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Toronto-based Guestlogix, the global provider of airline commerce technology and a pioneer in onboard retailing and ancillary revenue generation, has officially released a new airline commerce platform to help carriers “consumerize” passenger experience, and generate their highest ancillary revenues throughout the “day of travel” – before, during and after the flight.
The airline commerce platform has three major components: flight attendant point-of-sale app, management console and passenger mobile app.
Its ability to gather, analyze and use passenger data for retail sales and marketing is entirely new to the airline industry, where only 7.5 per cent of passengers make onboard purchases–a conversion rate that has not improved in years, despite higher ancillary revenues overall (largely from fare unbundling).
“Guestlogix’s airline commerce platform is the easiest to use and easiest to implement solution on the market for onboard retail,” said Mike Abramsky, CEO of Guestlogix.
“Airlines can quickly and cost-effectively transform how they generate revenue through onboard sales and other ancillary merchandising, and achieve the same level of personalization and profitability as ‘on the ground’ retailers such as Amazon and Starbucks.”
Sky-High Potential
Currently, onboard sales are still largely dependent on legacy point-of-sale (POS) devices that were built to process orders and payments, but largely disconnected from any passenger systems.
The airline commerce platform transforms passenger experience by making it easy and attractive (through mobile devices) to browse ancillary merchandise.
The management console makes it easy for flight crews and sales and marketing teams to monitor sales performance across flights and run personalized, data-driven campaigns based on predictive analytics.
The intuitive and easy-to-use console also streamlines inventory management and uses data analytics to help airlines stock inventory more intelligently and reduce waste.
“Insights” is the tool group within the management console that enables airlines to manage their operations and build campaigns all in one platform, including reports, snapshots, performance, and forecasting.
The flight attendant point-of-sale app makes it easy for flight attendants to open and close orders, keep track of sales, process payments and much more.
It is tightly integrated with the passenger mobile app for easy communication and order fulfillment to make onboard selling easier and faster, including the ability to make payments in multiple forms and currencies (including cash plus loyalty points, cross-border payments), and the ability to up-sell and cross-sell with personalized, data-driven campaigns targeted to each individual passenger.
The passenger mobile app makes passenger self-service easier and acts as a “digital concierge” for them to conveniently browse inventory, place orders and make payments.
Airlines can add any kind of inventory to the catalog (not just food and beverage) and passengers can make purchases before, during or after the flight, including pre-orders.
Order tracking makes it easy for passengers and flight attendants to view, edit or cancel an order. The passenger app can also store a customer’s preferred payment method as well as mileage/loyalty points, making it easy for airlines to integrate loyalty programs with ancillary merchandising.
“Passenger-centric retail analytics is uncharted territory in the airline industry–this is what sets Guestlogix’s passenger mobile app apart from competing point-of-sale solutions,” said Abramsky.
“With a mobile-first platform for airline commerce, carriers can significantly increase onboard sales but also develop any other ancillary revenue opportunities they can imagine throughout the day of travel, including advertising, sponsorship, in-flight entertainment and destination activities.”
Best-in-market technology
Unlike other onboard retail solution providers, Guestlogix’s solution is customer-centric and enables airlines to gather granular, passenger-specific data that provides a clear view of passenger needs, wants, and behaviours, including travel habits, purchasing histories, personas and travel plans.
As a pioneer in onboard payment processing, Guestlogix opened up a whole new world of ‘selling in the sky’ and has been committed to continuously delivering new–and better–ways for airlines to drive the highest ancillary revenues while providing an excellent in-flight experience to their passengers.
The result? More efficient service, smarter inventory management, more satisfied passengers and new and higher revenue opportunities.
Launch partners and existing airline customers, including Guestlogix’s newest client Swoop, will be deploying the new platform through Q1.
