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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
With this effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the
appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to
compete with large and capital-rich businesses. On another plane, developing countries are
given increased access to the global marketplace, where they compete with and complement
the more developed economies. Most, if not all, developing countries are already
participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce
growth in these countries the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be
improved.
1.2 Methodology
Secondary data are indispensable for the e- commerce project. Secondary data was
collected for the purpose of closely understanding various e-commerce and e-business
practices in detail. This was mainly gathered from different text books dealing with e-
commerce and e-business and also its various applications. Secondary data was also collected
from internet resources. Data regarding e-commerce in Hotel Industry and related activities
were also gathered from various texts as well as the internet. Primary information regarding
the functioning of e-business of the firm was taken from the website of The Leela. An
analysis of the site was done with the available data.
The scope of the study was a very limited one. The study done here was confined to
the website of the firm. Any data collected for the purpose of evaluating the site was taken
from itself and recommendations were given according to the available practices followed.
1) Due to lack of time, study could not cover the entire time.
2) Certain technical terms were fully unaware during the study.
CHAPTER 2
E-COMMERCE
(THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE)
E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or
conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or
services through a computer-mediated network.
Internet e-commerce took off with the arrival of the World Wide Web and browsers in
the early 1990s and the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector and innovations that
greatly expanded the volume and capacity of communications. Earlier forms of e-commerce
were mostly custom-made, complex, expensive and the province of large firms. Today, for a
few thousand dollars, anyone can become a merchant and reach millions of consumers world-
wide. Earlier e-commerce used to be business-to-business transactions between known
parties now it has become a complex web of commercial activities which can involve vast
numbers of individuals who may never meet. Electronic commerce has been re-defined by
the dynamics of the Internet and traditional e-commerce is rapidly moving to the Internet.
With the advent of the Internet, the term e-commerce began to include:
• Electronic trading of physical goods and of intangibles such as information.
• All the steps involved in trade, such as on-line marketing, ordering payment
and support for delivery.
• The electronic provision of services such as after sales support or on-line
legal advice.
• Electronic support for collaboration between companies such as collaborative
on-line design and engineering or virtual business consultancy teams.
i.e. the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchange or contact. A
wide range of communication technologies including e-mail, EDI, Internet, Intranet
and Extranet can be used to support electronic commerce.
E-business is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but
also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. E-business includes
customer service (e-service) and intra-business tasks.
E-business is the transformation of key business processes through the use of Internet
technologies. An e-business is a company that can adapt to constant and continual change.
The development of intranet and extranet is part of e-business. E-business is everything to do
with back-end systems in an organization. In practice, e-commerce and e-business are often
used interchangeably
Figure 2(a) illustrates the major differences in e-commerce and e-business, where e-
commerce has a broader definition referring more to the macro-environment; e-business
relates more to the micro-level of the firm.
Business-to-Business (B2B):
B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the type of e-
commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses. About 80% of e-
commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B ecommerce will continue to
grow faster than the B2C segment.
The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets.
• チ auction solutions software for the operation and maintenance of real-time auctions
in the Internet (e.g., Moai Technologies and OpenSite Technologies);
• チ content management software for the facilitation of Web site content management
and delivery (e.g., Interwoven and ProcureNet); and
E-markets are simply defined as Web sites where buyers and sellers interact with each other
and conduct transactions.
The more common B2B examples and best practice models are IBM, Hewlett Packard (HP),
Cisco and Dell. Cisco, for instance, receives over 90% of its product orders over the Internet.
Most B2B applications are in the areas of supplier management (especially purchase order
processing), inventory management (i.e., managing order-ship-bill cycles), distribution
management (especially in the transmission of shipping documents), channel management
(i.e., information dissemination on changes in operational conditions), and payment
management (e.g., electronic payment systems or EPS).
1. Direct selling and support to business (as in the case of Cisco where customers can
buy and also get technical support, downloads, patches online).
2. E-procurement (also known as industry portals) where a purchasing agent can shop
for supplies from vendors, request proposals, and, in some cases, bid to make a
purchase at a desired price. For example the auto parts wholesaler
(reliableautomotive.com); and the chemical B-to-B exchange (chemconnect.com).
