Expedia and Priceline are lending their data to mobile concierge application Mezi, which blends artificial intelligence with real people to help provide customers with travel information that drives sales.
With startups and mobile dramatically changing the culture of retail, many retailers have been forced to work with outside platforms and others to stay competitive in the overcrowded market. Expedia and Priceline are working with a new mobile app that acts as a personal assistant to stay on top in the competitive travel booking industry.
“When consumers visit retailers they are overwhelmed with hundreds and thousands of options,” said Swapnil Shinde, CEO of Mezi. “[For example] a search for running shoes on amazon returns 200,000+ results.
“Research shows that 45 percent of consumers are overwhelmed with too many options and as a result, they are facing serious decision dilemma,” he said.
Mobile intelligence
Mezi is a mobile app and SMS service that allows users to interact with people and a chatbot to book travel, purchase items and get information. Expedia and Priceline are tapping into this database by providing Mezi with information regarding travel inquiries.
When a user opens Mezi, he or she can choose to get information in various categories such as flights, hotels, tickets, fashion, gifts, flowers, electronics and home. The chat service will ask questions from there.
For instance, if a user is looking for hotels in a particular area, he or she would select hotels and then Mezi’s chatbot asks a few questions to help get an understanding of the best options. Users will then fill out what area they would like to visit, dates of the trip, how many rooms and their price range.
Read rest of the article at MobileCommerceDaily
