Case Scenario My Favorite Booking: What Happens When You Dont Deliver on Your Promises One of the
Question:
Case Scenario
My Favorite Booking: What Happens When You Don’t Deliver on Your Promises
One of the worst crises faced by any company is the failure of one of its products or services to fulfill the promises set out in the company’s publicity brochures and advertisements. This is what happened to My Favorite Booking (MFB), one of the first online reservation Web sites in Malaysia, which has sought to position itself in the Internet restaurant booking service category.
At peak hours, restaurants lose customers because of unanswered calls and miscommunication of reservation information. The founder of MFB, John Ng, 30, started the Web site to offer diners online access to restaurant reservations, menus, promotions, prices and cash point rewards. For the restaurants, MFB offers online marketing services through the restaurant’s micro site by providing diners with information such as opening hours, type of cuisine, sample menus, photos of the restaurant’s interiors and improved booking management. A bi-yearly evaluation report based on feedback from customers on individual restaurant performance (e.g food and service quality) is also sent to participating restaurants. MFB has to measure its opportunity using the four essential qualities which is attractive, durable, timely, and anchored in a its service.
So, what went wrong? The participating restaurants expected a substantial number of bookings as a result of signing up to the MFB service. However,, MFB was not able to provide enough bookings for the participating restaurants on a monthly basis and therefore MFB failed to fulfill the expectations of the participating restaurants. An analysis of the failure suggests that the Malaysian dining culture played a large part in this lack of bookings. Malaysian diners often maker dinner plans on the spur of the moment because there are a large number of diverse restaurants in every town and city. This therefore, cut out the need for an advanced online reservation system. Eating out is widespread in Malaysia due to the relatively low costs involved and ubiquitous availability of eateries at all hours of the day and right.
Eventually, some participating restaurants lost confidence in MFB and joined other local alternatives such as Groupon Malaysia and StreeDeal.my. MFB has since reformulated its business model. It still offers an online reservation service but to attract more customers it now collaborates with banks and social media Web sites to offer discounts and vouchers. MFB reservation holders can enjoy certain discounts if they pay with a partner bank’s credit card. However, MFB has yet to gain much traction in the restaurant industry. The message from MFB experience is very clear that a company must fulfill its commitments to its customers (in this case its commitment to the participating restaurants), and must carry out appropriate market research before undertaking a new business venture.
Source : MyFavoriteBooking.com homepage, www.myfavoritebooking.com (accessed August 2022)
Question
Explain when you choose a restaurant booking, do you read the review in the system to see if the restaurant is offering attractive dining deals compared with other alternatives. (75 marks)
Advanced Accounting
ISBN: 9780132568968
11th Edition
Authors: Floyd A. Beams, Joseph H. Anthony, Bruce Bettinghaus, Kenneth Smith