Etrip: a company with a low value?

I was trying to enter to Etrip webpages and I have tried to use it, I was really surprised because I didn't find any value to its website (at list from the customer's point of view), it's too difficult to access to the service and all the time it has error messages.

Would another company really acquire Etrip?

I think Etrip doesn't have too much to offer to the market, the low cost airline's websites are simpler and more effective, additionally there are another websites, for example edreams.com or volagratis.com, with a better service and they have a database of not only low cost airlines, but of regular airlines, too.

By the way, if another company decides to merge or acquire Etrip, it should evaluate very good the internal information or its sofware potential in case it hasn't been exploited yet.

As Vincent mentioned it, the website has not been updated for a year. So... However, I think E-trip presents a great potential for achievements. I mean, it just needs someone to make it operational. It is like the Eiffel Tower, if the army had not discovered its potential as the best-ever antenna in Paris, the Iron Lady would not be there anymore.

luis_guerrero wrote:I was trying to enter to Etrip webpages and I have tried to use it, I was really surprised because I didn't find any value to its website (at list from the customer's point of view), it's too difficult to access to the service and all the time it has error messages.

Would another company really acquire Etrip?

I think Etrip doesn't have too much to offer to the market, the low cost airline's websites are simpler and more effective, additionally there are another websites, for example edreams.com or volagratis.com, with a better service and they have a database of not only low cost airlines, but of regular airlines, too.

By the way, if another company decides to merge or acquire Etrip, it should evaluate very good the internal information or its sofware potential in case it hasn't been exploited yet.

The webpage is not convienent, i think everybody would agree on that. However, just as Florent mentionned, i think the concept of Etrip is a good one. The fact that it has no partnerships with other airlines websites enables it to propose every possible option and not only that of its partners like other ticket search engine. Maybe the development of this concept has just been poorly managed...

The webpage is not convienent, i think everybody would agree on that.

It's not a casual fact : convenience is the only reason for etrip to exist. If the webpage is not well designed, how can the site be successful ?

You say it is not convenient. I agree. So let's use it as a starting point to discuss what convenience mean! What should have been done different? Which function on which website is convenient in your opinion? Does it have any influence of the frequency of your visits?

Janick_Edinger wrote:You say it is not convenient. I agree. So let's use it as a starting point to discuss what convenience mean! What should have been done different? Which function on which website is convenient in your opinion? Does it have any influence of the frequency of your visits?

I think it's a very huge topic. Maybe you should start a new thread

Vincent_Alliaga wrote:

The webpage is not convienent, i think everybody would agree on that.

It's not a casual fact : convenience is the only reason for etrip to exist. If the webpage is not well designed, how can the site be successful ?

I think the most important thing for a website like Etrip is to be convenient; the design of the website has to be clear and not confusing for the users. The website is the only interface with customers, as they can't go to a place and talk with people, like in a travel agency. I think this is one key for Etrip' success; unfortunately, the webpage is not well designed...

chloé_laluc wrote:

Vincent_Alliaga wrote:

The webpage is not convienent, i think everybody would agree on that.

It's not a casual fact : convenience is the only reason for etrip to exist. If the webpage is not well designed, how can the site be successful ?

I think the most important thing for a website like Etrip is to be convenient; the design of the website has to be clear and not confusing for the users. The website is the only interface with customers, as they can't go to a place and talk with people, like in a travel agency. I think this is one key for Etrip' success; unfortunately, the webpage is not well designed...

Yes indeed, simplicity is key in this kind of business. The easier the customer can find their information, the better.

How about if we do Etrip a convinient and beautiful website? Do you think it would work good?
I think the idea is a little limited, too. A motor engine just for low-cost airlines is not what a customer wants, the costumer of low cost flight tickets don't take care if the company is low cost or not, the most important thing for that kind of customer is just "the cheapest prices at they can fly" and for doing that it's not necessary to limited the searching engine just to low-cost airlines, even more it would be better if you offer a complete list of options including the regular airlines.

luis_guerrero wrote:How about if we do Etrip a convinient and beautiful website? Do you think it would work good?
I think the idea is a little limited, too. A motor engine just for low-cost airlines is not what a customer wants, the costumer of low cost flight tickets don't take care if the company is low cost or not, the most important thing for that kind of customer is just "the cheapest prices at they can fly" and for doing that it's not necessary to limited the searching engine just to low-cost airlines, even more it would be better if you offer a complete list of options including the regular airlines.

if i understood well the case, Etrip isn't reduced to low cost airlines, it just look for the cheapest price, which could actually be offered by an airline company which is not low cost.
I travelled a lot between France and Spain two years ago, and i was surprised that many of my friends paid less with an airline such as iberia or british airways than me with vueling or easyjet!
This is also why Etrip is an interesting concept

The look of its website might matter. But the service, the functions it provides, might be more important. Take google's website for example. It is a very simple website but it is also very powerful. Does anyone care about its look?

