Description
What explains Expedia's undisputed success in the travel industry in general and in the car rental sector in particular? Why is customer experience more important than price for Expedia? How will the contactless transaction change the future of the car rental transaction by taking the concept of merchandise to the next level?
In this episode, Emmanuel Scuto, founder and CEO of WeYield, talks with Nicolas Le Nue, Director of Global & Key Accounts Car at Expedia Group.
They talk about
- pricing and spiral of shrinking prices further down
- customer experience as number one driver for Expedia
- the future of contactless and the possiblity to sell ancillaries by the car rental operator
- new markets like peer-to-peer and electric vehicles (EV)
- sharing point of view and vulnerabilty
When it comes to pricing, the most important thing Nicolas needs to focus on is customer value. There is no doubt that the lower the price, the worse the customer experience for the traveler, as Expedia shows.
Despite the perception that brokers are increasingly pulling down prices, Nicolas explains why low prices are a vicious circle. All parties lose in this approach.
Nicolas Le Nue has spent his entire career in the car rental business since 1997 as a booking agent for Europcar International, then moved to the UK to manage the UK booking team for Europcar. In 2011, Nicolas left the rental business to join Ebooker (Orbitz Group), the wholesale business.
From 2020 to 2023, the two-year pandemic had a significant impact on the car rental market, especially on the supply side for car rental operators. But on the consumer side, customers felt they were being served by a lower quality service as prices increased and the cars offered were older. Customer ratings have especially dropped in the U.S. market since Covid's launch (March 2020).
WeYield reported a higher level of cancellation with an increase of +25 and +35% in 2022.The number one criterion before the pandemic was price. Then during and after the pandemic, free cancellation policy became the number one criteria followed by car sanitation. The price went down. But starting in 4Q22, price and flexibility (change and cancellation). For Expedia, prices can go down as long as the customer experience is not affected.
As far as technology is concerned, a customer who uses the operator's applications is more loyal and regular. Contactless will enhance that loyalty and customer happiness. But from a revenue management perspective, will the car rental operator have less opportunity to recoup the low reservation price by selling accessories at the counter?
Integration of medium or local brands remains a problem for Expedia because of technical issues related to connectivity.
To follow Nicolas, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-le-nu%C3%A9-ab43214/
Discover in this episode:
- 0:00:00 to 0:10:00 Introduction of Nicolas Le Nue
- 0:10:00 to 0:18:10 Link between price and customer satisfaction at Expedia
- 0:18:10 to 0:36:25 Consumer changes since Covid started in March 2020
- 0:32:25 to 0:48:30 Contactless will be the next step to improve customer satisfaction
- 0:48:30 to O:53:35 Is it possible to be listed by Expedia if we are not a big brand?
- O:53:35 to 0:58:40 Nicolas' perception of the mobility market with electric vehicles EV
- 0:58:40 to 1:10:05 Differences between a European and an American company
- 1:10:05 to the end conclusion
References
- Wheels operating system edited by Wheelsys
- Jimpisoft car...
In this episode, Emmanuel Scuto, founder and CEO of WeYield, talks with Nicolas Le Nue, Director of Global & Key Accounts Car at Expedia Group.
They talk about
- pricing and spiral of shrinking prices further down
- customer experience as number one driver for Expedia
- the future of contactless and the possiblity to sell ancillaries by the car rental operator
- new markets like peer-to-peer and electric vehicles (EV)
- sharing point of view and vulnerabilty
When it comes to pricing, the most important thing Nicolas needs to focus on is customer value. There is no doubt that the lower the price, the worse the customer experience for the traveler, as Expedia shows.
Despite the perception that brokers are increasingly pulling down prices, Nicolas explains why low prices are a vicious circle. All parties lose in this approach.
Nicolas Le Nue has spent his entire career in the car rental business since 1997 as a booking agent for Europcar International, then moved to the UK to manage the UK booking team for Europcar. In 2011, Nicolas left the rental business to join Ebooker (Orbitz Group), the wholesale business.
From 2020 to 2023, the two-year pandemic had a significant impact on the car rental market, especially on the supply side for car rental operators. But on the consumer side, customers felt they were being served by a lower quality service as prices increased and the cars offered were older. Customer ratings have especially dropped in the U.S. market since Covid's launch (March 2020).
WeYield reported a higher level of cancellation with an increase of +25 and +35% in 2022.The number one criterion before the pandemic was price. Then during and after the pandemic, free cancellation policy became the number one criteria followed by car sanitation. The price went down. But starting in 4Q22, price and flexibility (change and cancellation). For Expedia, prices can go down as long as the customer experience is not affected.
As far as technology is concerned, a customer who uses the operator's applications is more loyal and regular. Contactless will enhance that loyalty and customer happiness. But from a revenue management perspective, will the car rental operator have less opportunity to recoup the low reservation price by selling accessories at the counter?
Integration of medium or local brands remains a problem for Expedia because of technical issues related to connectivity.
To follow Nicolas, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-le-nu%C3%A9-ab43214/
Discover in this episode:
- 0:00:00 to 0:10:00 Introduction of Nicolas Le Nue
- 0:10:00 to 0:18:10 Link between price and customer satisfaction at Expedia
- 0:18:10 to 0:36:25 Consumer changes since Covid started in March 2020
- 0:32:25 to 0:48:30 Contactless will be the next step to improve customer satisfaction
- 0:48:30 to O:53:35 Is it possible to be listed by Expedia if we are not a big brand?
- O:53:35 to 0:58:40 Nicolas' perception of the mobility market with electric vehicles EV
- 0:58:40 to 1:10:05 Differences between a European and an American company
- 1:10:05 to the end conclusion
References
- Wheels operating system edited by Wheelsys
- Jimpisoft car...
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