Spanish flag carrier Iberia says passengers are spending a lot more on food and drinks on its short and medium-haul flights after it launched a new at-seat ordering system that allows passengers to reserve products from their mobile phones and other personal devices.
The airline’s regional subsidiary, Iberia Express, recently added the ‘GastroBar A Tu Asiento’ (GastroBar to your seat) service to its existing inflight entertainment portal, where passengers have been able to stream a small collection of movies and TV shows to their personal device.
The results of the new service speak for themselves. After flight attendants pass through the cabin with a traditional buy-on-board cart service for passengers in short-haul Economy, the crew then enable the at-seat ordering service.
Isabel Rodriguez, the commercial director at Iberia Express, says the average order value for purchases made via the customer’s own personal device is 42% higher than a traditional cart-based service.
Spend per passenger has shot up by 29%, and by increasing the amount of time that customers have to order products from the buy-on-board service, Iberia Express has seen the total number increase by 41%.
Iberia’s mainline short-haul aircraft do not have the same entertainment portal, which is developed by the Barcelona-based ImmFly Group, but the carrier is clearly impressed by the results, as last month, the airline added the same at-seat ordering service to its inflight Wi-Fi portal.
“We are extremely pleased with the success of the in-seat order service,” commented Rodriguez. “Passengers really appreciate the convenience, and these results show the significant impact this service has on both customer satisfaction and our revenue, aligning perfectly with our focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences while driving operational efficiency.”
Rodriguez added: “It’s truly a win-win for both our passengers and our operations.”
The service mimics any other online shop, and all passengers have to do to access the portal is scan a QR code on their seatback. Passengers can then browse all the products that are available and select what they want to purchase.
The order is then sent to a crew device in the galley, where the order is prepared and delivered to the customer. The service does not require customers to pre-pay for the products they’ve selected and payment is, instead, taken at the time of delivery on the crew device.
Clearly, this new service could significantly increase the workload of flight attendants who might not otherwise get any other sales once they’ve passed through the cabin with the buy-on-board cart.
That being said, flight attendants earn a commission on all onboard sales, which should act as a good incentive to make the service work.
If things do get a little too crazy, however, flight attendants have the ability to pause the in-seat ordering system at any time.
Iberia’s mainline operation uses the same in-seat ordering system that the sister-carrier British Airways has deployed on the vast majority of its short-haul aircraft for several years. British Airways has, however, remained tight-lipped on what effect the service has had on inflight sales.
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