Snapshot of Consumer Behaviors of March 2024-EOLiSurvey (EN).pdf
Distribution channels
1. Place = Distribution
The 4Ps
Product, Price, Place, Promotion
What the “P” of Price is to Revenue
Management, the “P” of Place is to
Distribution
2. Distribution
Today “distribution” in the hospitality industry
generally references transient sales today
Revenue management and distribution merging
together
Internet marketing includes distribution issues
3. Distribution Channels
A distribution channel - set of
independent organizations involved in the
process of making a product or service
available to the consumer or business user
Used to move the customer towards the
product or the product to the customer
Organic development of an industry
4. Distribution Channels
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
People and firms involved
in the transfer of title to a product
as the product moves from producer to
ultimate consumer or business user
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
People and firms involved
in the transfer of title to a product
as the product moves from producer to
ultimate consumer or business user
Producers Middlemen
Final
Consumer
Or
Business
User
5. Copyright 2007, Prentice Hall,
Inc. 10-5
Marketing Channel or Distribution
Channel
A set of interdependent organizations
involved in the process of making a product
or service available for use or consumption
by the consumer or business user.
Wholesalers
Distributors
Dealerships
Retailers
6. Distribution also describes
Locations for hotel brand distribution
Franchising
Ownership
Management contracts
The sales staff and system
Group sales or volume accounts
Reservations and transient sales
National sales offices
Representation firms, consortia
7. Distribution Channel Functions
Information: consumer behavior “search
stage”
Promotion: messaging
Negotiation: price and other terms
(how is this done online?
Physical distribution: think e-tickets?
Prospecting: finding, communicating, and
tracking prospective buyers
8. Digitalization and Connectivity
Digitalization - converting text, data,
sound, and image into a stream of bits
that can be dispatched at high speeds
from one platform to another
Connectivity - building networks
connecting people and companies;
social and mobile convergence
9. Direct versus Indirect Channels
Direct Channels
Employed sales staff
National sales staff
Brand.com
Voice/CRS/Mobile
Indirect – Intermediaries
Why use them?
Why so many of them?
10. Getting the Customer to the Product
Reservation
services
Representation
firms
Consortia
Incentive travel
organizations
Corporate travel
management
Global distribution
systems (GDS)
Traditional off-line
travel agents
Central reservation
systems (CRS)
Internet channels
Websites
11. Push vs. Pull strategies
Pushing the product “down” through the
distribution channel TO the customer
Incentives to travel agents and intermediaries
Pulling the customer “up” through the
distribution to the channel
Traditional media/private sales/CRM
12. Why Use Intermediaries?
Selling through wholesalers and retailers usually is
much more efficient and cost effective than direct
sales
Fragmentation of the travel purchase and travel
inventory, transportation (idea of “lift”), hotels,
attractions, meeting facilities, restaurants, and so on.
14. E-Commerce & E-Marketing
E-commerce involves buying and selling
processes supported by electronic means,
primarily the Internet
E-marketing is company efforts to
communicate about, promote, and sell
products and other services over the Intranet;
also web or Internet Marketing
15. E-Commerce Domains
B2C (business to consumer)
Branded websites
B2B (business to business)
Passkey
C2B (consumer to business)
User groups
C2C (consumer to consumer)
Blogs; review sites are blends of above
16. Internet Intermediaries
History of the internet as a discount channel
Price and convenience key drivers still
Dominance about inventory allocation
Consistency of all 4Ps by channel
How Product is described
Pricing parity
Channel profitability
Communication needs to vary by segment (channel)
17. Major Issues/Challenges
Costs have risen as has competition
Global differences in systems
Technology also flattening this
System hard to change and complex to manage
Historical controls of GDS, OTA
Diversity of travel “parts” makes all of the
distribution points part of the experience and if an
intermediary fails, so does the experience
18. Major Issues/Challenges
Fragmented owner-manager relationships
Capital costs for technology and talent
Travel agents reinvention imperative remains
Battle of the brands—brand channels that is!
Big data: not new
Proliferation: more more more more
Mobile?
Monetizing social media
19. Evaluation of Channels
Control and cost of each channel
Tracking of statistics to better negotiate
contracts in the future
Understand when and why to use a channel
Good channel management ensures
customer satisfaction AND revenue
optimization AND profit maximization
20. Goal for hotels in distribution
Q: What is the definition of revenue
management?
A: Selling the right product to the right
customer at the right time for the right (read:
maximum) price!…by the right channel!