3. Information sites provide information about a particular industry for its companies
and their employees. These include specialised search sites and trade and industry
standards organisation sites. E.g. newmarketmakers.com is a leading portal for B-to-B
news.
Many B-to-B sites may also fall into none or more than one of these groups.
The impact of B2B markets on the economy of developing countries is evident in the
following:
• Transaction costs: There are three cost areas that are significantly reduced through
the conduct of B2B e-commerce. First is the reduction of search costs, as buyers need
not go through multiple intermediaries to search for information about suppliers,
products and prices as in a traditional supply chain. In terms of effort, time and money
spent, the Internet is a more efficient information channel than its traditional
counterpart. In B2B markets, buyers and sellers are gathered together into a single
online trading community, reducing search costs even further. Second is the reduction
in the costs of processing transactions (e.g. invoices, purchase orders and payment
schemes), as B2B allows for the automation of transaction processes and therefore,
the quick implementation of the same compared to other channels (such as the
telephone and fax). Efficiency in trading processes and transactions is also enhanced
through the B2B e-market’s ability to process sales through online auctions. Third,
online processing improves inventory management and logistics.
• Disintermediation: Through B2B e-markets, suppliers are able to interact and transact
directly with buyers, thereby eliminating intermediaries and distributors. However,
new forms of intermediaries are emerging. For instance, e-markets themselves can be
considered as intermediaries because they come between suppliers and customers in
the supply chain.
Moreover, B2B e-markets expand borders for dynamic and negotiated pricing
wherein multiple buyers and sellers collectively participate in price-setting and two-
way auctions. In such environments, prices can be set through automatic matching of
bids and offers. In the e-marketplace, the requirements of both buyers and sellers are
thus aggregated to reach competitive prices, which are lower than those resulting from
individual actions.
• Economies of scale and network effects: The rapid growth of B2B e-markets creates
traditional supply-side cost-based economies of scale. Furthermore, the bringing
together of a significant number of buyers and sellers provides the demand-side
economies of scale or network effects. Each additional incremental participant in the
e-market creates value for all participants in the demand side. More participants form
a critical mass, which is key in attracting more users to an e-market.
Business-to-consumer (B2C):
It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be traced
to online retailing (or e-tailing). Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online
retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, and Beyond.com. Other B2C
examples involving information goods are E-Trade and Travelocity.
The more common applications of this type of e-commerce are in the areas of
purchasing products and information, and personal finance management, which pertain to the
management of personal investments and finances with the use of online banking tools (e.g.,
Quicken).
Business-to-Government (B2G):
This would be the provision of hardware, software or other services to the peer
networks. An example here would be Napster who provided the software and facilities to
enable peer networking
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):
In this category consumers interact directly with other consumers. They exchange
information such as:
• Expert knowledge where one person asks a question about anything and gets an e-mail
reply from the community of other individuals, as in the case of the New York Times-
affiliated abuzz.com website.
• Opinions about companies and products, for example epinions.com. There is also an
exchange of goods between people both with consumer auction sites such as e-bay
and with more novel bartering sites such as swapitshop.com, where individuals swap
goods with each other without the exchange of money.
● Auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time bidding
on items being sold in the Web;
● peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files
between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and later
money exchange models; and
● Classified ads at portal sites such as Excite Classifieds and ewanted.com (an
interactive, online marketplace where buyers and sellers can negotiate and which
features “Buyer Leads & Want Ads”).
Consumer-to-Business (C2B):
Government-to-Business (G2B):
It is the online non-commercial interaction between local and central government and the
commercial business sector, rather than private individuals. The exchange of information,
services and products between government agencies and business organisations. Government
sites now enable the exchange between government and business of:
• Information, guidance and advice for business on international trading, sources of
funding and support (UK Information Society Help (ukishelp)), facilities (e.g.
www.dti.org.uk).
Government-to-Consumer (G2C):
Government-to-Government (G2G):
opportunities and civil rights laws. G2E services also include software for maintaining
personnel information and records of employees.
G2E is adopted in many countries including the United States, Hong Kong and New Zealand
This is the communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and
either party can initiate a communication session. In recent usage, peer-to-peer has come to
describe applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange files with each other
directly or through a mediating server.
M-commerce
M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services
through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal
digital assistants (PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce.
