Last week, the airline industry came together at the Aviation Festival Asia event in Singapore to discuss airline retailing innovation and the need for retail transformation free of legacy constraints. Here are our top takeaways…

#1 Customer-centricity to drive better retail experiences

To drive better retailing experiences for the customer, a mind shift change is needed within the design of the airline as an organisation in terms of putting the customer at the centre of operations. This will be enabled by order management capabilities by extending touchpoints with the customer to every point in their journey.

#2 Offers & Orders – Handing over competitive advantage on a plate

Offers & Orders remains a huge topic of discussion amongst the industry, creating a ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) effect for late movers. Those airlines that don’t make the investment in step with their competitors are effectively handing a future competitive advantage to their competitors on a plate.

#3 AI - No longer optimising the legacy of today

As the industry moves to a world of Offers & Orders and become less reliant on traditional ways of filing, we’re going to see airlines take control of their offers. AI-Powered Pricing can be viewed as a ‘quick win’ or ‘value driver’ for airlines – ensuring business continuity today while also readying digital strategies for the future. Likewise, there is an application for AI that goes beyond pricing into the world of dynamic offers or dynamically bundled air offers, through to order management, and generative AI in airline call centres and applications.

#4 New technologies impacting the industry

Airlines need to enable themselves to experiment with new technologies in order to be successful. That doesn’t necessarily mean having a deep understanding of the technology, but instead embracing experimentation. The big catalyst for change in the industry will be the technology itself, but this will require looking outside of the industry at other verticals for innovation.

#5 Payment Orchestration

A move towards payment orchestration is a big focus for airlines as they move away from singular payment service providers to multiple providers in multiple regions – becoming a cost saving exercise as they begin to save on interchange fees. On the customer side, there is demand for alternative forms of payment, ie. Anything other than a credit or debit card. In addition to that, payment is starting to move up the funnel as certain types of payment begin to have a direct impact on conversion. Things like BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) or ways of deferring part of the fee are starting to move up the channel. These options are now being presented to the customer at the point at which the price is being presented – having an effect on conversion and average order value.

Datalex – Who are we?

Datalex's purpose is to transform airline retail. Datalex is a market leader in airline retail technology, offering unique products that enable airlines to drive revenue and profit as digital retailers. Datalex has a strong track record of delivering digital retail transformation for progressive airline brands worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices across Europe, the USA, and China. In 2024, Datalex was awarded the 'Great Place to Work®' certifications. Datalex plc is a publicly listed company, on Euronext Growth, Dublin. Learn more at www.datalex.com