INTERNATIONAL. UK-based iCoupon is a leading provider of digital vouchering in airports worldwide, working with more than 120 airlines, across 180+ airports and 2,000+ retail units. The company’s CEO and Chairman Richard Bye explains how new approaches to automating airport vouchering will benefit travel retail businesses.
No-one would argue that airport delays are dreadful. However, looking after delayed passengers can go a long way towards turning that negative experience into something much more positive.
Naturally, nobody wants to profit from other people’s misfortune, but there’s no denying that when handled correctly passenger delays can have an upside for both airlines and airport retailers.
iCoupon uses contact-free technology to directly transfer the value of vouchers given in the case of flight disruptions directly to the passenger’s boarding pass, thereby ensuring that 100% of passengers on a delayed flight are immediately in receipt of a voucher
When flights are delayed, passengers have no choice but to spend extended periods of time in the airport with little else to do but spend the compensation they have been allotted. With this being the case, it seems remarkable that still a number of potential customers slip through the net.
The search for seamless solutions
These passengers have their reasons, of course. In the digital age, people have no interest in waiting in queues to collect what they’re owed in the form of paper vouchers. Seamless digital services are now taken for granted in most aspects of everyday life and this includes airports.
The keyword here, perhaps, is seamless. Even though many vouchering platforms now offer a paperless solution, the procedures involved can often be overcomplicated. With travellers’ expectations now firmly set, frustrations are likely to arise if airlines, and by extension (in the traveller’s mind) airports, do not meet those expectations.
There is, naturally, a certain level of frustration that comes with flight delay. Just as passengers don’t want to queue, nor are they interested in spending time trying to figure out how to download apps or e-wallets.
Only around 6% of people currently use a digital wallet to make purchases on the High Street, which equates to roughly nine people on an average flight. In addition, some solutions require passengers to navigate as many as seven or eight steps in order to get hold of their voucher, and many of them simply do not bother with the process.
What this means, frankly, is that these people who theoretically should have nothing to do but spend their compensation with travel retailers, never receive the compensation to spend. And of course, the passengers and travel retailers are the ones who suffer most from this.
That’s not saying it’s good for the airlines, however, as it leaves them dramatically exposed to EC261 fines as a result of not meeting their legal obligations.
Keeping things as stress free as possible is a win both for airlines, whose passengers will be more satisfied, and for the airports at which their customers are delayed. We all know that happy travellers are spending travellers but more importantly, they’re also returning passengers.
Contact-free technology
iCoupon uses contact-free technology to directly transfer the value of vouchers given in the case of flight disruptions directly to the passenger’s boarding pass, thereby ensuring that 100% of passengers on a delayed flight are immediately in receipt of a voucher.
Those passengers can then spend the value of the voucher, or more, in their own time across the full delay period, rather than using that time to collect a paper voucher or download to e-wallets or apps.
The simplicity offered through a direct to boarding pass solution makes for a much smoother process in which integrated retailers can simply scan and redeem. It’s also substantially less taxing on airline and airport staff, which in the current climate cannot be understated.
As a result of using this system, we have found that roughly three times more passengers make use of their voucher. With iCoupon now operating with over 90% of airlines in Europe, retailers risk being left behind if they do not join the network themselves.
However, there is still some room for airports and travel retailers to make the absolute most out of vouchering opportunities. The process of returning cash to retailers can be made simpler, as billing for the substantial credit that retailers rack up with airlines can be time-consuming. So time-consuming, in fact, that some (and I won’t name names) often don’t get around to claiming the cash at all, creating a substantial hole in revenue.
In an effort to plug this gap, and make the vouchering process as easy for retailers as it is for airlines and passengers, we have recently launched iCoupon AutoPay. The new service streamlines the payment process by automatically forwarding bills to iCoupon, which pays the retailers directly on their chosen payment terms.
This avoids the need for retailers to spend their time sending a bill to each individual airline and chasing for payment, with the airline instead receiving a single bill from iCoupon.
Flight delays and cancellations are an unfortunate but unavoidable reality of travel. By giving careful thought to how this is managed, the pain inflicted on passengers can be substantially lessened.
Smarter technology does not automatically allow airports and retailers to provide a better experience for their customers. The technology needs to be smart, usable and seamless in order to create a useful revenue stream for the retailers, which results in zero fines for the airlines. When that happens, everyone wins.
