3 Ways to Fast-track the Airline Retail Revolution
The airline industry is experiencing a rise in adoption of retail transformation initiatives around NDC and Offer and Order management. These initiatives aim to improve the traveler's shopping experience and liberate airlines from legacy tech constraints.
In this blog post, we explore three ways airlines can fast-track their transformation path and sharpen their focus on airline retailing: adopting airline Offer Optimization, AI-fueled technology, and next-gen digital retail platforms.
Airline Offer Optimization
At the core of airline retailing lies Offer Optimization, which enables airlines to create customized offers based on customers' wants and needs while making more money and providing a better retail experience. Offer optimization is essentially the ability to offer the right product(s) at the right price to the right customer in a way that is revenue-optimal for the airline.
To do this, airlines need to perfect their pricing capabilities outside of current class-based restrictions. This means pricing dynamically (continuously) based on demand and passengers' willingness-to-pay. Dynamic pricing and willingness-to-pay are two key concepts airlines must master to achieve successful Offer Optimization. To explore the topic of airline dynamic pricing, check out this blog post: What Exactly is Dynamic Pricing in the Airline Industry? To understand better the concept of willingness-to-pay, read this article on How Willingness-to-Pay is Changing Airline RM Forever.
If you are an airline commercial executive, join PROS Outperform and hear from industry leaders on how they are delivering on offer optimization. Check out the great speaker lineup HERE, and make sure to join the sessions below:
- Delivering Continuous Pricing and Beyond: What's Ahead for Airline RM?
- Adopting Willingness to Pay to Drive Incremental Revenue
- Panel: Building Future-Proof Revenue Management
- Panel: Leveraging Metasearch within Offer Optimization Strategies
- Lessons Learned from Recovery: Embracing RM Innovation
- Next Gen Technology for the Future of Airline Revenue Management
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is another powerful tool that airlines can use to improve their retailing. It helps airlines analyze vast amounts of data in a fraction of the time and make better decisions about pricing and inventory. AI automates optimizations to provide meaningful recommendations to analysts, allowing them to focus on strategic tasks that drive airline competitiveness.
PROS has been using AI across airline revenue management for decades, and today our proven science is in its 4th and 5th generations, powering ~100 of the world's greatest airlines. Most recently, our AI innovation efforts have been focused on ancillary revenue and how airlines can better present, price, and bundle ancillary products and services to impact the airline's bottom line.
Check out the agenda and learn in-person the latest innovations across airline AI at PROS Outperform from:
- Michael Wu, Ph.D., PROS Chief AI Strategist in his session: TAKE FL(AI)GHT: A Journey Toward a Customer-Centric Airline Retail
Next-gen Airline Retailing Platforms for Offers and Orders
Legacy infrastructures limit airlines from fully benefiting from Offer Optimization and AI. To open new retail opportunities, airlines need next-gen airline retailing platforms in place. These platforms are built around the customer, not around the transaction record like current PSS, which helps airlines provide a consistent experience for customers, no matter how they interact with the airline.
Next-gen platforms, like the PROS Platform for Travel, are API-based and enable airlines to partner with other travel providers and IT vendors more easily, so they can bring more products and services to market faster, which saves efforts and money. With PROS, airlines can start the process of retail transformation step by step, by bringing in retail capabilities that help increase revenue without disrupting their operations.
If you are looking at what a next-gen retail platform can do for your airline, don’t miss these sessions at PROS Outperform:
- Anton Diego, CEO of EveryMundo on Next-Generation Retailing: Modular, Flexible, Open and Powered by Cutting-Edge AI
- Yanik Hoyles, Director Distribution, IATA: The State of Offer and Order Management
- Janine Hoerburger, Manager, Direct Distribution Solutions, Lufthansa - Direct Distribution: How to Achieve Modern Airline Retailing
- Panel: How Industry Leaders are Driving Toward Offer and Order Management
- Panel: Architecting the IT ecosystem for Offers & Orders
By bringing these initiatives at the center of their attention, airline commercial executives can pivot a new modern way of retailing to stay ahead of the market, outperform the competition and accelerate on their path to profitable growth. Join the Retail Revolution at PROS Outperform!