It used to be that some 20,000 feet above the ground, you browse a catalogue of duty-free merchandize to take home, chose some pretty standard stuff – cosmetics for the ladies, wine for the gentlemen, some cute airplane replicas for the kids, and maybe local goodies for the parents – and you have an instant take-home gift, paid for in cash and delivered to your seat with a smile by the friendly, in-flight crew.
Not anymore. In-flight retail has seen some highly innovative transformations in recent years – from offering huge discounts on luxury items to selling cars, bikes and even tractors inflight to home delivery to using the rewards cards for purchases.
The Philippine Airlines recently embarked on its own transformation journey and re-imagine the retail experience in-flight and on the ground, starting off with turning the PAL Boutique, it’s in-flight catalogue, into a 24×7 online shopping site.
With the newly launched website, shoppers can choose from a variety of products – from clothing and apparel, to electronics, travel essentials, beauty items and food. The site allows everyone to shop in the PAL Boutique store, not just those in the skies. It also features lifestyle merchandise such as hotel deals, car rentals, tours and recreation packages.
Some of the items on sale at the online store are Sport 75, Heart 75, Southern shirts, Honeycomb polo shirts and hoodies as well as purse and tote bags by Team Manila. Press canvas wallets, heavy canvas Tote & Jotter notebooks, also by Team Manila, are likewise available.
City Weekend, City Satchel, City Tourist, City Reach & City Envelope bag all by Fino, Amenity Kit by Bath Origins and Travel Wallet by Jacinto & Lirio as well as luggage tags and key chains are part of the product selection. Completing the line-up for travel aficionados is the myPALRoam, the global mobile hotspot that provides mobile data anywhere in the world.
Collectible items include the Boeing 777 die-cast model, PAL bears by Natalya Lagdameo, PAL 75 anniversary fans and the PAL coffee table book. Chef Tony’s Butter Icing, Kesong Puti at Kondensada, Royal Peanut Butter and Tablea Tsokolate popcorns are also available for gourmet food lovers.
The online shopping site is also linked to Mabuhay Miles, the company’s in-house rewards card and loyalty program. Every time a user shops at the online store, he or she earns corresponding rewards points. A 100-peso purchase ($2.07) at the PAL Online Boutique is equivalent to one mile.
The online portal currently accepts Visa and Mastercard payments, but the online Boutique will soon accept Mabuhay Miles as payment.
Marketplace solution
PAL’s digital store is powered by the Voyager E-Commerce Marketplace (VEM) Solution, a cloud-hosted software-as-a-service (SAAS) platform with features catering to the needs of enterprises that want to bring their transactions online.
The VEM Solution is a platform developed by Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations company of the PLDT Group and Smart Communications, the country’s biggest telecommunications company.
Voyager Innovations VP for Digital Commerce Mitch Padua said VEM enables mid- to large-sized operators to build, manage and run world-class multi-merchant marketplaces. It provides platform that allows companies to easily sell online.
“PAL Online Boutique is the product of a successful collaboration between PAL and Voyager Innovations. With just one click, a shopper can choose from premiere exclusive and co-branded items. If you are on the go, this online store is your shopping haven,” PAL Ancillary Business Unit VP Kevin Hartigan-Go said in a media statement during the launch of the service a few months back.
Padua said the platform provides PAL an end-to-end solution – from the mobile app so that customers can view flight schedules, check in and purchase tickets to order management and customer care for their in-flight catalogue and online store to payment acceptance, which was provided by Voyager’s own payments company, PayMaya.
“Airlines are the most progressive in terms of e-commerce,” he said at a recent media roundtable. “I think everyone buys tickets online. It makes sense for them (PAL) to not just sell tickets online but other things as well because they have a huge amount of traffic.”
Citing a recent Google-Temasek study that within Southeast Asia, $88 billion is forecast on B2C transactions by 2025, Padua is optimistic there is a big opportunity for Philippine merchants, including online boutiques stores like PAL’s. “We are seeing about a billion dollars (in B2C transactions) now for the Philippines,” he said, adding that another study conducted by Visa hows nearly 9 out of 10 Filipinos connected to the Internet actually do online shopping.