Co-op to build on success with video and iphone app

The Co-operative Travel group is to launch an iphone app and greatly increase its video content online.

The Co-operative Travel group is to launch an iphone app and greatly increase its video content online.


Fresh from winning an agent achievement award last week head of e-commerce Neil Hardy revealed the retailer’s website was proving increasingly popular and would continue to grow in importance.


He revealed the site had four million unique visitors last year, four times more than the year before and the expectation is that number will continue to grow.


“The team understands the customer experience and knows how to make it painless largely because we are all former travel agents.


“With the help of TravelTek we have a site which is as good as any other in the market which offers blended search results and live pricing.


“Tripadvisor continues to be a key partner on the site and that relationship is very important.


“Video content will become an integral part of the site in the next few months as it increases in importance in the way people search online.”


Hardy was unable to confirm what the iphone app will do when it is created but said it might include functionality such as finding the nearest Co-operative Travel store and researching holiday offers.


Hardy added: “As a business we don’t mind how our customers book but we want to give them options and make sure the honesty of the brand permeates all channels.”


Kenny Picken, Traveltek managing director, said he was delighted with the Co-op’s win at last week’s awards. 


He said: “What a fantastic accolade for The Cooperative Travel and Traveltek but most of all for the team who have gelled together brilliantly to make such a great success of the tools we gave them.


“It’s absolutely terrific to see such enthusiastic individuals all working so well together and I applaud their performance. They thoroughly deserved a great evening celebrating their success.”


Picken said Cooperativetravel.co.uk saw growth in excess of 200% in 2009 and it was on target to exceed that in 2010.