Lastminute.com in loyalty bid

Lastminute.com has launched community site Lastminuteliving.com to increase loyalty among its customers. Chief executive Ian McCaig said social networking sites are the future of the Internet and travel firms should get in on the act to create differentiation and improve loyalty. He slammed the industry¹s customer relationship management techniques as “way behind the best of…

Lastminute.com has launched community site Lastminuteliving.com to increase loyalty among its customers.

Chief executive Ian McCaig said social networking sites are the future of the Internet and travel firms should get in on the act to create differentiation and improve loyalty.

He slammed the industry¹s customer relationship management techniques as “way behind the best of the best”, adding: “Nobody in the industry is good at CRM.”

Lastminuteliving.com includes blogging, celebrity blogs and videos, including Christian Slater talking about his current West End play A Fool for Love, alongside ideas of how to spend the weekend.

“You need to get involved in social networking and user groups,” McCaig said at this week’s Eye for Travel conference in London. “It’s the future of differentiation for the industry as customers need a platform to interact.”

Meanwhile, McCaig revealed the online agency could have trouble retaining its core female customers aged 25 to 39 as they grow older, and attract new customers.

“We must continue to be edgy but we can¹t be too student-like if we are to keep core customers who built up the company, and attract the younger generation,” he said.