• Financial services, including mobile banking (when customers use their handheld
devices to access their accounts and pay their bills), as well as brokerage services (in
which stock quotes can be displayed and trading conducted from the same handheld
device);
• Telecommunications, in which service changes, bill payment and account reviews can
all be conducted from the same handheld device;
• Service/retail, as consumers are given the ability to place and pay for orders on-the-
fly; and
• Information services, which include the delivery of entertainment, financial news,
sports figures and traffic updates to a single mobile device.
There are at least three major forces fuelling e-commerce: economic forces, marketing
and customer interaction forces, and technology, particularly multimedia convergence.
Economic forces
Market forces
Technology forces
The development of ICT is a key factor in the growth of ecommerce. For instance,
technological advances in digitizing content, compression and the promotion of open systems
technology has paved the way for the convergence of communication services into one single
platform. This in turn has made communication more efficient, faster, easier, and more
economical as the need to set up separate networks for telephone services, television
broadcast, cable television, and Internet access is eliminated. From the standpoint of
firms/businesses and consumers, having only one information provider means lower
communications costs.
the system must offer a means for cost-efficient transport of small packages (such that
purchasing books over the Internet, for example, is not prohibitively more expensive
than buying from a local store);
Authentication authority that serves as a trusted third party to ensure the integrity and
security of transactions.
Government, to establish:
A legal framework governing e-commerce transactions (including electronic
documents signatures, and the like)
Legal institutions that would enforce the legal framework (i.e., laws and regulations)
and protect consumers and businesses from fraud, among others.
And finally, the Internet, the successful use of which depends on the following:
A robust and reliable Internet infrastructure
A pricing structure that doesn’t penalize consumers for spending time on and buying
goods over the Internet (e.g., a flat monthly charge for both ISP access and local
phone calls).
For e-commerce to grow, the above requisites and factors have to be in place.
The Internet allows people from all over the world to get connected inexpensively and
reliably. As a technical infrastructure, it is a global collection of networks, connected to share
information using a common set of protocols. Also, as a vast network of people and
information the Internet is an enabler for e-commerce as it allows businesses to showcase and
sell their products and services online and gives potential customers, prospects, and business
partners access to information about these businesses and their products and services that
would lead to purchase.
Before the Internet was utilized for commercial purposes, companies used private
networks-such as the EDI or Electronic Data Interchange-to transact business with each
other. That was the early form of e-commerce. However, installing and maintaining private
networks was very expensive. With the Internet, e-commerce spread rapidly because of the
lower costs involved and because the Internet is based on open standards.
Cash-on-delivery
Bank payments
After ordering goods online, payment is made by depositing cash into the
bank account of the company from which the goods were ordered. Delivery is
likewise done the conventional way.
These include credit and debit cards, automated teller machines (ATMs),
stored value cards, and e-banking.
Innovations enabling online commerce
These are e-cash, e-checks, smart cards, and encrypted credit cards. These
payment methods are not too popular in developing countries. They are employed by
a few large companies in specific secured channels on a transaction basis.
E-banking
Online publishing
Online publishing is the process of using computer and specific types of
software to combine text and graphics to produce Web-based documents such as
newsletters, online magazines and databases, brochures and other promotional
materials, books, and the like, with the Internet as a medium for publication.
Among the benefits of using online media are low-cost universal accesses, the
independence of time and place, and ease of distribution. These are the reasons why
the Internet is regarded as an effective marketing outreach medium and is often used
to enhance information service.
CHAPTER 3
E-COMMERCE
IN
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The hospitality industry includes any business that serves guests. This includes
restaurants, hotels, travel, salons and spas, conventions, and tours. There are many
associations and organizations catering to the hospitality industry. Hospitality means catering
to need and meeting every expectation of a guest.
People who work in the hospitality industry help people enjoy their time away from
work. They help people to have fun and cater to them to make their time as enjoyable as
possible. Those who work in this industry might work for a golf course, a restaurant, a resort,
a hotel, or another tourist- or guest-driven business. Duties of people who work in hospitality
industry are servicing customers, overseeing business operations, managing people, or
managing products needed to serve customers.
In the modern business world, the IT advances accelerate the world’s commercial
development with the help of Internet technology in supporting variety of activities. As a
result, e-commerce plays a significant role in almost every industry. Hotel industry is one of
those which are fully beneficial from the e-commerce, which fulfils the customer’s needs.
