Unit 9 – Retail Travel Operations
M3 – Compare the effectiveness of techniques used by two retail agents to gain
competitive advantage
D2 – Recommend the use of alternative techniques to gain further competitive
advantage for two retail agents
In this assignment I will be looking at the following retail agencies, Thomas Cook and
DK Travel.
Travel agents will seek to gain competitive advantage is to ensure that their service is
high quality which will result in customers getting treated correctly. I will also result in
increase in sales and income, it will also generate lots of revenue which the business can
re-invest, they will also discount so that it will attract more customers and finally by
using promotional activities will increase their market share.
Level of Service
Thomas Cook staff are trained to provide their customers with the best possible service.
Thomas Cook will offer either face to face service to their customers or an online
service. The Thomas Cook staff are also trained to sell the holidays. With excellent staff
training this is a valuable asset to Thomas Cook which will mean they have better
competitive advantage over other travel agents.
On the Thomas Cook website it says under the ‘Meeting Customer Expectations’ section
‘’At Thomas Cook Group we want to live up to our customers’ expectations and exceed
them where possible. Most of the time we do this: the majority of customer feedback we
receive is very positive. In those instances where we do fall short, we endeavour to
improve our products and services for future customers.’’
Unlike Thomas Cook, DK Travel do not have their own products, they sell for other
companies, this could mean that the do not push sales that much. DK Travel will train
their staff and they have good customer service skills. However when we did our
mystery shopping experience in October 2014 we found that they lacked customer
service and that Thomas Cook were very good and helpful. DK Travel are not online
base.
If I had to make recommendations, I would recommend DK Travel to have an online
based agent. Not only will this increase sales it will also attract more customers who
might not have the time to visit in store. Because online shopping is becoming more and
more popular high streets are becoming empty. Therefore high street shops must adapt
to these changes. This article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11911915 from
2010, it says that High Street shops are adapting to changing trends. The BBC have
researched that ‘’overall shop vacancies now stand at 14%, up from 10.5% a year ago.’’
Thomas Cook follows the trends in the changing high street. Therefore they will not
have to worry.
Promotional Activities
M3 – Compare the effectiveness of techniques used by two retail agents to gain
competitive advantage
D2 – Recommend the use of alternative techniques to gain further competitive
advantage for two retail agents
In this assignment I will be looking at the following retail agencies, Thomas Cook and
DK Travel.
Travel agents will seek to gain competitive advantage is to ensure that their service is
high quality which will result in customers getting treated correctly. I will also result in
increase in sales and income, it will also generate lots of revenue which the business can
re-invest, they will also discount so that it will attract more customers and finally by
using promotional activities will increase their market share.
Level of Service
Thomas Cook staff are trained to provide their customers with the best possible service.
Thomas Cook will offer either face to face service to their customers or an online
service. The Thomas Cook staff are also trained to sell the holidays. With excellent staff
training this is a valuable asset to Thomas Cook which will mean they have better
competitive advantage over other travel agents.
On the Thomas Cook website it says under the ‘Meeting Customer Expectations’ section
‘’At Thomas Cook Group we want to live up to our customers’ expectations and exceed
them where possible. Most of the time we do this: the majority of customer feedback we
receive is very positive. In those instances where we do fall short, we endeavour to
improve our products and services for future customers.’’
Unlike Thomas Cook, DK Travel do not have their own products, they sell for other
companies, this could mean that the do not push sales that much. DK Travel will train
their staff and they have good customer service skills. However when we did our
mystery shopping experience in October 2014 we found that they lacked customer
service and that Thomas Cook were very good and helpful. DK Travel are not online
base.
If I had to make recommendations, I would recommend DK Travel to have an online
based agent. Not only will this increase sales it will also attract more customers who
might not have the time to visit in store. Because online shopping is becoming more and
more popular high streets are becoming empty. Therefore high street shops must adapt
to these changes. This article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11911915 from
2010, it says that High Street shops are adapting to changing trends. The BBC have
researched that ‘’overall shop vacancies now stand at 14%, up from 10.5% a year ago.’’
Thomas Cook follows the trends in the changing high street. Therefore they will not
have to worry.
Promotional Activities
