Website of the Week: Aeromexico – 11/12/08

Website of the Week
Aeromexico
http://www.aeromexico.com/usa/english/
Content (0-4):
2
Pricing (0-2):
2
Navigation (0-4):
3
Style/Design (0-4):
3
Supplementary information (0-2):
1
Overall incentive to shop (0-4):
2
Total (0-20):
13
Scoring system explained – click here

Website of the week – Aeromexico

AeroMexico is a global airline based in Mexico City’s International Airport with more than 300 daily flights to destinations in Mexico, the US, Central and South America, Europe and Asia.

The airline offers duty free sales on all its international flights and features a duty free section on its website. The “˜Duty Free Shopping’ page can be found under the “˜In Flight Services’ section of the airline’s main website.

STYLE

Aeromexico’s website features an uplifting colour theme of blue and orange against a bright, white background – striking, but pleasant on the eye.

A banner across the top of the website below the navigation bar features an Aeromexico aircraft in the skies, with the words “Travel the World”, providing a distinct identification for the website.

Sections are neatly labelled and segregated by boxes and coloured headers but tend to be a little too close-knit with rather small-sized fonts.

The layout on the whole however, is structured and consistent.

The uplifting colour theme of blue and orange against a bright, white background is striking but pleasant to the eye


CONTENT AND USABILITY

Aeromexico introduces its duty free service persuasively, encouraging travellers to shop duty free onboard for reasons of convenience and quality.

“Shop while you fly, with our exclusive Duty Free shopping service. Come back to this section again, we add new products often to satisfy all your shopping needs,” says the airline.

The airline provides catalogues for its duty free selection in downloadable pdf format on its website, allowing travellers to preview the product assortment and prices before the flight. This enables customers to plan their purchases pre-flight and free up some time onboard for rest and relax. However, an actual pre-order service is not available.

There are five product categories – Perfumes & Cosmetics, Wallets, Pens & Electronics, Sunglasses & Watches, Tobacco, Food & Beverages and Gifts, Jewellery & Souvenirs – with a downloadable catalogue for each category.

As the product selection is presented in pdf format rather than on the web, the site does well to combine suitable categories – such as Perfumes & Cosmetics and Jewellery & Souvenirs – into one catalogue, keeping the total number reasonable at five. This saves travellers the hassle of downloading and viewing too many catalogues.

As promised, the airline offers a good variety and selection of duty free items.

In each catalogue, items are grouped and neatly presented by brands, providing a certain sense of order. Locating items would be easier though if brands were listed in alphabetical order.

The brand, item name, quantity/size and price in US dollars are stated. Most items, except for some under Perfumes & Cosmetics and Tobacco, Food & Beverages, are accompanied by product descriptions in English and Spanish.

Product images could do with significant improvement. Images displayed in the catalogue are of low resolution but are expanded to fit the page, to the point where they look blurred and pixellated.

The Perfumes & Cosmetics catalogue consists of 14 pages, offering fragrances for men and women and a good range of cosmetics and skincare products. Safe and popular brands such as Lancôme, Ralph Lauren, L’Oréal, Dior, Chanel, Clinique and Estée Lauder are featured. Travellers can expect the usual products popular in travel retail, such as miniature perfume sets, value twin or trio sets and make-up palettes.

The Wallets, Pens & Electronics catalogue spans three pages and offers just what the catalogue name suggests – wallets and writing instruments from brands such as Cartier and Montblanc and a universal adaptor for electronics. Three items in this catalogue, however, seems to be placed inappropriately: a Barbie watch and accessories set for girls, a charm bracelet from Agatha and a necklace and earring set from Sam Misaki.

Under Sunglasses & Watches, five eyewear models and 15 watch models are offered. Travellers can choose from dress, casual and sport watches from Victorinox, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Jeep, Sector, o.d.m. and Nivada.

A small selection of liquor and confectionery products is available in the Food & Beverages and Gifts catalogue. Three liquor types from Johnnie Walker, Hennessy and tequila brand Herradura, chocolate gift packs from Toblerone and tequila-filled chocolates from Turín are offered. One item seems to be featured out of place once again – a ball-point pen from Cartier – which could be classified under Gifts in this case, but would be more appropriate under the Wallets, Pens & Electronics catalogue.

Jewellery & Souvenirs features souvenir items exclusive to Aeromexico, such as the Aeromexico pilot bear plush, cap and aircraft models. Leathergoods and eyewear from Montblanc and Lacoste that are regionally exclusive are also offered. The jewellery items featured are repeats of the inappropriately placed ones mentioned earlier in the Wallets, Pens & Electronics catalogue.

The individual catalogues per category are effectively sections taken from the inflight duty free catalogue. A good effort is made to present the inflight catalogue in smaller, easily-accessible sections online. However, the sorting of products into the different categories is messy in some areas and might be confusing to travellers.

Besides the onboard duty free service, travellers under the airline’s frequent flyer programme, Club Premier, can enjoy discounts at the Duty & Tax Free shops at Mexican airports.

Product images are expanded to fit the page but tend to be blurry and pixellated


Information

A short paragraph on the duty free page, below the links to the duty free catalogues, is dedicated to duty free-related information. Information on prices, currencies, payment methods and credit card limits is briefly summarised here. A contact number and e-mail for queries and comments are also provided.

More detailed information, such as duty free allowances and a FAQ section, could be included to keep travellers well-informed. The provision of a currency converter on the website would be useful as well.

NAVIGATION

The duty free content on the website is simple and straightforward – information and links are contained on one page and the catalogues are meant for browsing only.

The duty free section however is embedded within the “˜In flight Services’ section on the website. Unless they search for it, travellers might miss out on the duty free page. Perhaps, more visibility could be given on the homepage or the navigation panel.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Aeromexico has a duty free selection comprising a good variety of brands and categories that will satisfy a range of demands.

We like the fact that the airline makes an effort to promote its duty free service and encourage travellers to preview its duty free offer pre-flight. However, a pre-order service, which is both time-saving and value-adding, might be considered. Although the airline does well in providing travellers with important basics, there is room for improvement with adjustments to the product presentation and the addition of dedicated information and tools.

What we like:
o Good product range and variety
o Neat and consistent layout
o Straightforward navigation
o Incentives for frequent flyers

What needs adding/improving:
o Blurry and pixellated product images
o Inappropriate category allocation for certain items
o Pre-order service
o Dedicated duty free information and tools

Website of the week scoring system explained:
Content: How wide is the range of items on offer? Are there good quality photos and product descriptions?
Pricing: Are product prices listed? For all products?
Navigation: How easy is the site to use?
Style/Design: How does the site look?
Supplementary information: On allowances, currencies, after-sales service, useful tips and so on.
Overall incentive to shop: This includes tone, promotions, offers, competitions and, importantly, pre-order.

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Website of the week: Ukraine International Airlines – 06/11/08

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