It’s no secret that every component of an airline offer is undergoing major transformation. With modern airline retailing and attribute-based shopping at the forefront and focus of airlines, channels, and the entire industry, presenting an offer in a way that resonates with flight shoppers is a huge priority. After an airline offer is created and then distributed to flight shoppers, the next step is to present it in a way that is beyond just price and schedule, shows them what they can expect with products they value, and compels them to click “Purchase.”
What does it mean to “present the offer”?
A whole lot of time and effort goes into creating and getting an offer in front of a flight shopper that they might want to purchase, but how do you actually get them to click “Buy”? How do you showcase everything an offer entails – from the onboard Wi-Fi to the type of seat they’ll sit in?
True modern airline retailing (getting the right offer to the right customer at the right time) presents offers with best-in-class merchandising tactics that showcase and differentiate them from others on the market with amenities, modern displays, and visuals. Merchandising content accurately and uniquely represents a brand’s products and creates shopping displays that entice flight shoppers to purchase. A simple truth in merchandising is that visually compelling displays of products and services will generate better engagement and revenue performance than displays focused solely on price.
Why is presenting the offer important for airline retailing?
When you shop for something online, what do you typically expect to see throughout the purchase journey? For example, if you’re shopping for a new shirt online, you probably want to see lots of pictures that feature different angles of the shirt, different people wearing the shirt, a close-up of the texture of the shirt, and a sizing guide so you can be sure it’s exactly what you want.
This type of customer experience is fairly standard across almost anything you can purchase online today, but can the same be said about purchasing a flight ticket? Consider the amount of effort that goes into creating a shopping display for a USD 25 shirt. Why isn’t there more emphasis on creating shopping displays for flights that cost three, five, even ten times that amount?
Presenting an airline offer works in the exact same way as the shirt example. A flight shopper wants to understand exactly what they’re purchasing through visuals that describe the flight experience. They want to be shown, not told, what they’re getting once they step onboard.
Whether it’s attributes like food, entertainment, in-seat power, seat type, legroom, or the entire aircraft layout, a customer can feel confident purchasing when they’re shown photos, videos, and imagery of their options in a clear, transparent, and easy-to-understand way.
Consumer demand for a better, more customized, and modern flight shopping experience is very real. There have been countless studies and survey results across the industry proving that attribute-based shopping is in demand. Price and schedule are no longer the largest driving factors in flight purchase decisions. Flight shoppers want to understand their options through visually compelling offers that allow them to personalize their travel experiences to meet their unique needs. So, how can ATPCO help you get started with presenting offers in this modern, in-demand way?
How does ATPCO help present the offer?
The first method is quite simple: Airlines file attribute data such as seat, wi-fi, or lounge access for your flights. By providing this data in ATPCO’s Rules, Optional Services, Branded Fares, and Amenities, you’re setting your offers up to be displayed correctly when shoppers filter searches by these options. This data gives channels the power to create shopping displays just like the shirt example above. The more data airlines file, the more effective and engaging displays they’re able to create, leading to a more positive experience for shoppers.
ATPCO’s Routehappy merchandising solution is the second key that unlocks true modern airline retailing. There are three content types that visually communicate targeted information about airline offers:
- UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) – UPA content shows flight shoppers time-sensitive and relevant content as they shop such as unique fares, products, and services with images, messaging, videos, and more. This content can be precisely targeted by aircraft, cabin, fare, and more and helps to differentiate and represent your brand while driving conversion and increasing upsell.>
- Amenities – Comprehensive flight Amenities data helps convey expected features of the onboard experience to flight shoppers. This gives a clear, simplified, and comparable picture of what one seat on an aircraft or across airlines will look like compared to another.
- UTAs (Universal Ticket Attributes) – In plain, simple language, UTAs are benefits and restrictions by fare that make it easy for flight shoppers to understand what they’re purchasing. They are sourced from airline ATPCO Fares, Branded Fares, and Optional Services filings and processed into clear merchandising content.
With the power of Routehappy, airlines can differentiate their offers and channels can present offers to flight shoppers in the way they expect. Today’s flight shoppers want to see the full picture and understand exactly what they’re purchasing before ever stepping on board. You can bring your airline offers to life with targeted messaging and visual content while creating easy-to-understand and easy-to-compare experiences. Start enhancing your offers with modern airline retailing and delivering a best-in-class visual shopping experience to your consumers today.