Effective hospitality web sites will offer itemized lists of exactly how much each
service is, photos of the facility, wording that is straight-forward and doesn't make
something sound better or worse than the services or products that are actually offered, and
ways the customer can purchase the goods or services.
Many of the larger hospitality businesses already offer ways that customers can
make purchases on their e-commerce sites. They have found value in showcasing what they
offer and making purchases. They are making money by allowing visitors to their e-
commerce sites to make reservations and spend money.
For example, hotels can create e-commerce sites that allow visitors to find out
whether rooms are available for rent for particular dates. These sites can then take credit card
information and other payment types, so customers can reserve rooms.
Restaurants can create e-commerce sites that allow visitors to view menus, view
photos of the foods offered, and even place orders or make reservations online.
The Hotel and Resort Industry (HRI) can potentially use E-Commerce to enhance
its primary and support activities by leveraging this new technology in the value chain.
The typical HRI organization has many facets of its operation to be considered, such as: an
internal organizational fit, a business to multicustomer fit, and a business to business fit with
both external suppliers and networked businesses as part of the actual firm's business
processes. E-Commerce can enhance and extend this complex web of interactions and
business processes.
A primary reason that E-Commerce has such great potential for the HRI is because
the hotel business is basically a one room / one customer business. Everything in between the
customer and the room is marketing, support, and profit centres. The current high cost of
finding that one customer who needs that one room and the supply chain required to support
the customer provides unlimited opportunity to integrate information systems to reduce costs
along the value chain.
The Internet provides a means to internally network the hotel's business processes
together from bookings, food service, and housekeeping to car rental, tours and even kennel
services for dogs and cats. Centralized, Internet-based property management systems will
eliminate the need for expensive on-site computer hardware and software. The Internet may
also control such routine hotel processes as credit card authorization, travel agent
commissions and point of sale transactions. The Internet also provides a way for hotels to
integrate external businesses into their supply chain as when hotels upgraded its reservations
system to a seamless environment for agents both within and outside the company.
The Internet facilitates the hotel's interaction and helps to transform relationships
with three distinct customer groups: individuals as tourists; individuals on business, and
businesses looking for support facilities
The Internet thus makes it easier for people to book rooms and meeting facilities.
People who visit web site stay on the site for five or six minutes want to know more about the
hotel, destination, services and rooms. The online environment is less structured, [than the
telephone] and people will spend the time they think they need to spend at the web site they
go at their own pace; they feel comfortable asking questions, digging deeper and have no
pressure to make up their mind.
The third opportunity for web business is with external businesses looking for
support facilities. Here the HRI becomes part of other external companies' support activity
when they supply meeting and function rooms and function planning. They can also supply
business services including access to information systems and the Net.
The Internet provides the ability for the HRI to engage in two types of business to
business E-Commerce: back office integration with external suppliers and network
integration with external businesses. The functionality of a web- based hotel purchasing
system lies in its ability to provide substantial savings to hotels, both in decreased product
costs and increased departmental efficiency. Increased functionality, efficiency and savings
can only come about through back office integration.
Back office integration allows suppliers direct access to the operation centre of the
hotel which reduces ordering time and inventory storage, thus reducing transaction cost. The
Internet gives small suppliers an equal footing with larger suppliers and allows the hotel to
find the best possible fit.
In addition to allowing two-way access to suppliers, the Internet makes possible the
networking of suppliers and support companies directly into the value chain allowing them to
replace functions normally carried on by an organization. It even provides a platform to
permit competitors to share individual core competencies, thus increasing the worth of both
companies.
Many companies specialize in this type of e-service. The following tools are used by the
company for customer service:
* E-mail
E-mail likely is the most frequently used tool for electronic communication in the
Internet. An advantage of e-mail is that it allows you to personalize your message to your
customers. The personalization can apply to either a group or an individual. To personalize
your message to a group, you can create an e-mail mailing list.
* E-newsletters
An e-newsletter is a powerful way to bring your company's latest news about
products and services to your customers. With an e-newsletter, company can send targeted
HTML and text e-mail information to their customers. Advantages of the e-newsletter are
• The readers have voluntarily consented to receive them based on their particular areas
of interest. It helps ensure that the content of the e-newsletter is of interest to the
reader and that it is more likely to be read.
