Business Model and the Web App.
We have witnessed how a lot of business models have changed with the use of mobile technology and web application development. Uber in transport, Airbnb in accommodation, Amazon in e-commerce have led to major changes in customer behavior, and have attracted them - especially in America.
The advancement of technology such as software entering smart phones, websites turning into programmable applications, ability of mobile phone browsers to handle these applications and the increase in Internet speeds have changed consumer behavior. Above all this, digital marketing, social media and marketing applications have become very effective tools for such companies in order for them to be heard.
Like these disruptive companies that have changed rules in making business, many competitors have also surfaced. However, many of these companies that were not able to introduce a different approach or provide quality services have disappeared. In this equation, it is obvious that the business model is just as important as developing the app. Mobile web apps are the surface of the ice berg. The way the customer is going to be served, the quality of the service and process in which the service will be delivered are issues that are just as important.
In this aspect, I would like to share my last holiday experience: My sister made reservations, months earlier, to Sile Gardens Hotel from Tatil Sepeti (www.tatilsepeti.com) website - where she had stayed and liked earlier – for me, my dad and her. So we got to the hotel reception with great excitement. The clerk told us that the hotel was full despite looking at our fair reservation documents. We were told that the room we had reserved was called ‘Cabana’ which was right next to the pool. My sister told the receptionist that she had asked especially for quite rooms. My sister then called Tatil Sepeti representatives and told them the story. Meanwhile I looked at the website of the hotel and it showed that they had ‘Standard’ rooms which matched our reservation documents – not Cabana rooms. Obviously they were lying.
The Tatil Sepeti Representatives got back to us and told us there was nothing they could do and that the hotel was fully booked. They got us another reservation in another smaller hotel. So there was major change of plans after a long wait. The hotel did not even apologize! They even said things like “you came at a bad time”.
A business success does not come from just building a website application. It is obvious that the business model is completely wrong, in this case. There is no guarantee to the reservations made from this tatilsepeti.com web site. This is a business model where they take your money and not make sure your reservation is valid. So, it is not much different than a fraud website. Their choice to work with a hotel as amateur as Sile Gardens is another anomaly in the business model (by the way, the hotel is no longer Best Western when my sister had stayed and liked, long ago).
Evidently there is no decent contract between Tatil Sepeti and Sile Gardens Hotel. Since there was no apology from the hotel’s side, I am left to guess: the owner gave the rooms to a close friend or perhaps they made more money from our rooms by re-selling it. Whatever the reason, both Tatil Sepeti and Sile Garden Hotel have lost. Not only will we ever prefer or trust these businesses, but we will tell everyone around us about this fiasco – not to mention, make use of the powerful social media for mass communication.
I don’t think Tatil Sepeti can continue with this business model. As long as they don’t guarantee rooms that are reserved from their website application, they are bound to lose to competition that have better business models - no matter how fantastic the website looks…
