study of Airline's Online Reservation Services On The Internet. Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), pp. 202-211. • Koyani S.J., Bailey R.W. and Nall J., 2004. Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines.

39. References • Lexhagen, M., 2005. The Importance of Value-Added Services to Support The Customer Search and Purchase Process of Travel Websites. Information Technology & Tourism, Volume 7, pp. 119-135. • Mebrate, T., 2010. A framework for evaluating Academic Website’s quality - From students’ perspective. [Online] Available at: http://scholar.google.com.sg/scholar?cites=17754597134216138270&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5&hl=en[Accessed 8 December 2012]. • MISA Travel Pte Ltd, 2012. MISA Travel - Customer Service - Contact Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.airfares.com.sg/storedir/contactus1.htm[Accessed 30 November 2012]. • Mustafa, S. H. & Loai F. Al-Zoua’bi , 2008. Usability of the Academic Websites of Jordan's Universities An Evaluation Study. • Nielsen, J., 2000b. Designing web usability. Indianapolis: New Riders Press. • Park, Y. A., Gretzel, U. & Sirakaya-Turk, E., 2007. Measuring Web Site Quality for Online Travel Agencies. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 23(1), pp. 15-30. • Quotient Travel Planner Pte Ltd, 2012. Online Travel Agency - Customised Travel | Quotient TravelPlanner. [Online] Available at: http://www.travelplanner.com.sg[Accessed 29 November 2012]. • Scharl, A., Wöber, K. & Bauer, C., 2004. An integrated approach to measure web site effectiveness in the European hotel industry. Information Technology and Tourism, 6(4), pp. 257-271. • Shim, S., Eastlick, M., Lotz, S. & Warrington, P., 2001. An Online Prepurchase Intentions Model: The Role of Intention To Search. Journal of Retailing, 77(3), pp. 397-416.

40. References • Siu, W. & Fung, M., 1998. Hotel advertisements in China: A content analysis. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 17(2), pp. 99-108. • Yang, Z. & Jun, M., 2002. Consumer Perception of E-Service Quality: From Internet Purchaser and Non-Purchaser Perspectives. Journal of Business Strategies, 19(1), pp. 19-41. • ZUJI Properties A.V.V., 2002-2012. Inspiring holidays at great fares & hotel rates online - About ZUJI - Singapore. [Online] Available at: http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/help/corporate/about_zuji.html?skin=ensg.zuji.com.sg[Accessed 28 November 2012]. • ZUJI Properties A.V.V, 2002-2012. Your Online Travel Agency - Cheap Travel Deals and Holiday Discounts - ZUJI. [Online] Available at: http://www.zuji.com.sg/[Accessed 28 November 2012]. • ZUJI Properties A.V.V, 2002-2012. Your Online Travel Agency - Cheap Travel Deals and Holiday Discounts - ZUJI. [Online] Available at: http://www.zuji.com.sg/[Accessed 28 November 2012].