• The newsletters are sent on a predetermined schedule, providing a high degree of
consistency in terms of content and format.
* Mailing Lists
A Mailing List is a list of e-mail addresses that is used to send certain messages or
announcements to many people at once. These are usually subscribers of the list and are
expected to share a common interest in the contents of the message. It is a popular way to
communicate and share information with customers and business partners. A mailing list
contains e-mail addresses of the people who typically share the same interests and who
subscribe voluntarily to the list, companies have a great way to create a virtual community--
to reach them with upcoming sales, promotions, and hot deals as well as customer relations
announcements and updates. It is important to know that a Mailing List allows all subscribers
to send e-mail messages to the list
3.4 E-marketing
Marketing is a continuous process of matching products and services to the needs
and wants of consumers by planning, research, implementation, control, and evaluation in
order to achieve the goals and objectives of an organization.
CHAPTER 4
E-COMMERCE
AT
www.theleela.com
The Leela is one of the pioneers in the Hotel industry in today’s world. They have a
fully fledged and updated e-commerce website for having their businesses to be done over the
internet. The site is named www.theleela.com
The e-commerce model followed by the website is online B2C model because
in this website the visitors of the website portal is gathering information about the
services provided by the various hotels of The Leela Group and also they can make
online reservation for accommodation in any of the hotels of The Leela Group.
o Details on rates
o Photo gallery
o Contact details
o Directions to reach
• Corporate information
o Chairman’s message
o Company information
o Investor relationships
o Careers
• News room
o Press releases
o Press clippings
o Archives
• Privacy statement
The Leela has various hotel properties in India. Detailed information on each of the hotel
premises is available in the web portal theleela.com.
1. Mumbai
2. Kovalam
3. Bangalore
4. Goa
5. Gurgaon
6. Udaipur
Accommodation options
Each hotel has various accommodation options suiting various categories of customers. This
include
2. Royal club:
4. Executive suite
5. Presidential suite
6. Deluxe suite
Visitors to the website can also download colour full e-brochures with details of features
available with various types of accommodation.
Dining options
The Leela offers different dining options to suit the needs and tastes of various customers.
Common categories are citrus, jamavar, The great wall, Stella, the lobby lounge, Amnesia, Six
degrees.
Special offers
The hotel offers various attractive offers to attract customer. Each hotel will have a set of
offers at any point of time. Some offers are extended stay offer, offer to commemorate specific
events, Early bird offer, offers to attract business gatherings and so on.
Rates
Visitors of web portal can get information on prevailing rates for various accommodation
options as well as that of other tour packages.
The users need to select the hotel where he would like stay and also enter the details of stay as in
prompt above. Once the details are entered the availability of rooms can be checked online by
clicking button.
The availability page gives the various options available that meets the users search criteria. The user
can customize the results based on rates. Short description of various accommodation options is
available at this stage. The user needs to select the room of his choice for making reservation.
At this prompt the user will be asked to fill in the details of his travel so that proper pick up could be
arranged if needed.
The user needs to enter his personal information to make the booking through the form as shown
above. At this prompt users can also choose to receive any future offers from The Leela via his
email.
The form above instructs to make the payment by choosing the appropriate options. This page would
be followed by review and confirmations page. Once booking is made user will get confirmation of
booking by email and in hand.
Contact details
Visitors to site can get directions on how to reach any Leela hotel through this feature.
The Google map view of hotel is provided. The user coming by car can get enough details to
enter the navigation system of car. Details on nearest landmarks are also provided here. There
is also information on the important places of visit around the hotel location and also how to
reach them. The hotel contact numbers and physical address is provided here.
Corporate information
This section gives an overview of
1. Kempinski hotels
The hotel also has tie up with various airlines. With this information the users can
even plan their travel with help of The Leela airline partners.
Investor relations
The corporate governance principles by which the group standby is given here.
The Leela is listed company in Indian stock exchanges. The investors in the
company can download copies of annual financial reports from the site. Archives
of annual reports are also available here. The shareholding patterns of the
company during each year are available for users to take a look. There is also an
investor information kit available at the website. The company presentation to
investors available here serves as a company’s message to present and prospective
investors. The site serves as a one stop location to gather all the information of
interest to investors.
