Service automation and competitiveness in the luxury travel coaches in Zimbabwe. A case study of Pathfinder luxury coaches.

Abstract

The research study was aimed at assessing the impact of service automation and company competitiveness of firms using Pathfinder Luxury Coaches as a case study. The main objectives of the study were to establish if there is an association between online reservation and increase in customer traffic, to distinguish if on-board facilities have an association with enhancing passenger experience in the luxury coaches and to assess if automated payment system has an association with sales volume. The research also covered relevant literature from different authors on service automation with special emphasis given to automated fare payment system, online reservation and onboard coache facilities. A sample size of 155 respondents compromising Pathfinder management, employees and customers were used. The study was prompted largely by the influx of automation in the transport service industry and the drop in sales volumes. The causal and explanatory research designs were used to gather the data from various respondents that were mentioned in order to study if there is a relationship between the two variables. The researcher also collected data necessary to answer the research problem using self-administered questionnaires with the respondents selected using the probability and non-probability sampling techniques. The assessment revealed that service automation has a greater impact on company competitiveness in terms of customer traffic, sales volume and passenger experience. This revelation was noted through analyzing the key elements of service automation that is automated fare payment, online reservation and onboard facilities and the hypothesis testing results. The hypothesis testing results showed the existence of a relationship between online reservations and customer traffic, automated fare payment and sales volume and onboard coache facilities and passenger experience. Pathfinder is recommended to invest in acquiring the latest coaches, advertise the services they offer, engage in employee refresher courses as well as introduce loyalty cards to remain competitive in the market.