Amex on how to cut business travel costs

June 19, 2008 | Hospitality Industry

American Express Business Travel released two whitepapers demonstrating how customers can reduce indirect spending by purchasing an expanded set of business services online through the American Express Intelligent Online Marketplace.

The whitepapers detail how AXIOM, the online booking solution for travel and related services, enabled Motorola, the wireless and broadband communication leader, to save 19 percent on desktop shipping and Senior Lifestyle Corporation, a large senior living operator, to realize significant cost reductions in both audio and web conferencing.

Powered by Foster City, Calif-based Rearden Commerce, Inc., AXIOM is the first corporate solution that truly combines the benefits of traditional online travel booking with a broad range of additional travel and business services on one platform. Extending far beyond arranging for airline tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms, AXIOM brings together more than 137,000 suppliers of travel, business and entertainment services including airport parking, ground transportation, dining, event tickets, shipping, car service and audio and web conferencing, that would otherwise go unmanaged. Since its launch, more than 1,500 customers have signed on to AXIOM.

“The bottom-line pressure in the current economic environment is creating increased scrutiny on both employee productivity and budgets for travel and related business services,” said Andrew McGraw, senior vice president and general manager, Worldwide Sales, American Express Business Travel. “Unmanaged spending in extended categories such as event ticketing, package shipping and car service accounts for up to fifty percent of a company’s travel and entertainment investment. The solution to addressing this spending is AXIOM. Functioning as a personal assistant, AXIOM creates significant value for businesses by expanding visibility, control and transparency well beyond the traditional travel categories of air, car and hotel booking. As corporations focus increasingly on efficiency and policy compliance, AXIOM is a powerful new tool for reducing costs and making the most of every T&E dollar.”

Motorola saved nearly a fifth of its annual desktop shipping costs by providing employees a more convenient way to ship packages. AXIOM expanded visibility into Motorola’s shipping costs, allowing the company to set and manage shipping policies at the point of purchase and increasing compliance with preferred carriers and negotiated rates. With its easy-to-use interface, AXIOM automatically provided delivery updates to employees and synchronized with employee address books to decrease errors in delivery addresses.

“The ability for employees to view real-time price comparisons among the supply base allows Motorola the opportunity to take a more strategic approach toward managing our non-production shipping needs,” said Terry J. Rieth, PhD, Motorola Indirect Procurement Leader. “Arming employees with the tools and information they need to make better decisions turns them into more strategic consumers.”

AXIOM’s web and audio conference options provided a welcome supplement to the meetings program of Senior Lifestyle Corporation, the nation’s twelfth-largest senior living operator. With more than 50 communities and 3,200 employees, AXIOM significantly reduced costs associated with Senior Lifestyle’s existing training and business teleconferences.

“Web conferencing through AXIOM is an essential tool that gives us additional options to bring our teams from all over the country together more frequently and efficiently manage our travel spend,” said Bill Blouin, Vice President, Human Resources for Senior Lifestyle Corporation.

Senior Lifestyle chose AXIOM based on its intuitive user interface and increased business service options. In addition to the web and audio conference solutions, the company currently uses the airport parking, car service, dining and event ticket services available through AXIOM and is exploring further opportunities for savings.