Duty free exclusives drive early pre-order sales, says Emirates Airline

UAE. Emirates Airline has said that the first month of its duty free pre-order service has seen “a healthy response” from customers on all routes, with channel exclusives helping to drive the business.

The airline launched a pre-order service for its Emirates Red inflight programme in July. Customers can pre-order their goods from 21 days up to 40 hours before flight departure, with delivery to their seat onboard. The service is currently available to customers in all classes, on all Emirates flights departing from Dubai International. Emirates said it will soon offer this service on flights inbound to its Dubai hub.

The airline is promoting the advantages of digital pre-order and the convenience of delivery to the seat

The carrier said that exclusives such as luxury fragrances Creed Aventus and Boadicea The Victorious have proved especially popular, alongside watches and technology. It said: “New luxury products are being added regularly and all orders will be delivered in exclusive packaging, perfect for gifting.”

The online pre-order offer differs from the onboard range, with nearly 20 items on Emirates Red that are pre-order exclusives and not available onboard.

The airline said: “As part of Emirates’ ongoing strategy to enable innovative, digital solutions at all steps of the journey, customers can now place orders and pay online from the convenience of their personal device. This enables customers to secure products that may otherwise not be available in sufficient quantities onboard due to high demand.

“By dynamically managing its onboard inventory through pre-order, Emirates is able to reduce fuel burn and its carbon footprint by reducing weight on each flight. Increasing flexibility and reacting dynamically to changing operational requirements and customer preferences is vital during this time. Since relaunching Emirates Red inflight retail on board in September 2020, Emirates has seen key inflight retail performance indicators surpass pre-pandemic levels including revenue per customer.”

In the coming months, the airline said it will expand its pre-order product range to become a key platform for travel add-ons, including special tickets to some of Dubai’s main attractions, bespoke items created for Emirates, and limited-edition items from leading brands and vineyards.

The technology platform powering the Emirates Red pre-order service was developed by Bonflite, an innovative company that emerged from Intelak, a UAE incubator programme for travel and aviation start-ups.

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