Anyone who still doubts the impact of mobile on the travel sector clearly needs their head testing - that's pretty obvious.
But equally the industry has also realised that providing apps and mobile versions of their websites is perhaps not enough either, at least in terms of creating vast new levels of revenue or improving customer interaction.
There are new ideas circulating around that the industry - especially airlines - are beginning to understand.
Speaking at the Ancillary Merchandising Conference in Barcelona, Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Mobile, suggests:
"There is a massive business opportunity - just factor in how you distribute internal products, referral products or re-sell products..."
It is worth getting a little reminder of where mobile travel stands and the opportunities:
- There will be around 750 million people using mobile ticketing by 2015.
- 594 million people will use a mobile wallet by 2016.
- Four out of ten smartphone users would shop online using a device.
- The average number of times a smartphone user access their device is 150 a day!
In short: smartphones have become pivotal to the lives of consumers, so there must be an opportunity to capture more of that usage in a meaningful way in travel.
The challenge, in part, is that consumers are creatures of habit when it comes to what they do with their devices, so shifting behaviour away could be difficult.
Here are the top activities people do on a device, according to CellPoint:
- Text messaging - 19%
- Browsing the web - 14%
- Taking pictures - 12%
- Email - 11%
- Games - 9%
- Watch video - 8%
- Facebook - 6%
- Twitter - 6%
With this activity as a back-drop, how can airlines and airports capitalise and make their presence (and services) felt?
Gjerding argues that Apple's Passbook, for example, has the adverse effect of giving travel brands zero control over how they interact with customers - it is purely a service to collate items such as boarding passes, nothing more than that.
What airlines and airports should try and do is create a branded platform of their own whereby there is an opportunity to research product, reserve or pay for services, manage bookings and, perhaps most importantly as merchandising becomes a key part of overall revenue strategy, interact with passengers.
In addition, part of the issue, Gjerding says, is being able to "unlock content" throughout a user's relationship with a brand - from the moment a booking is made either on the branded site or elsewhere (TMC, OTA, GDS) so that the opportunity to up and cross-sell becomes an intrinsic part of the process from post-payment to post-trip.
Gjerding calls it a "one branded universe", including the chance to increase loyalty (through programmes) and make revenue from sale of additional services.
Everything, in other words, should revolve around the passenger - whether it's subtle up-selling in an airport (using geo-fencing technology via GPS) to content and guides, from couponing via a device to the practical (and trip critical) elements such as a boarding pass or reservation slip.
There are warnings, of course, as the overall experience is STILL relatively new for large swathes of less-connected (or techie) customers but also trailblazers can be reluctant to accept new processes.
"Some passengers are always ahead and hard to impress," Gjerding says, so a brand doesn't want to create "bad user journeys" as the overall effect is negative.
Other challenges to overcome include:
- Fragmentation of devices and systems
- Corporate policy
- Customer service (who handles it all in a multi-service environment)
- Ownership of customers
It is early days, for both passengers and brands - but that shouldn't be a barrier to entry and thinking about how devices can play a major and positive role.
"Execution is critical to [just] getting over the start line," Gjerding says.
But perhaps the best piece of advice is not to think of such services in isolation.
Gjerding argues that brands should "not put the entire process solely into mobile services". The strategy should be to "improve the passenger process that they will have on the entire journey" and all points of their interaction with a brand.
NB: Mobile airport image via Shutterstock.
NB2: Disclosure – Accommodation for the author’s attendance at the event was supported by Airline Information.