How CAYZN Tracking Streamlines Competitor Analysis for Airlines: Interview with Arthur Prager

Sruthi Kolukuluri

6 September 2023

Passenger

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We had a chat with one of our Product Experts, Arthur Prager, to get some insights into the functionalities of CAYZN Tracking and how it stands out as a dependable solution for airlines.

Can you tell us about your role at Wiremind and outline your experiences that shaped the evolution of CAYZN Tracking?

Here at Wiremind, I am responsible for product improvement and account management for our fare-tracking product, CAYZN Tracking. Acting as a liaison between the scraping and software teams and the clients, my role is like that of an Account Manager, answering clients’ questions, resolving any issues they may have, and gathering feedback from them. I inquire about the needs and preferences of the customer and suggest solutions to explore what they would like to see. To meet current client needs and anticipate future ones, it’s important for me to stay up-to-date on industry trends. This allows me to facilitate the development of the best possible product.

My role extends beyond just scraping and application development. It includes data visualization, identifying efficient metrics, and discovering disruptive uses of data.

What are some of the biggest challenges that airlines face when it comes to competitor analysis?

As a product expert, communicating client needs and concerns to the teams is paramount for me. In this process, there have been a lot of challenges that came to my notice and have been discussed by product experts at Wiremind. Here are some of the challenges that airlines face:

• Identifying and understanding competitors: The pricing grids for airlines are considerably more complex than those for other modes of transport like buses and railways. This complexity stems from factors like round trips and duration of travel. Additionally, collecting accurate prices per leg of travel (inbound & outbound) when requesting return trips, including branded fares across different cabins, is a cumbersome task.
• Refining pricing strategies: To set the right price at the right moment and to position yourself effectively in the market, it’s critical to have access to the most up-to-date data possible.
• Display the right inbound/outbound prices: We understand that the round-trip price of a journey might not align with the sum of inbound and outbound fares. But more often than not, competition tracking tools handle the price of roundtrip as a sum of both inbound and outbound fares, which can result in inaccurate data and an information gap.
• Access to high-quality data: Airlines need the best possible tools for data scraping and visualization to understand their short-term and long-term market positioning. These tools depend on high-quality and clean data, which can be obtained using the best scraping technologies available.
• Analysis of ancillaries: Last but not least, the value of ancillaries is becoming increasingly important for airlines. While many companies may integrate ancillaries into their products, very few can track what their competitors are doing in real-time. This is especially true as we transition from static to dynamic ancillary pricing.

How do you think CAYZN Tracking can help airlines get an edge over their competitors?

CAYZN Tracking employs the best-in-class algorithms for web scraping, supported by constant monitoring and highly reactive customer support. We can gather prices of any type, including branded fares, ancillaries, and any cabin class. Our team is also able to provide accurate prices for inbound/outbound trips for any length of stay.

Our data visualization tool is intuitive and user-friendly, offering an extensive range of features beyond basic graphics, such as set alerts to help analysts identify critical business situations, and help them prioritize their daily actions.

We have a team composed of professionals from former Revenue Management and Pricing departments of airlines, which means that we understand the challenges of competition analysis first-hand. All our operations are centralized in our Paris office, which employs the most advanced technologies and algorithms to provide high-quality, accurate data.

We adapt our scraping to the frequency required by the customer. Especially for daily scraping, analysts can have access to the most recent available data every morning. Additionally, we can scrap data from any website globally, ranging from brand websites to aggregators. Thus providing a comprehensive view of the competitive landscape.

What is an important feature that sets CAYZN Tracking apart from other competitor analysis tools in the market?

In my opinion, three things set CAYZN Tracking apart from other tools:

Highest quality data: One of the standout features of CAYZN Tracking is our very high data quality. We have an internal scraping monitoring tool with a unique set of lifeguards and control loops that ensure perfect data quality. Besides, all of the data is scraped internally, with a success rate of more than 97%. We collect over 2 billion data points per year, making our database highly robust.

Modern UX and workflow: Our software is not only comprehensive but also user-friendly, offering both standard day-to-day views and a robust alerting system.

Ancillary scraping: We have successfully ventured into ancillary scraping, showing that we can adapt to the evolving needs of the industry. This is where the future of the industry lies, and we have already begun to master it.

How do you see CAYZN Tracking evolving in the airline industry?

As we move forward, we plan to delve deeper into ancillary scraping, which will enable airlines to visualize not just standard ticket fares, but also a multitude of combinations involving ticket and ancillary fares. We offer a plethora of features, including an alerting system, and in the future, we plan to develop predictive tools that can give insights based on historical data.

We also plan to integrate with major airfare pricing databases of the market to get access to new possibilities and a more comprehensive list of fare sources. Given the maturity of our product, we are currently positioned to meet any needs of any airline in the world. Today, we have a powerful decision-making tool with the best data visualization. Our goal is to transition into an indispensable tool for airlines.

To sum it all up

CAYZN Tracking is an innovative tool for staying ahead of your competitors. It offers a comprehensive approach to monitoring competitor’s strategies and fares, providing essential insights for your business. Our user-friendly dashboards provide a clear and concise view of your competitors’ fares, allowing you to analyze trends and pricing grids over time and customize alerts to stay informed.

If you are looking to beat your competition and stay ahead in the game, reach out to us. Our product experts will give you a customized demo that meets your needs. Send us an email to [email protected].