Making the Most of Marriott.com
Web Site Ranks in the Top 10 for Sales

Monday, March 3, 2008

Shafiq Khan is senior vice president of e-commerce for Marriott International, meaning he's in charge of Marriott.com. Before arriving at the Bethesda hotel chain, Khan worked for United Airlines and US Airways, where he was responsible for the industry's shift to online booking and e-tickets, among other things. He arrived at Marriott in the late 1990s, when Marriott's Web site recorded about $150 million in gross revenue. Today, the Web site in one of the top 10 e-commerce sites for sales, bringing in more than $5.2 billion in 2007.

The Post's Michael S. Rosenwald talked with Kahn about Marriott.com and where the site is headed, including a new generation called Marriott.com 2.0.

Q What were the keys to building the Web site early on?

A Little things. Initially, Marriott didn't have one site. Every brand had its own site. One of things we also did was carpet-bomb our [Web address] everywhere -- napkins, wherever we could. And we made sure that everything would come together at Marriott.com. So when you look for a hotel, you start with all brands. If you want specific brands, you can do that, too.

Did Bill Marriott wonder what in the world Marriott.com was doing being plastered all over the place?

When I came to the company, Bill Marriott asked me to come see him. I was very pleased, because I know he didn't use a PC. Still doesn't. But he's very literate, technology literate.

Especially if he knows it can make him money. What did he say to you? What did you talk about?

Frankly, I didn't have a vision yet. I told him everybody was going to handle booking this way. It's going to be possible at far lower cost and so forth. It was very clear to him it would have value. I'm not sure he realized how much value.

What needs to be changed on the Web site? How do you get to $10 billion?

I think we've only scratched the surface so far. When you look at the functionality of the site, it's a one-size-fits-all site. Clearly we know from a marketing perspective that one-size-fits-all is stupid. If you were selling shoes that way, what kind of shoes would we all be wearing? Instead of one-size-fits-all, we're going to be much more personalized over time.

I've always wondered why when I log in that it doesn't remember who I am, it doesn't remember what kind of customer I am. If my last seven visits have been for pleasure on the weekend, those options should be up front.

Exactly. That's what we are talking about.

What about bringing people to the site for reasons other than booking?

That's the second point. Today, if you look at scope and functionality, we only deal with pre-trip. That's it.

So what about content or reviews? Bill Marriott's blog, for instance -- that's content.

There's opportunity for all kinds of content. We're looking at it now trying to figure it all out. We looked at getting user-generated reviews, pictures.

What about advertising on your Web site?

We're looking at that, too. But one thing you want to be careful of is that people are there for a transaction. You never went to interrupt or distract from the transaction. One of the things we are looking at today as we speak, can we have advertising that says, "powered by . . ."? The other thing we are looking at, at the end of the transaction, is . . . can we sell you books? Can we sell you gear? Are you going fishing? Are you going skiing?

When do you think Marriott 2.0 will hit the Web?

Marriott 2.0 is more a concept than a specific deliverable. But I'd say that you'll see radical change sometime by the end of 2009. We're starting now.