HOTELMARKETING.COM

What online retailers can learn from Orbitz

July 11, 2012 | Hotel Marketing

All stores - both online and physical - should tailor offerings to their purchasing segments. In an online environment, that might mean offering different choices to customers based on their purchase history or the kinds of products they've clicked on in the past.

After the travel website Orbitz recognized that people who access its site using Macs spent as much as 30% more on hotels than PC users, it began to take advantage of the insight, rigging its search engine to routinely show Mac users a ritzier selection of hotels than customers using a PC.

This type of segmentation is tried-and-true in the brick and mortar world. Customers at a hardware store in Beverly Hills are likely to buy different products compared to those in less affluent areas, for instance. This is why product selections for individual stores in a nationwide chain often differ by location. Similarly, customers who inquire about high-end products are likely to have different tastes and budgets than the norm, and be shown different sets of products. Banter with customers provides clues on which products a sales person should feature. Finally, B2B sales forces may elect to only offer some products to specific segments — not to everyone.

Offering tailored selections is win-win. Customers benefit from more efficient shopping experiences and satisfaction that their needs are being well-served. Companies win by attracting, and profiting from, customers with differing price sensitivities — ranging from "I want the cheapest" to "money is no object."

Get the full story at Harvard Business Review

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