Type Private Website GoOpti.com | Headquarters Ljubljana, Slovenia | |
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Founder Marko Guček, Sašo Sušnik, Tomaž Lorenzetti Key people Marko Guček(CEO), Sašo Sušnik (COO), Alen Orbanić (CTO), Boris Horvat (CRO), Tomaž Lorenzetti | ||
GoOpti is a privately held Slovenian transportation network company. It is known for its low-cost shuttle service to nearby airports and cities in Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Croatia and Germany. GoOpti offers 3 transfer types; the most popular is the OPTI transfer, a service joining passengers with similar travel time limits in the same vehicle at a low price. GoOpti currently operates in 8 countries with plans to expand both domestically and internationally. Since July 2011 (when GoOpti transfers were introduced to the market), GoOpti has transported over 475,000 passengers with 270 GoOpti vans that have travelled more than 28 million kilometres.
Contents
History
GoOpti was experimentally launched in the summer of 2011 by three entrepreneurs, Marko Guček, Sašo Sušnik and Tomaž Lorenzetti. The main idea was to offer a low-cost shuttle service taking passengers to and from nearby airports. This idea came from the market demand, as they noticed that the development of many low-cost airlines made air transport cheaper than ground transport for many travellers. At first the team only aimed to develop a sales system for cost-effective transport and leave the passenger transportation to other companies, but they had trouble finding a transfer company that would believe in their idea. Consequently, they were forced to buy their own vehicles. Just three months after the introduction of GoOpti transfers to the market, their service became profitable and the investments were recovered in less than a year. In a short time, more companies, even those that turned them down at the beginning, joined GoOpti in creating a marketplace, which combines franchisees and transportation companies. GoOpti is not just a shuttle transfer company: it is a transportation network service serving both sides: the suppliers (drivers, offering transfer) and the buyers (customers, in need of a transfer). Their online booking system recognizes demand and optimizes the occupancy of vehicles in order to achieve the lowest possible price for the passengers and the highest yield for the carrier.
International Expansion
As a source of expanding, the GoOpti executives decided for a franchise model, selling their fourth (and first international) franchise to Croatian Panturist d.d., which is part of Arriva- a Deutche Bahn company. So far GoOpti includes 6 franchises (Tm Vista d.o.o., Aleš Sušnik s.p, Sionsi d.o.o., Spidi d.o.o., Topline Portorož d.o.o. and Panturist d.d.) and 45 transportation (small or middle-sized) companies.
Features
GoOpti is a transportation marketplace connecting passengers, who book safe, low-cost and reliable transfers, with carriers to achieve profit on routes which used to be unprofitable. It operates through the www.GoOpti.com website, where passengers can buy transfers by using a step-by-step booking tool.
In order to book a transfer, a passenger must enter a pick-up and a drop-off location, the number of travellers and their departure/arrival time limits. Based on the data entered, the GoOpti system offers 3 different transfer types with respect to the passengers’ privacy wishes, budget and time flexibility. The passenger must select a transfer type, baggage and extras and pay by a credit card at the last step of the booking process. Instantly after the booking, a booking confirmation is sent to the passenger’s email address, and the transfer is 100% guaranteed. The GoOpti website can be accessed on a computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet and on other portable devices with a web browser. It is available in eight languages and allows payment in 7 different currencies.