Case Study - Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) HOSM3002

Assessment 2: Group 5 (1500 words) - Case Study - Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC)

Table of Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 1

An Omnichannel Examination..................................................................................................................... 2

Current Channels and Touchpoints.......................................................................................................... 2

Challenge Identification................................................................................................................................. 4

Current Omnichannel Status..................................................................................................................... 4

Current level of integration......................................................................................................................... 4

Current digitalisation................................................................................................................................... 5

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................ 7

References........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Appendix......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Introduction

Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) is an annual hospitality conference that was established in 1926 and is held at Cornell University, hosted by undergraduate students. HEC does not have an omnichannel due to challenges such as a lack of finance, time and technical expertise. They are unable to provide guests with a customer-centric, integrated and effortless experience due to their difficulties. They currently have a multichannel experience as they are unable to connect their offline and online channels. Former communications director Trina Ham had the goal of improving the online customer experience through the implementation of a mobile website and app for HEC. Her successor, Kevin Osmond seeks to build on her online improvement by streamlining the customer experience. This audit will analyse the current channels, touchpoints, pain points and goals whilst also exploring the current omnichannel status, level of integration and digitalisation.

An Omnichannel Examination

Current Channels and Touchpoints

Channels for HEC include an alumni newsletter,

The first online channel of importance is the HEC website. The HEC website is extremely well put together due to its appealing design and the easy accessible information, creating a nice smooth experience for consumers accessing through a laptop. HEC, similar to Walmart in Mexico, are moving toward the online, discount, and club channels, and can more easily compare prices online to ensure they are getting value (Loureiro et al. 2023, pp. 4). Although when accessing the website through a mobile device it is harder to navigate, and isn't up to par with quality standards, suggesting it is an outmoded channel for customers. This can negatively impact the user experience and make it more difficult to cater to clientele.

With popularity in the use of mobile devices increasing, HEC developed a mobile app. Customers have changed their consumption methods in recent years and HEC hasn't done a great job of adapting to these changes. Some changes include the increased adoption of mobile devices, the extensive use of social media and the popularity of related software (apps, mobile payments and E-coupons) (Berman and Thelen 2016, pp. 598). The HEC app is designed to help guests stay organised, provide a calendar of events, and enable guests to provide feedback. Although the app was functional and a success it still had issues, limiting effectiveness and user satisfaction.

Due to the heavy workload of a communications manager, it is essential to get as much help as possible. This is why Kevin wanted to hire more people who specialise in IT and communications to help improve the HEC experience for customers. (University of Western Sydney n.d.). HEC were very effective in promoting through non-digital channels such as through press releases, alumni newsletters, flyers and hotel magazines, further reaching the attention of target audience.

Pain Points and Business Goals

A customer journey map has been developed to display the experience for customers (see Appendix A). A major reason why HEC do not have an omnichannel experience is because of the number of pain points customers experience. Pain points for customers include the user interface of the website and lack of technological advancements at the conference. The original website did not support mobile phones. issues. The new mobile site and app, while functional, is very simple. Another pain point for customers is that they dont have the ability to ask questions in real-time through a chat function online.

Business goals for HEC and new director Kevin Osmond include streamlining the customer experience and ensuring that conference guests' needs are met (University of Western Sydney n.d). HEC wants to be able to make registration and networking simple for conference guests each year. To make these goals happen, HEC

Challenge Identification

Current Omnichannel Status

HEC currently has a multichannel experience as they focus on improving the customer experience and their event through more than one distribution channel (Pophal 2019). They do not have an omnichannel experience as the relevant channels and touchpoints are not seamlessly and effortlessly integrated and a customer-centric approach has not been taken. However, HEC is striving to move towards an omnichannel experience to improve their event for customers. As HEC are in the early stages of implementing an omnichannel strategy, they would be considered to be in the crawl phase (Strang 2013). Furthermore, based on the omnichannel maturity assessment framework developed by Chung, Huber, Devignes & Clauwaert (2022), HEC are on level 1 as they aspire to offer customers a more integrated omnichannel experience. The reason why they are in the crawl phase is because they dont have a customer-centric, seamless or effortless omnichannel due to several challenges faced. Challenges such as lack of funding, lack of technical expertise and lack of human resources have contributed to HEC not having a suitable omnichannel experience. New communications director Kevin Osmond wants to streamline the customer experience in the future and prioritise the needs of HECs customers. For HEC to advance from the crawl stage and move up to the walk phase, they have to focus on developing a user-friendly mobile website and application that allows for two-way interaction.

