E-Commerce Transaction Broker

The Objective

The objective of this mini project is to do a research study on one e-Commerce transaction broker. (Zuji). We are required to research its’ purposes, features, designs, strengths, weaknesses, security, privacy and setup a website using blogspot to publish all the research information.

About Zuji

Zuji.com is an online travel agent with its sole function to bring value choices to travelers in the Asia Pacific region. Zuji is located around the Asia-Pacific region with a network of travel sites located around Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Hong Kong and India. It is part of the Travelocity family of companies globally, and is currently owned by Sabre Holdings, a world leader in travel commerce.

Purpose

Zuji’s core business model is creating an online traveling booking for hotels, flights, car hire, holiday packages, online and in real time. Zuji offers holidays to destinations all over at an affordable price for travelers in the Asia-Pacific region. Zuji aims to serve both travelers and suppliers, and by linking up this close relationship to suppliers, consumers are able to get exclusive packages and great travel deals ranging from hotel room bookings, flight bookings, and even bundled packages.

Features

Zuji’s website offers a comprehensive look at destinations, packages, hotels, which includes a short write-up of their destination choice. Customers are able to customize their travel packages by adding a hotel to their flight bookings. Travelers are able to sign up to their mailing list for updates on the latest promotions. Travelers who sign up with Zuji gets an account automatically set up. (MYZUJI) The personal account allows for transaction history viewing and ease convenience for future purchases.

Zuji’s B2B Network allows for third party travel agents and website to harness the travel booking functionality of Zuji for flight, hotels, packages, activities and other travel content. Zuji’s B2C network entails a network of online travel sites in the Asia Pacific region such as Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Designs

The website layout is categorized well but cluttered with too much information. However, the layout makes it easy for price comparison between hotels and flights for travelers. The color scheme of the website makes it easy on the eye. The search options are not feasible as it does not allow for specific searches for hotels and flights. The important information such as contact details, and security policies are located at the bottom of the site, making it deceiving and hard for users to track.

Strengths

Zuji is a site well suited for web savvy young travelers. Its main attraction will be its customized bundles packages and the discount rates offered to destinations and hotels. Zuji represents all suppliers and travelers, focusing on bringing the best to the two, and ensuring that travelers are able to make their choices from a wide selection, instead of being coerced into booking a flight or hotel from a specific place. Zuji has also won the “Best online travel agency” award, making its reputation more reputable and winning the trust of both travelers and suppliers.

Weaknesses

The contact team for Zuji is an English speaking team only, which makes it hard for travelers who does not speak the English language. In this case, there is no flexibility for non native English speakers.

The website also does not feature any interactive feature for travelers to get together and discuss, or for travelers to reach out to the administrative people of Zuji. It makes it a one way, instead of two way communication and users do not get realistic reviews of packages.

Security

The website’s security is validated by many trusted names such as Trust Sg and TRUSTe. However, a click on the TRUSTe icon shows that the site is not verified by TRUSTe. Does this signify that the other brand images on Zuji’s site is really reliable?

Privacy

Under Zuji’s Operator privacy policy, Zuji is committed to protecting consumer’s privacy in the highest consumer protection standards. The policy is consumer centric and every piece of information collected is necessary to provide consumers with the services required. Zuji explains further in the privacy policy section about how every piece of information collected is used and it could be viewed here.