Year after year, many airlines continually struggle to keep their heads above the clouds. They urge you to rack up points by flying more, screaming at you like triathlon trainers – “Keep going! Only 600 more miles!” Loyalty programs are extremely popular in air travel, and keep passengers coming back for more. The more people they can keep off the ground, the better.
However, when passengers are on the ground – passing through airports – the loyalty programs are few and far between. According to a 2012 ACI/DKMA study of 110 airports, only 25% - just 27 - said they offered a loyalty program. It is an interesting trend, combined with data from the paper Time to Rethink Airport Loyalty Strategies, which shows that consumer spending at airports has declined. The study points to consumers wanting more personalized, location based, real-time marketing while shopping, even during travel.
When airports’ internal offerings fail to keep up with the demand, is it any wonder that consumers feel trapped inside? We feel your pain, Tom Hanks as Eastern European Tom Hanks in The Terminal.
In response to this, airports can ramp up their loyalty program offerings to increase the chances customers will come back. According to the Airport Retail Spend Analysis, only 30-50% of travellers will actually pause to buy something in airport shops. This is not for lack of opportunity; If airports can get people to take their shoes off, surely they have a serious shot at getting them to buy a Kit Kat and a magazine before every flight. To accomplish this, loyalty program integration is critical. Granting travellers purchasing payoff while still in the airport changes the experience from transient pit stop to a unique and memorable interaction.
When airports get up to speed with their loyalty program offerings, travelers will be able to access better loyalty benefits, and experience an entirely different kind of flying, altogether.