StudentUniverse

StudentUniverse
Type Private
Founded 2000 (2000)
Headquarters Waltham, Massachusetts, MA, USA
Area served Worldwide
Founder(s) Espen Odegard
Key people Atle Skalleberg
(CEO)
Industry Travel, Internet
Revenue Private
Registration Optional

StudentUniverse is the world’s leading travel booking site for students and youth. Through negotiations with a network of global partners, StudentUniverse offers discounted pricing and terms on flights, hotels and tours. Its Travel Services division handles client requests for groups and custom itineraries.[1] Its service went live in 2000,[2] and the company is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.[3] It has proprietary verification technology that allows it to verify student status.[3]

Website

StudentUniverse.com offers flights, hotel and hostel bookings, travel insurance, and tours. According to the terms and conditions, users have to be students at a degree-granting college to redeem offers. The primary focus of the website is B2C (Business to Consumer), however it also offers group travel services for groups of 10 or more people. Users can search for deals without logging in, however must create an account prior to purchasing. The business and website is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and 9.27/10 stars (based on 9,101 reviews) on ResellerRatings.[4]

Business model

StudentUniverse focuses primarily on the student travel vertical, though some deals are available for anyone 18-25. It sells exclusive airfare deals for verified members from its airline partners. Such airfares are not guaranteed to be cheaper than the retail airfares (what is generally available in the market). The company does not charge for membership. It makes money from commission, advertising sales and booking fees on some transactions.

By verifying their members' enrollment at an accredited, degree-granting college, the company is able to offer students discounted products and services. The company's value proposition is to offer student discounts,[5] and flexibility,[6] with an average discount over published rates, based on a sample survey, of 14%.

The company offers 24/7 customer service in English.

History

1992: Founded by Espen Ødegård as a student travel agency called Prism Travel with offices in New York City.

1999: StudentUniverse.com is founded by Espen Odegard and Fredrik Carl Stormer and raises its first round of funding from private investors.

2000: First online booking engine launched.

2001: American Airlines becomes an airline partner and offer student airfares

2004: StudentUniverse introduces its new marketing tag-line; "Students Fly Cheaper". Marketing campaigns were targeted at U.S. college students.

2008: StudentUniverse introduces its new marketing tag-line; "Travel more.Spend less" and launches a redesigned website.

2010: The firm announced a discount airfare service open to any traveler ages 18–25.[7]

2011: StudentUniverse launches SUMM - a marketing agency that specializes in marketing to students.

2011: The company launches a new website and a new tag-line; "Smart deals for students". The corporate blog also goes live in September.

2011: The company announces Paul Tedeschi as its new General Manager of SUMM [8]

2011: The company announces Mike Cleary as its new Chief Commercial Officer[9]

2011: The website reflects that it will expand its offering to categories beyond travel - student deals.

2012: Announces Atle Skalleberg as its new CEO on March 1, 2012

2012: StudentUniverse Media re-launches as SUMM Agency - a full service media and marketing agency that specializes in college marketing.

2012: April: A new "Student Deals" section is revealed. Student Deals

2012: April: "Student Deals" is officially launched. Press Release 4/9/12

2012: August: Textbook service is launched. Allows students to compare textbook prices. Textbook Service

2012: December: The company announces travel tours, StudentUniverse Tours

2013: October: Company announces its revamped iOS application StudentUniverse Mobile App

2013: October: Company announces its UK business and website StudentUniverse UK

2013: November: StudentUniverse acquires the travel startup WeHostels

2015 February: StudentUniverse launches group travel services in the UK[10]

2015: April: StudentUniverse launches responsive website and new branding[11]

2015: May: StudentUniverse launches Work Abroad Experiences [12]

Partners

StudentUniverse has over 70 airline partners.

The company also works closely with ITA Software (Google) and utilizes their QPX technology.[13] Kayak.com has integrated their negotiated student airfares.[14]

Team

Key members of the StudentUniverse team [15] include:

Demographics

StudentUniverse focuses primarily on the college student market in the United States. There are 4,495 colleges, universities, and junior colleges in the country and 17.5 million college students.

Gen Y (born 1977-1994) is now estimated to be the largest consumer group in US history. At 70 to 80 million, the generation accounts for 25% of the US population. Their annual spending power already exceeds $200B and that is expected to eclipse Boomers by 2017.[17]

Competitors

References

  1. ↑ "StudentUniverse". www.studentuniverse.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  2. ↑ Lipman, Lisa (December 15, 2000). "Students can fly for less online - maybe". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  3. 1 2 McCartney, Scott (October 14, 2008). "Flying to College on the Cheap". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ↑ "StudentUniverse Consumer Verified Ratings & Reviews". ResellerRatings. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  5. ↑ "Site helps college students travel on limited budget, members can save $100 by booking overseas trips at Student Universe". San Jose Mercury News (CA). November 24, 2002. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  6. ↑ Gilden, James (April 3, 2005). "Students: Do your homework to get European summer deals". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  7. ↑ "StudentUniverse.com Celebrates 10th Anniversary and Airfare Discounts for Expanded Age Group". PR Newswire. January 25, 2010.
  8. ↑ SUMM - College Marketing
  9. ↑ Mike Cleary as Chief Commercial Officer
  10. ↑ "StudentUniverse Launches Group Travel Services in the UK | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  11. ↑ "StudentUniverse Rolls Out a Mobile-First Multi-Million Dollar Makeover | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  12. ↑ "StudentUniverse Introduces Work Abroad Experiences | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  13. ↑ ITA/StudentUniverse Case Study
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ The StudentUniverse Team
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ http://fora.tv/2011/01/14/Robert_Mertz_Affluent_Generation_Y#fullprogram McKinsey Report - Affluent Gen Y

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.