Retail model antiquated, Kayak says

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Kayak has said that the retail model is increasingly antiquated, and that online platforms are eating into trade’s traditional market share.

In an exclusive interview with Travel Weekly Kayak Vice President APAC Debby Soo has voiced her reservations about brick and mortar stores.

“When we did the research we found that a lot of people are actually not going to travel agents anymore,” Soo said.

“They are going to online travel searches. That presence has doubled so we are continuing to eat into the share of traditional travel agents,” Soo told Travel Weekly.

“Agents have a lot of institutional knowledge so I’m not saying they’re not valuable at all but in a culture or environment of instantaneous information at your fingertips, walking into a store is not going to cut it anymore.”

“Having fixed cost retail stores and travel agents in the world of digital is not going to scale,” Soo said.

“This model of brick and mortar and having a retail shop on every corner, while it’s been great in the past and super convenient – you can just walk down the street – I think that model is increasingly antiquated.”

“You’re seeing players like Flight Centre push, move and pivot online and gain users that way.”

Soo said that awareness of Flight Centre’s entry into online, Aunt Betty, was low.

“Have you heard of Aunt Betty? No one’s heard of it.”

Despite that, Kayak support and work with Flight Centre.

“We are rooting for them and there’s a place in the market for them.”

“It’s a lot easier to build an online presence than to open a physical store,” Soo said.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

Latest comments

Mel Haycock says:
July 11, 2016 at 2:21 pm
You don’t have to be Einstein to know that “… we found that a lot of people are actually not going to travel agents anymore,” Of course they aren’t as that is a natural progression of technology, however, don’t discount the value of Flight Centre’s “… model of bricks and mortar and having a retail shop on every corner” as they are a vital marketing adjunct to FC’s huge advertising … it reinforces their brand awareness. I also think Skroo Turner is astute enough to recognise this and, whilst Aunt Betty is not yet top of mind with consumers, he has the ability to gradually reduce staffing and his number of retail outlets as his online presence grows.
Mel Haycock – My Personal Travel
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