http://blog.jimnovo.com/2007/10/10/search-load-management/ Moving from a Low Accountability to a High Accountability Business Model Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:07:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://blog.jimnovo.com/2007/10/10/search-load-management/#comment-16828 Analytical Engine » Using Web Analytics for Operational Decision Making Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:45:49 +0000 http://blog.jimnovo.com/2007/10/10/search-load-management/#comment-16828 [...] Accurately estimating demand at a granular level is critical for operations management in the travel industry. Traditional estimation models have used historical data to predict the demand. Recently, some companies have started experimenting with a novel source of data to augment the traditional models – the search data from their own websites. Scandinavian Airlines has been a pioneer in this space.  It is using the volume of search activity on its website for flights on a particular day to estimate demand for the specific routes and flights.  They use this information to guide their operational decisions e.g. which type of aircraft to schedule for the flight segment.  As expected, there was a lot of resistance within the company to make decisions based on these numbers but the web analytics team collaboratively worked with the constituents to gain confidence of the operations team and bring about the change  Online is already a significant channel in the travel industry.  Web analytics tool vendors like Web Trends and Omniture have made significant inroads and power most of the major travel websites. This means that there is a lot of data readily available for analysis. Travel companies should follow Scandinavian Airline’s lead and start exploring this data to make better operational and marketing decisions. [...] [...] Accurately estimating demand at a granular level is critical for operations management in the travel industry. Traditional estimation models have used historical data to predict the demand. Recently, some companies have started experimenting with a novel source of data to augment the traditional models – the search data from their own websites. Scandinavian Airlines has been a pioneer in this space.  It is using the volume of search activity on its website for flights on a particular day to estimate demand for the specific routes and flights.  They use this information to guide their operational decisions e.g. which type of aircraft to schedule for the flight segment.  As expected, there was a lot of resistance within the company to make decisions based on these numbers but the web analytics team collaboratively worked with the constituents to gain confidence of the operations team and bring about the change  Online is already a significant channel in the travel industry.  Web analytics tool vendors like Web Trends and Omniture have made significant inroads and power most of the major travel websites. This means that there is a lot of data readily available for analysis. Travel companies should follow Scandinavian Airline’s lead and start exploring this data to make better operational and marketing decisions. [...]

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