ravel Research Case Study
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The School of Mobile Vol. 2 - The Detail Chapter 1 - The Travel Buying Cycle

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Kayak actually got rejected the first �me they submi�ed the App for approval
due to an administra�ve reason. On first submission they had called their
app ‘Kayak Beta’ and they got rejected as Apple does not allow anything sold
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through its app store to be Beta, it has to be a finished product. No such thing
as Beta in the Apple App store. So they had to recompile and resend it.
In summary, it is a very rigorous process. Apple actually try out each app and make
sure it actually works before approval. That is a huge task to do for every app!
Moving beyond the iPhone…
In terms of developing apps for other pla�orms/opera�ng systems, in
principle, Kayak wants to be on any pla�orm that provides significant value
to its users. Currently they are working on a blackberry applica�on to add to
the iPhone app that is already available. That should be out soon. Kayak has
received a lot of feedback from their customers asking for a blackberry app.
Par�cularly for the business traveller. As a device for email Blackberry remains
unbeatable and s�ll overshadows the iPhone in this respect. If you read email
on the road then that is what you are going to have.
Android is something that Kayak wants to track. Currently, It is only being
deployed on ‘hokey’ handsets. There is nothing really stopping Kayak
developing on the Android pla�orm par�cularly given their experience with
blackberry and iPhone apps and it is open source. But Kayak feels that at this
stage adop�on is so low that it is not really worth it and it would not be a cost
effec�ve thing to do.
Kayak strongly reiterated that they really do want to do their best to serve
all their users by ensuring that their mobile site works on Linux for example.
“Our CEO won’t be
People say; ‘oh that is only 2% of the market’ but, 2% of a huge market is a lot
happy un�l when you
of people and they may be Kayak customers. In Kayak’s view, the other brand
search for a hotel
that is facing a resurgence is Palm. They have proven they can sell handsets
you receive only one
in the US and if the hype is to be believed regarding their new integrated
result and the result
Smartphone then this is something that Kayak needs to keep a close eye on
is perfect”
and they are doing so!
– Kellie Pelle�er, Kayak
The importance of being prepared… and solving the systems
integra�on challenge
The app is completely live at all �mes and in terms of integra�on with core
systems, Kayak are very fortunate that a few years ago they developed an API
so that third party developers could develop another website, mobile app etc,
whatever they wanted from Kayak’s core offering. When they developed this,
they really did not have any par�cular use in mind or a targeted offering for
the use of their API. But they have been around long enough to know that if
you build an API someone will come along and think of something to do with
your func�onality that you hadn’t thought of.
This can lead to win-win partnerships by being prepared. Kayak have done
some tweaking to the API to op�mise the link into the iPhone app. Despite the
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