Why has KDS kept a relatively low profile over the last two years?
Bertrand Blais - In fact, we've been fairly quiet since the acquisition of KDS by American Express GBT. It's normal: there's always a bit of a floating period after a takeover, and it takes a little time to create synergies between two companies, especially as these are two different worlds, with a service company on one side and a technology player on the other. We had to learn to work together. We used these two years to expand the workforce KDS from a technical point of view: we've recruited massively, particularly in the R&D and product departments, and there's more to come. During this period, even if we have been discreet, our customer panel has also evolved. Since the beginning of 2018, we've seen an almost 20% increase in transactions, with just over 300 new accounts implemented. So our discretion is not a disadvantage: we're working, we're consolidating our foundations, we're improving our technology.
How was this acquisition by American Express GBT perceived by the market?
B. B. - Some of American Express GBT's competitor partners took a dim view of this merger. CWT was our biggest partner, and we had agreements with most of the networks in France, so we were afraid it would backfire. But customers like our solution, and it's not so easy for a network to leave a publisher it has worked with for several years. We succeeded in proving that Neo had its place in the market. So after two years, we can't really see any hindsight. Of course, not all of American Express GBT's competitors consider us to be their number 1 tool. But we can't see any decline. Transaction volumes are up, we haven't seen any massive losses, and our retention rate is still very high. This is a major objective for KDS.
American Express GBT's competitors may have had their doubts about data sharing...
B. B. - There's a sort of chinese wall "The two companies do not share information. We are a software publisher, and all the data that passes through our platform is kept solely by KDS. We are bound by our certifications and by European regulations, and we have adapted our contracts to protect our customers. There are no medium-term plans to adopt a 100% American Express GBT strategy. From a product point of view, KDS considers the needs of all its customers, and of the business travel industry in general. Moreover, KDS must be a financially autonomous company: this is important.
So what impact will this acquisition have on KDS customers?
B. B. - Everything we do for American Express GBT is good for all our partners. They have noticed this, particularly in terms of technology. Thanks to the increase in development capacity, the platform is more robust, and we have moved a little faster than other players in terms of integrating content, particularly in the airline sector, which has evolved considerably over the last two years. Clearly, American Express GBT's contribution in terms of resources and budget has enabled us to keep pace with this market, while at the same time working on our objectives in terms of growth.
Can we draw a parallel with the relationship between Egencia and Traveldoo ?
B. B. - The difference is that American Express GBT has given us a new strike force, investment to grow in terms of R&D, technology and the product. When you enter markets like the Nordic countries with the GBT brand, it's more than just a good image.
How is KDS developing geographically?
B. B. - Historically, KDS was present in three markets: France, the UK and Germany. Today, we have a very strong position in the Nordic countries, whose specific characteristics we have gradually integrated. And without betraying any secrets, we can say that the future of KDS lies in the Nordic countries. American market. So our plan for 2019 is to target the United States and Canada. This is a market that KDS has not been able to penetrate on its own.
What are the reasons for this?
Bertrand Blais - It was both a lack of resources and a need to adapt the offering. The American market is made up of a large number of SMEs, which requires a major sales effort. There are also technical specificities. For example, airlines don't operate in the same way in terms of pricing. The booking habits of American business travellers also differ. More generally, we have gradually integrated features that enable us to reach as many markets as possible. We are in a globalisation strategy. KDS has grown with the acquisition of large customers, which has sometimes led us down the wrong path... We are no longer seeking to target markets with very specific constraints, but on the contrary we want to be as generalist as possible.
How has the Neo tool evolved?
B. B. - We came up with a new way of looking at travel, that of assisting research. Half of all journeys are still simple journeys, since 65%'s customers book national journeys. Business travel is not just about business class to go to Singapore. It's also a lot of people who travel to their company headquarters for training, and who travel at low cost. Many of our users are frequent travellers, who know by heart their train timetable to Nantes, their favourite hire car... So we've adapted the tool to these patterns: when the user knows what they want, the tool should simply give it to them. On the other hand, when the traveller is in the unknown, we assist them by maintaining a very strong idea of the "door to door. Over the last two years, we've consolidated this 'door to door' system, teaching it to be more robust and to adapt to different scenarios. We integrated different scenarios. We've now come up with a new version in which the two approaches are integrated: the assistant and shopping.
