Dublin-based OpenJaw Technologies is using ITB Berlin to unveil its t-Retail platform for online travel.
The platform draws experience from the Amazon business model and has been built around four principles of online retail - inspiration, personalisation, differentation and conversion and the company says it 'emulates the approach of online giants'.
OpenJaw says a major airline customer will migrate to the platform this week with a further three by the end of 2012.
The technology is part of an ongoing €3 million investment in research and development.
Functionality includes the ability to create promotions and push them out to social networks as well create and manage user-generated content.
The t-Retail platform also allows users to build up customer purchasing behaviour and create personalised offers.
The technology also features analytics tools.
The company developed the platform in response to moves away from traditional GDS distribution and towards XML and direct connects.
Sales boss Declan McGuinness says:
"Travel companies want to be able to distribute unique offerings out beyond their websites. There has been a decline to traffic to b2c websites and consumers are spending more time on social networks and mobile and looking to use those to come into the brand."Online travel is moving to online travel retailing and taking users preferences and previous purchasing history, which was created in businesses like Amazon, and integrating them into the brand."
NB: Image via Shutterstock