NEW YORK? IBM has launched a new service that lets hotels take advantage of the consumer bidding wars for guestrooms. The ?IBM Sell-Off and Auction? product lets hotels create their own auction websites to sell off inventory at market rate prices. It also lets hotels ?know their customers? by enabling them to retain buyer data. IBM said that information can be used to gauge site demographics, design marketing strategies and enhance customer loyalty programs. ?IBM?s new service offering is designed to help travel and transportation firms build additional Web sales channels to pull in revenue on what was previously considered perishable inventory,? said Claude Guay, global executive/marketing and business development for IBM?s Travel and Transportation industry group. ?Its tight integration with other business units like revenue and product management lets companies offer constantly updated or ?dynamic? pricing options,? he said. The auction software technology, developed by IBM Research, can manage active auctions for companies and allows them to customize a broad range of features, including a personalized auction gallery containing only items of interest to the bidder. It can also automatically create and e-mail special offer promotions directly to customers. Three types of auctions are possible using the service: a sell-off, or fixed price auction; an English auction for which a reserve price is set for an item, with the inventory ultimately sold to the highest bidder; and a Dutch auction, which involves the periodic reduction of the offered price until all the inventory is sold. ?Most people think an auction is the chance to sell distressed rooms, but this is future management,? said an IBM spokesperson. The product, designed two years ago as a customized product for a client, can be set up 12 weeks after a contract has been signed, said officials.
