Leading car rental company, Avis, has instituted a far-reaching programme designed to enable the company to fully exploit the potential of e-commerce as an additional, powerful, channel to its market.
And Prism Transactive, the e-commerce enabling division of the JSE-listed Prism Holdings Group, has been contracted by Avis in the rollout of the project. Prism Transactive subsidiary, tinderbox, has developed Avis`s attractive, user-friendly website (www.avis.co.za) while Prism Transactive is drawing on its expertise in secure transactions to take the site beyond conventional website brochureware into the fully transactive realm.
According to Avis` director of e-Commerce Paul Delahunt, Prism`s ability to deliver a truly transactive site - one which would provide Avis customers with real-time, on-line interactions - was one of the main reasons for Avis`s selection of Prism as its e-commerce partner.
"Our goal is to enable our customers to simply walk into an Avis depot, collect the keys to their hire vehicle, and drive off without delay because all the `paperwork` - including payment arrangements - will have already been completed via the Internet.
"In fact, once a customer has registered with Avis, the entire online reservation process is simplified. Because the website interacts with Avis` unique Wizard system where client details are stored, it is also linked to a datawarehouse to ensure that customer needs are fully anticipated. Having registered online once, the customer never has to fill in another form - online or on paper - again," he explains.
And plans are to make this initiative accessible to all current and potential Avis customers without ready access to the Internet by replicating the Avis website on Avis kiosks strategically located at airports or major hotels. These kiosks are likely to be expanded to provide customers with additional services and information such as road and route maps or other tourist information.
Meanwhile, Prism has also enabled the website to be linked directly into the Avis Worldwide Wizard system, enabling local customers to take advantage of Avis`s global online, real-time reservations, rental and billing information.
"When using the website, South African travellers are automatically connected to the Avis Worldwide Reservations Centre, enabling them to reserve a car in any country in which Avis operates," explains DelaHunt.
Wizard interacts automatically with member`s credit cards payment is seamless and for people who haven`t registered payment is accepted at the Avis counters.
"This makes the transactive system seamless and also caters for those individuals reluctant to provide payment details online. Further exciting transactive developments are being developed with Prism and will also be incorporated in the above mentioned kiosks. The opportunity also exists to roll out some of the exciting local innovations to the recently acquired Avis operations in Norway and Sweden," Delahunt adds.
And the Avis website also offers users a link to an auction facility where they can either bid for car rental specials - or even for the entire car courtesy of Avis`s used car division, Zeda. Other group websites that Prism have developed for Avis are the aforementioned Zeda site and the soon to be launched chauffeur drive site.
David Blyth, MD of Prism Transactive and tinderbox, says development of the Avis site has been an exciting challenge.
"This is one of the first sites in SA which takes cognisance of the need for e-commerce initiatives to be truly integrated into the company`s total business strategy. Certainly, the development of the website was vitally important to ensure customers could navigate it quickly and easily. But that`s merely the facade.
"The real e-commerce functionality takes place behind the scenes - and it`s this which will determine the ultimate success of Avis`s e-commerce strategy," Blyth concludes.
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