The air travel business is very competitive, especially in Europe. There is a clear trend for younger customers to use wireless devices as well as social media sites and chatting. Customers like to communicate with travel businesses by using their preferred technology via their preferred platforms. Most popular is Facebook Messenger, where over 1.2 billion people chat, many times via their smartphones.
These users today interact not only among themselves but also with the business world.
Messaging platforms such as Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat are becoming the norm for this customer group. Vendors are building smart apps for the messaging platforms including bots.
Transavia's Bot
Learning from other companies, Transavia decided to create a bot on Facebook Messenger. To do so, it hired the IT consultant Cognizant Digital Business unit, called Mirabean, which specializes in conversation interfaces, especially via bots. Transavia's activities business processes, marketing, and customer care were combined with Mirabean's technological experience to enable a quick deployment of the bot in weeks. It now enables real-time dialog with customers. The first application is Transavia Flight Search, which provides flight information as well as the ability to buy tickets. The system is now integrated with business processes that facilitate other transactions via the bot. Giving customers their digital tool of choice enables Transavia to increase market share and to drive growth.
Note that KLM, the owner of Transavia, was the first European airline that implemented a similar chatbot on Facebook Messenger in 2016.
Sources: Compiled from Cognizant (2017) and transavia.com.

Questions for Case 12.6
1. What drives consumer preference for mobile devices and chat?
2. Why was the bot placed on Facebook Messenger?
3. What were the benefits of using Cognizant?
4. What is the advantage of buying a ticket from a bot rather than from an online store?