On the other hand, I agree with most of you on the user interface problem of Etrip. It seems to be not so user friendly. Maybe it can try to use some steps to guild users, just like the software installation process, rather than put all the information on one webpage.

I'm totally agree with Max, the design of the webpage is not too important if there is a convenient (another time on this word) way for using the website; that's why I proposed to image the webside is really beautiful and atractive and forget this easier problem to solve.
I think the principal problem is the content and the services that the webside offers (you can say "the concept of the website"), does Etrip really have a value in content and services? I just would like to compare it with another similar websites and searching engines, I can find this website doesn't offer nothing special for distinguishing between the others.

Webpage design is not too important as long as the convenience is there. But I think we all agree it is not a user friendly website. The case keep talking about providing value-added services to their customers. I don't really see it that way. It said something along the lines of "adding more complimentary services in later stages." Who really cares about that stuff (ie. on the road info, itinerary organizers, etc) People usually want to go online, buy a ticket, and move on. Do people really want all those extra frills? I would think most people just want a cheaper price. So I don't think this company really offers anything extraordinary or even worth mentioning.

I don't know if you noticed (maybe I missed it on one of the posts?), but seems like Etrip is no longer in business. Check this out:

"It’s time to officially conclude the work on Etrip, explain what we tried to do and try and analyze where is the online travel market heading to without us."

and mostly:

"Despite long efforts, we never actually managed to get enough venture capital to execute our search engine, which was the core of it all."

--> from the Etrip blog (http://etrip.wordpress.com/), published on Sep. 25, 2009 (a few days ago... coincidence???? )

I think that is why your experience with the website wasn't very good...

Thanks Naomi! In this case, I think Har Adir could sell his company even for the domain's price!!

luis_guerrero wrote:Thanks Naomi! In this case, I think Har Adir could sell his company even for the domain's price!!

I don't fully agree. I think there is still a smart idea behind the concept of etrip. Maybe he'll be able to start again. It's very difficult to put a price on an idea in my opinion

I think it is important to stress that value of a company does not only depend on the company
itself, but also the potential buyers whom are available.


The company might be of low value to one competitor, whereas it might be strategically
important to another competitor, as with the case between Kayek and Sidestep.
The two company merged because the there was only a 10% overlap between the two
separate companies, and both gained great advantages of it.


I don’t know how this merger was performed technically in the back-end, but I can imagine
that the IT systems had to be merged or simply choosing the most effective and efficient
one of the two companies. In the latter case one company has the technology,
the other might just have the “clicks” needed to generate a great increase in
revenues and not necessarily the best technology.


It is important to think that a buyer is not only interested in the business model,
there could be many other reason that a company would pay a higher value for
Etrip: Clicks, customers, data on consumer behavior, market shares in certain
areas, public exposure, brand equity etc. A way to look at it could be to look
at the replacement costs for a competitor. What would it be worth for a
competitor that they do not have to perform the research on customers and
partners that Etrip already has? What would be the strategic value of a
competitor to acquire Etrip and get it (almost) immediately instead of having
to spend developing time themselves?


As a concluding remark, Etrip has to identify its own value-streams, the potential
buyers and their strategic important according to them, and finally estimate
the likelihood and risks associated.


/Anders

Vincent_Alliaga wrote:

luis_guerrero wrote:Thanks Naomi! In this case, I think Har Adir could sell his company even for the domain's price!!

I don't fully agree. I think there is still a smart idea behind the concept of etrip. Maybe he'll be able to start again. It's very difficult to put a price on an idea in my opinion

I think that the concept is pretty attractive, and sounds good in theory. But Har Adir has to re-adjust his strategies in order to better match reality; as it is said in the case "he was too close to the idea to evaluate it objectively"