TDS Europe 2006 special: By EyeforTravel CorrespondentSmartShopper provides suppliers with a great opportunity to have their relevant inventory and brands offered to highly targeted users at exactly the most relevant time – whenever searching to b

Published: 25 Jul 2006

TDS Europe 2006 special: By EyeforTravel Correspondent

SmartShopper provides suppliers with a great opportunity to have their relevant inventory and brands offered to highly targeted users at exactly the most relevant time – whenever searching to b

“It is absolutely possible to maintain brand integrity within our product because the industry as a whole is finding out that it’s not all about price. Despite that, we believe price is and will remain a large factor in user decision making,” Eliraz had told EyeforTravel.com’s Ritesh Gupta recently. The detailed version of the interview follows:

SmartShopper’s mission is to simplify and enrich the online shopping experience and in its company profile it also admits: “we know that online shopping has yet to live up to this promise”. How do you think your company has made a difference and what would you consider to be major achievements in this arena?

SmartShopper’s biggest achievement has been to deliver a quality desktop comparative shopping experience, both for travel and for shopping. The idea behind a desktop application is that it does comparison work for you. Rather than you having to go to multiple sites and compare prices, SmartShopper leverages its smart product recognition and matching technology and intelligently does most of the work for the user.

Earlier this year, your company launched a robust comparison shopping tool that scours both retail and travel Web sites, combining two Internet activities into one simple application. What kind of response has this product managed?

We’ve seen great response for this product both from our users and the press. We’ve had steady growth in our user base, and our users take an active role in our improvement of the product by letting us know what new features and verticals they would like to see.

How has your dealing with clients changed over the last six months or so?

Our strategy has not changed much – our job is to give users from all markets and regions the best content possible, and to provide our partners with a quality and effective distribution channel. Our partner list has grown substantially as we’ve signed major players such as Opodo, Octopus Travel, WorldRes and others that are looking for increased exposure.

What according to you suppliers from airline, hotel or car rental company think about online travel as a marketplace for their products/services? Can they help to increase distribution whilst maintaining brand integrity? Or are they simply another step towards a price driven, commoditised market?

We believe our partners are extremely happy with their relationship. Research has shown that people are going online more to research and book their travel, and are going to at least 3-4 sites before deciding. SmartShopper provides suppliers with a great opportunity to have their relevant inventory and brands offered to highly targeted users at exactly the most relevant time – whenever searching to book travel online. It is absolutely possible to maintain brand integrity within our product because the industry as a whole is finding out that it’s not all about price. Despite that, we believe price is and will remain a large factor in user decision making.

What’s your viewpoint regarding achieving long term market share from client’s perspective? How would you assess comparison shopping technology, PPC advertising or effective SE optimisation?

From our perspective, the only way to grow market share is by providing a great service and by designing a product with long term quality of service and innovation in mind.

Is the PPC model sustainable? What alternative forms of online marketing are viable in the long-term?

We don’t see PPC as the exclusive model, as it is not always a win-win situation like with CPA or commission-based models. However, the PPC model can be highly effective and cost-efficient when you are able to target the right users and present them with the information they are looking for at that time.