This is a group mini-research project to study in e-commerce transaction broker. E-commerce transaction broker is acting as a middleman between buyers and sellers without selling own products and services. Transaction broker receives commission from every successful transaction. In this project, we will need to discuss its purposes, features, designs, strength, weaknesses and problems. We choose “travelchinaguide.com” website to analyze e-commerce transaction broker.
HISTORY
Since 1998, www.travelchinaguide.com website has been the cooperative product of Xian Diamond Network Co. Ltd and China Xian Marco Polo International Travel Service Co., Ltd., ,ratified by China National Tourism Administration, is qualified to run the business mainly for overseas customers travelling in China and Chinese inbound travel. Basing on professional experience, leading network technology and the advanced managing-people concept, it creates the best electronic commerce platform for China travel, leading the China travel E-business into a new era.
PURPOSE
Travelchinaguide.com offers both group tours and private tours for those who want to meet and travel with people from all over the world. Travelchinaguide.com is leading the largest online China tour operator. Travelchinaguide.com offers a hotel reservation service to every customer with thousands of well-chosen hotels in most cities. They also offer both the schedule time of flight and ticket booking service with favor discount price and quick response. Even if you are not using tour and/or hotel services, they still offer ticket booking service in a variety of ways by telephone, online reservation, fax or email.Travelchinaguide.com provides China experience with high standard quality travel services at truly competitive price.
FEATURES
Business Model
-B2C
TraveChinaGuide.com is the largest online tour operator in China due to offers many choices--from luxurious group packages to tailor-made private tours--with 24-hour toll-free services for individual travels.
-B2B
TravelChinaGuide.com also cooperate with third partner, like hotel, flights, insurance companies to better serve their valuable customers.
Thus the customers not only pick out their tours packages, but also booking hotel and flights through sites.
Other Features
*More service
Since the TravelChinaGuide.com has so many business partners. Beside tour agents, they provide more service such as the booking flights and hotel, as well as Yangtze Cruise ship.
*Advertisement
The promotion advertisement will alert their registered customers, and it presents the sites like “earlier bird got xx discount” , ”hot deal package” and more. Both the visitors and their customers can get benefits from it.
*Online payment
There are vicarious ways to make the online payment.
The sites accepts customer prepay for the trip by credit card or wire transfer. Moreover, the customers do not need to make full payment; they allowed paying for the rooms at the room price at time of check-out hotel.
*The Mobile Version
Since more people are using the mobile phone to access the information from internet. The TravelChinaGuide.com implements the Mobile Version for the phone user.
*Customer care
Each sites appear “Travelers' Voices on China Tourist Cities”, the visitors can paste their question, got answers from the sites conductors or the travelers themselves. Even the visitors can call center, email, and fax.
TravelChinaGuide.com provides more information for their customers as possible. Hence, they can prepare for their own trip. Like popular destinations, weather forecasts for the all cities in China, VIA requirement, cruise schedules, introduce Chinese food, rent car or bike for the private tours, etc.
DESIGN
The sites base on their logo to largely using white and yellow color. It is user-friendly by classifying its contents effective. For example, Hotel sites- list promotional adverting, and the different hotel location. Even the websites introduced some popular destinations by showing photos. Indeed, the site also consists of “what our clients say”.
Once people click the certain city, the new page shows more information about hotel in that city, and rating and price of hotel, even the traveler comments.
China Map
From China Map, visitor get better understand the different directions. By the click one province, the new pages show the information where to go, what to see, history of this province, and visitors can find the hotel around this city.
Flights
It is very simple, easy for visitors to book the tickets. The website simply divided the flights into three areas: China Domestic Flights, Hong Kong/Macau Flights, and China International Flights. Visitors just need the 5 steps to finish booking: search, select, reserve, review, and finally confirm.
STRENGTH
TraveChinaGuide.com is under the company of Marco Polo International Travel Service, which is ratified by China National Tourism Administration and recommended by Xian Tourism Bureau. It is the currently the world’s largest China inbound tourism website, which gained the fame as a high quality travel agency regarding to its service, capacity, and the number of tourists received.User friendly sites for visitors by not only provide the tour agent service, but also the hotel and flights booking service, cruise order service, etc.
TravelChinaGuide.com tells the customers how to do hotel reservation and how to book the flight by “step by step”. It provides hotels F & Q by categorizing topics. On the other hand, it also have “Quick search” column to find the hotel easily.
TravelChinaGuide.com gives the details of every hotel in hotel information, hotel price, hotel booking and its location and direction to get there. It also shows the hotels by star rating.
Booking with them, you can enjoy save up to 70%, last minutes booking and free booking services.
To ensure payment transaction more efficient, the TravelChinaGuide.com have various way to handle, such as MasterCard, visa, PayPal.
Moreover the mobile version is friendly for mobile phone user. TravelChinaGuide.com shows the video, map of the different cities in China, even the attraction of China to public.
WEAKNESS
Unlike the Other agency websites, TravelChinaGuide.com doesn’t language option. Indeed, all price presented in US dollars and CN Yuan without any currency exchange information. For example, the price of the hotel is shows in US dollars and CN Yuan.
Moreover, only click the “Hotel” site, it don’t allow visitor to link to “Map of China” or “Video” of attraction around hotel areas, instead, visitors need to click “ Map of China” and try to find out it location or click “ Video “to know famous place. It creases the troublesome to visitors.
Some of the hotels need to make full payment before you arrive. The transfer payment charge is on customers sides. It does not tell the cancellation fees on the booking bound to the hotel booking terms and conditions.
CONCLUSION
The travelchinaguide.com offer global tourists as well as business travelers not only travel information but also a tour, hotel and air ticket booking service. Because the sites are recommended by Xian Tourism Bureau and security payment, Travelguide.com has become the largest and leading English language website in China offering travelers the most informative source for travel, dinning, accommodation, transportation, touring, shopping and entertainment. This website is useful for every customer who wants to travel to China from all over the world. Therefore travelers can enjoy their trip through this travel agent.