Current level of integration

When adding different channels to a business entity it adds a multitude of new and arising opportunities. However, with this there will also be some complications (Cao & Li 2015). In terms of HEC, it seems that they are within the minimal integration level, due to a lack of funding within the technology department, there seems to be a one-dimensional customer experience for guests looking to attend the event. Though there is a consistent brand presentation and image across the channels of the HEC website and the newly developed mobile app, there are many technological flaws that people were able to notice. This undoubtedly affected the ability for customers to have a seamless experience with the HEC event. HEC has proved to be slightly above the silo level of integration as the mobile app prototype has proved to show many desirable features such as it showcases things such as past events success. HEC is not able to personalise offers or experiences for customers as they have not been able to collect a large amount of data analytics from their current use of outdated channels, newsletters, emails and letters are not the channels that HEC should be using to increase their current level of integration.

Current digitalisation

HEC has largely focussed their efforts on improving its front-end platforms by developing their mobile website and app. Despite the improvements, the app is still suboptimal and does not meet the advanced technical demands of conference guests, due to its simplicity and lack of functions (University of Western Sydney n.d). The mobile site contains pictures of past conferences, times, locations, speaker bios, event descriptions, guest lists and profiles of students involved (University of Western Sydney n.d). HEC has similar issues to Wuliangye as they struggle to get a real understanding of their customers (Donghong, Xiaohui & Pinglu 2022). As a result of focusing on the frontend platforms, HEC does not have a strong back-end platform and is not able to effectively track data interactions. HEC only has the ability to track the number of people who have viewed their website on Google Analytics. HEC must look at Wuliangye who realised that they had no control over customer data, and had an inadequate perception of wholesale management, channel management, distribution processes and consumer operations (Donghong, Xiaohui & Pinglu 2022). Implementing a strong back end with effective and efficient storage of big data allows companies to serve the needs of customers. Thus, HEC is planning to implement a two-way interaction system through the mobile app which would bolster their back end platform. Finally, HEC does not have an effective middle-end platform to interconnect their front and back-end platforms, thus meaning they are unable to provide an omnichannel experience. Any customer questions on the website cant be answered in real-time due to a lack of technical expertise. HECs inability to store big data is similar to Bestore as they relied on manual data and an information system that only targeted surface systems (Mao, J & Wu, S 2020). Despite improvements in its front-end platform, HEC has not established an extensive back end or middle end and therefore does not have an integrated system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, HEC does not have an effective omnichannel experience due to financial, time and expertise limitations. In particular, only having a year to plan and execute the event and not being able to hire outside of the university limit HECs ability to create an omnichannel experience for customers. Even with these challenges, HEC has been able to introduce several different channels and touchpoints to do their best in satisfying customers who attend the conference. However, despite having multiple offline and online channels, HEC does not provide a customer-centric, integrated and effortless experience for conference guests. Instead, HEC has a multichannel experience. Another reason for not having an omnichannel is because of the number of customer pain points evident. HEC has business goals to improve the overall experience and remove any pain points. Major goals include creating a seamless experience for customers through both offline and online channels. Through this omnichannel audit, a number of challenges were identified concerning the current omnichannel status, level of integration and digitalisation. HEC is currently in the crawl phase of omnichannel development (Strang 2013). HEC also has a minimal integration level due to their extensive list of challenges. Finally, HEC overall has poor digitalisation as they have only focussed their efforts on improving the front-end platforms such as the mobile website and app. Thus, they dont have effective middle and back-end platforms to support an effective omnichannel. Furthermore, HEC are limited by technological advances and are unable to effectively and efficiently store big data. Being able to store data is key in targeting and satisfying customers. All attempts to provide a consistent and tailored customer experience across all touchpoints suffer from this poor integration.