How do you see Neo's future?
B. B. - We've changed our way of working a little: after focusing on adding features, we're now working a lot on the user experience. It's not the addition of features that will ensure the adoption of the tool: it has to be appreciated by users. So it's a question of putting in place an attractive interface. L'user experienceis also about feel and performance. We focus in particular on waiting time. The criticism levelled at many tools is not their complexity, but their slowness. We have therefore focused our efforts on this concept of performancewhile making the display much easier to understand. We study a lot of different profiles, who are not KDS customers, in different parts of the world, to see for example if the habits of an Australian are compatible with the needs of a European user. It's quite a long job, and one that we didn't have the time to do before. It's the price we have to pay, and the results are significant: we have gained 20 adoption points in terms of user satisfaction over the last two updates. Hard work pays off.
So KDS is trading in the 'wow' factor for simplicity?
B. B. - Our strategy is to be simple and pragmatic. Two years ago, we launched an offering that was ahead of the market. Since then, we've been consolidating our offering, while remaining attentive to user needs. We've heard a lot about chatbots for example, but is this really what business travellers expect? When it comes to assistance, people expect made-to-measurethe human element. For us innovation requires consolidation. Being the fastest is also a way of innovating. At KDS, our short-term aim is not to invest in chatbots, but to give travel agents a value-added role. CWT, BCD Travel, American Express GBT: all of them have been fighting for years to add value to their service, to bring more value to their customers and to their customers. personalisation on a complex journey fromassistance in the event of a problem. That's the added value of a travel agent. For everything from simple bookings to changing a train ticket, there are tools like KDS. Traffic is destined to be automated. This has already been in place in the United States for a long time, and Europe is a little behind. There are various reasons for this: in some markets not far from France, using a tool costs more than calling a human, even if this is changing. In the United States, travel agents are really contacted for assistance, and not because they are lazy about using the tool.
What is your view of the Travel & Expense market, which has been in a state of flux in recent months?
B. B. - Some players, such as Concur, focus primarily on expense management. KDS has always had a Travel focus, and with the acquisition by American Express GBT, we are maintaining this approach. We start from the premise that expense account represents a cost for the company, not only in financial terms, but also in terms of processes and archiving. The more we allow limit the number of expense claims prior to bookingthe more in tune we are with our customers' expectations. This guarantees more control at company level, gains in terms of processes, centralisation of payment, it simplifies everything. That's the advantage of using KDS to book a G7 taxi, for example: the passenger doesn't have to pay in advanceThis is not always easy for an employee travelling to Paris. Our strategy is to limit the number of expenses that need to be entered as much as possible, and to highlight, at the time of booking, the estimated ancillary expenses that cannot be booked, such as catering. This enables the manager to measure TCOThis is because the overall cost of a trip is not limited to the plane ticket and the hotel.
Are you thinking of teaming up with catering specialists?
B. B. - Over the last two years, we've been integrating a lot of suppliers into our Content Hub module. Now we need to slow down the expansion of the panel and consolidate it by increasing traffic. The issue of meals is a bit special: there's a problem of coverage, traveller habits... We're taking a closer look at parking, which is also a recurring expense.
What other areas are you working on?
B. B. - We try to make the complex as simple as possible, and to provide as much useful information as possible. This is the logic behind our partnership with RouteHappy in the air travel sector. A clear purchase contributes to building traveller loyalty. The challenge is the same in the hotel industry, where there are many players at very different levels of maturity. We also try to adapt the content to business travellers. For example, a team of sales reps might want to know whether the hotel has a car park for their hire car, rather than information about the hotel's swimming pool.
KDS: a few figures
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