Careers
All the present job listings are provided here.
E-newsletter
E-newsletter is one of the major e-marketing strategies of The Leela Palaces Hotels
& Resorts. If the People visiting the website is interested in knowing about the upcoming
offers the easiest way is that they can sign up for receiving e-Newsletter to know about the
latest offers provided by the Hotel. This helps in attracting more customers to the hotel. By
filling the form shown below with all the necessary details the concerned person will be
x Close
getting monthly e-newsletter he/she will in touch with whatever’s is currently happening at
The Leela Hotels, offers and promotional packages offered by The Leela Group of Hotels and
Title a part of the Leela family.
also he/she become
Last name *
First name *
Address *
City * State/Province *
Fax number
Phone number
IMK Senate Campus, Trivandrum 45
Friends e-mail
Email Address *
Submit
www.the leela.com
E-brochures
Another online marketing tool of The Leela is the e-brochure the site contains e-
brochures of all the hotels of The Leela Group. The people who visit website portal want to
know about the Hotels or they want to show the information about the facilities and services
to someone they can download the e-brochures and can access the information even if the
person is offline. The brochures mainly contains about the facilities and services provided by
the hotels like the accommodation, dining, meeting and facilities.
Corporate Video
In addition to the e-brochure the people who visit the website can also download the
corporate video which explains the important aspect of staying at a Leela Hotel and the
experience they are going to get when they spend their time in The Leela Palaces Hotels &
Resorts. The corporate video provide the customers a beautiful memory about the magical
time they have spent at The Leela hotel which will persuade the customer to visit the hotel
again.
4.3. Advantages
1. Site is user friendly
4.4. Limitations
1. The careers section does not provide detailed information on job positions available
and how to apply.
7. Coming soon, upcoming sections can be separated from existing hotels tab
9. The site seems to have around 1500 views a day which seems less. .
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS
&
CONCLUSION
5.1 . Findings
1. The site is a one stop location to access information on all hotel properties of “The
Leela”
2. Visitors can search room availability and also make online reservation through the
portal
3. The virtual tour feature gives a 3D view of hotel premises and also provide actual
snapshots through photo gallery
6. The site also provides the visitors an idea about what all experiences they will get if
they visit The Leela group of hotels and also about the facilities and services provided
by them with the help of corporate video and e-brochure.
7. If the visitors of the website are interested in knowing the upcoming events in The
Leela family and about the latest offers they can sign up for the monthly e-newsletter.
8. The site also contains information about the special offers available at various hotels
of The Leela Group and it also provide information regarding rates of the offers,
terms and conditions applicable to the offers and validity of the offers.
5.2 . Suggestions
1. Career section should be done in a form based fashion so that prospective employees
can search and apply jobs through portal
2. The contacts section can also include driving directions to reach the hotel
3. The various delicacies on offer to hotel visitor could be detailed in website with
mouth watering images and cuisine menu for each day.
4. The international visitors from Europe, Japan etc would like to have option to view
the site in their local language as well.
5. For those users who would like to access site from mobile or a low bandwidth
location should have a stripped down version of site to access.
6. The site hit rate is less as of now; the reason for the same needs to be analyzed and
monitored frequently and actions to improve is to be identified.
7. For users with specific requests there should be an option to contact hotel directly
from portal like chat feature / form based access to helpdesk.
8. Benchmark the portal against similar portals and identify areas to improve.
5.3 . Conclusion
The Leela is one of the pioneers in the Hotel industry in today’s world. They have
a fully fledged and updated e-commerce website for having their businesses to be
done over the internet. The site is named www.theleela.com.The ecommerce project
helped to study in detail the scope and meaning of e-commerce, the various fields in
which e-commerce is applied, the relevance of various models in the hotel industry
and to evaluate the e-business activities done at www.theleela.com.The study covers
the functioning of the site and the alternative options of the site for the potential
customers and how it is advantageous for them.
5.4. Bibliography
A) Books
1) Zongqing Zhou, “ E- Commerce and information technology in hospitality and
tourism”
B) Web Reference
1) www.theleela.com
2) www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-185654612.html
3) En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_ commerce
4) www.apdip.net/applications/iespprimers/eprimer-ecom.pdf
5) www.ecommercetimes.com
6) www.hospitalityebusiness.com