The relationship between eCommerce and airlines industry have gone through a change this year. eCommerce is set to play a big role in the future of airlines. Likewise, airlines and the aviation industry are playing a big role in the future of eCommerce logistics. In particular, many major airports around the world are attempting to digitize the entire airport experience. This is from the plane check to the duty free shopping experience and other aspects of the airline experience. This process involves the incorporation of all encompassing omnichannel eCommerce technology to achieve the long term strategic objectives. eCommerce is set to change the way customers view airports and Asia seems to be leading the way in this regard.
Malaysian attempt
Early this year, Malaysia airports launched a travel eCommerce platform called shopMYairports. The initial plan was to raise at least 10% of overall revenues through the platform. It allows travelers to buy travel-exclusive and duty free products online. The service delivers products to addresses of customers in Malaysia. Customers can shop online for a range of products from beauty, cosmetics, fashion and electronics to food and beverage. Many international and continental brands are on offer through Malaysia Airports’ retailers.
Singapore’s Airport
In 2017 Changi Airport Group, the manager of Singapore Changi airport did similar. They launched a cross border eCommerce platform called E-Concierge. E-Concierge implements a calendar of activities across all main online and social media channels. This directs traffic to the e-commerce platform. These campaigns drive conversion, customer retention, engagement while increasing transaction basket size and transaction value. Elsewhere, Dubai is a step further. It is constructing a so-called E-commerce city beside Dubai airport. The 520,000 square meter CommerCity development will contain 240,000 sq m of offices, and 54,000 sq m of logistics space. It has business clusters, with 12 office buildings, a logistics cluster containing 105 warehouses. There will also be a social cluster with art galleries, shops, laboratories, exhibition centres, wellness centres, restaurants and cafés.
The Future
For airlines, eCommerce adoption is important to deal with future challenges. The future of aviation is uncertain due to the panic. However, it is certain that eCommerce will continue to shape the future of the airline industry. These changes will influence the entire travel experiences. Worldwide, many airports and airlines will provide different experiences within the next decade as a result of this. This is an industry that the entire eCommerce sector must pay close attention to over the coming years. DigiCommerce as ever, has the expertise and the experience to guide the airline industry with their digital transformations.