This group research report is on the Analysis of E-Commerce Transaction Broker websites where we were to investigate the nature and operations of one of them. A transaction broker is an intermediary who acts as a middleman, merely providing the business link between a buyer and a host of sellers, and earning a commission for each successful transaction. However they do not own the products or services they selling.
In this research, we have chosen AsiaRooms.com as our research entity. Asiarooms.com is a B2C dealing in transaction brokering e-Commerce. We will explore its purposes, features, design, strength, weaknesses, security, privacy etc.
Electronic Commerce, commonly known as (electronic marketing) e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage. The use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, etc. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as business-to-business or B2B. B2B can be open to all interested parties (e.g. commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants (private electronic market). Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses and consumers, on the other hand, is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted by companies such as Amazon.com. There is also a type of electronic commerce referred to as C2C which is conducted consumer-to-consumer.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce )
Asiarooms...
AsiaRooms.com has been operating online since 1994.
Purposes
AsiaRooms.com specialise in hotels booking. They act as a platform for consumers like you and I to perform search on our ideal hotels based on our preferences. Preferences can range from the Star ratings of the hotel to price and location etc. They even have a forum to allow you to share your travel and vacation experiences. If you are wondering which places to visit, which hotel to stay in or even finding a companion to travel with, the forum would be the place for you.
They have thousands of hotels listed on website located all over Asia and beyond. Key destinations include Thailand, India, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Cambodia and Hong Kong. Great deals and availability across the UK and Europe offering the best possible rates can be found there.
AsiaRooms.com offers a unique vehicle through which hotels can sell their rooms. They are responsible for uploading their rates, availability and information. AsiaRooms.com simply specialise in securing the best deals across Asia, and making them available to everyone. Their call center is open 24 hours a day for your convenience.
By constantly reviewing the hotels they offer, they ensure that everyone receive the quality they expect at the very best value for money. AsiaRooms.com aim is to make your travel arrangements easy at an attractive price.
Strength
AsiaRooms.com work completely independently from any hotel groups; so all types of accommodation providers from large hotel chains, to independent hotels, apartments and guest houses can be found in their website. All hotels listed on the site update their own prices and availability therefore the information provided are reliable.
Advantages if booking accommodation via AsiaRooms.com includes:
- You can book up to a whole year in advance or right up until the moment of your stay.
- You can book online or over the telephone 24 hours a day
- AsiaRooms.com can confirm availability immediately whether booking online or via the telephone – they will send you an email to confirm your booking.
- AsiaRooms.com doesn’t charge you a booking fee, cancellation fee or modification fee.
- AsiaRooms.com doesn’t take payment from you, they simply use your credit card details to secure the room and you pay the hotel on departure.
- The price you see on the website is the price you pay - there are no hidden extras in our prices.
- You get better value due to their new way of working with hotels.
- AsiaRooms.com now has lots of European hotel partners working with them offering even more choice, wherever you need to stay.
The website contains all information required by user to book and even plan their own holiday package but there are also its limitations:
- "Asia Rooms charged us double what we would have paid if we had booked directly with the hotel it seems. We used Asia Rooms because we believed they could get us a better rate and we paid twice as much as we should have in my opinion",reviews from a guest. People wish to have a better value and best rates while looking for Asia Rooms in order to have a pleasurable journey but not all the hotels in Asia Rooms providing the best rates.
- Besides, in the homepage it is not clear that the cancellation policy is depending on the hotel you book depended on the hotel policy or whether the refund is given upon the cancellation as it only stated that they don't charge the booking fee, cancellation fee or modification fee. It should made clear for the guests on the website.
Designs
AsiaRooms.com is a simple and easy to navigate platform. Users can begin their search in the main homepage.
Based on the need of users, they can click on the tabs to find out more such as hotels, reviews, community, travel guides, travel insurance etc.
For each hotel, a photo is being attached together with the rating and price of the hotel in different currencies. They also provide facilities of the hotel.
A contact us page can be found if users encountered any problems or they want to make their reservation through phone calls.
Features
Precise tabs are available for users to navigate through the website.
Homepage- User can begin their search straight away.
Hotels- Based on Cities location, list of hotels will be shown, user can then find out more about the pricing, ratings, facilities, location etc.
Reviews- If you want to find out more on the hotel, you can click on reviews to read about other travellers’ experience in the hotel.
Community- A forum to allow user to share travel and vacation experiences. A perfect place to browse, if you are looking for ‘must visit’ places, best hotel to stay in or even finding a travel companion.
Travel Guide- Guides for different countries can be found, such as overviews, cultures, popular destinations and tourist attractions.
Travel Insurance- Insurance can be bought through the website as well.
Contact us- Contacts information are available in regards to making booking, customer services, Head office address, hotel relations, marketing team and account team.
My Booking- The place to check your booking status or to cancel your booking.
Add Your Hotel- Hotel owners who like to have their hotel featured in AsiaRooms.com can proceed to this tab.
FAQ- Any questions you want to find out, click here.
Security And Privacy
Asiarooms.com understands that making purchases online involves your trust and that you wish to remain in control of your personal information. Retaining your trust is a responsibility that Asiarooms.com takes very seriously. By disclosing your Personal Information to Asiarooms.com using this Site or over the telephone, you consent to the collection, storage and processing of your Personal Information by Asiarooms.com as stated in this Privacy Policy.
Since Asiarooms.com servers are located in the United Kingdom, the personal information that Asiarooms.com collects from you shall be obtained, processed and transmitted in compliance with European Directives 95/46 and 2002/58, as well as any other such legislation that substitutes complements and develops it such as the Personal Data Protection Act 1998 from the United Kingdom (hereinafter collectively referred to by its initials PDPR (personal data protection regulation)).
Asiarooms.com takes full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information and store the information in secure databases at secure addresses to prevent unauthorized access. Asiarooms.com must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law. These details are protected by the latest SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology, which is independently certified by Global sign.
Conclusions
Asia Rooms implements their duty to be a creditable, reliable transaction broker, to offer the very best rates and availability for their guest. It is very important that buyer must looks particularly on all the informations and details provided in the website to avoid some disamenities. The website only provide the recent reviews and some complaints may have been filtrated. It is good to have an better improvement based on the complaints. With the advanced information system,buyers may find the book reviews anywhere, the buyer must beware that all reviewers may have bias and different standard for it.
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