Search, and travel search in particular, may be getting social, but when will it get personal?
That's what Bill Smith, who left his Kayak CFO post earlier this year, and Superfly CEO Jonathan Meiri, are asking. Smith recently took on a part-time role as advisor to Superfly.
Smith, who declines to talk about his Kayak departure, says a new generation of travel search companies will be using Big Data to provide suppliers segmented profile data on customers so they can truly deliver targeted, personalized offers to "the serious and elite traveler" while the established search companies are being left behind.
Meiri puts it like this: Kayak and others may know intent, but "they don't know what a user is. Superfly knows the customer profile."
Superfly [featured in a TLabs Showcase here] has now made it easier for consumers to use the site without having to go through the full registration process.
And, new users who sign up will see their frequent flyer status appear in their friends' news feeds on Facebook.
After entering your rewards programs on Superfly, when you search for a flight, each result shows the fare, the rewards you would accrue and consequent net value to you personally.
With Superfly, the flight bookings take place on airline websites or with online travel agencies such as Expedia and Orbitz.
Smith believes Superfly's data-oriented approach will change the dynamic with suppliers. He says:
Superfly's approach changes the whole dynamic between channel and supplier from one of cut-throat competition by showing results based on fares or distance, to one of value for both the consumer and suppliers. Suppliers can now leverage the aggregated traveler data to provide valuable offers and promotions to the highest value travelers. Consumers will receive these offers simply by joining Superfly and searching for travel in a route to be targeted by a Superfly supplier.
Meiri says data deals with suppliers are in the works, but he declined to identify them at this juncture.