 | Content (0-4): 3 |
 | Pricing (0-2): 2 |
 | Navigation (0-4): 3 |
 | Style/Design (0-4): 3 |
 | Supplementary information (0-2): 2 |
 | Overall incentive to shop (0-4): 3 |
 | Total (0-20): 16 |
Scoring system explained – click here | |
Website of the week – Malaysia Airlines Temptations Inflight Shopping
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) started off as Malaysia’s national domestic carrier and grew into an international airline in less than a decade. The airline now flies nearly 50,000 passengers daily to some 100 destinations worldwide.
Malaysia Airlines’ Temptations Inflight Shopping website is a separate shopping portal linked from the airline’s main website.
STYLE
The Temptations Inflight Shopping website has a minimalist design, featuring a batik-inspired banner in deep shades of red with gold and purple accents on a predominantly white background.
The usage of rich, regal colours on the banner featuring the Temptations logo evokes a sense of luxury and extravagance.
On the left of the homepage is the navigation panel featuring the product categories and on the right, a boxed section displaying the shopping cart.
In the centre of the page, under the words “˜welcome’ in big bold font is a big boxed section with scroll bars on its vertical and horizontal axis. This box is where all information and products will be displayed; shoppers can manoeuvre up/down and left/right to browse the contents within the box.
An animated slideshow is featured, alternating between two images: an image of a lady in Chinese theatrical make-up and traditional costume holding an ethnic fan, and an image featuring an assortment of products that are “˜New Arrivals’.
The luxurious banner and information display box in the centre stand out against the clean white backdrop – visitors are drawn to the right places and not distracted by unnecessary gimmicks.
The banner and the oriental image of the lady fronting the website bring out a Sense of Place with their Asian cultural influences.
Colours and imagery, though simple, are well executed on the whole.
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A batik-inspired banner and centerpiece image with strong Asian cultural roots stands out against a clean white backdrop |
CONTENT
On the homepage, visitors can click on a link which will display the welcome message from the airline’s Corporate Marketing & Loyalty Programme General Manager. Presented in letter format accompanied by the photograph of the General Manager, it is a nice personal touch in reaching out to customers and making them feel welcome.
The website starts off impressively with the provision of a comprehensive retail service. MAS offers customers three shopping avenues: pre-order for inflight sales, mail order and ground sales.
Besides a pre-order service for inflight duty free items, customers can also order items from the website to be delivered to them or pre-order and purchase items from the airline’s two ground shops in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
Shoppers have the option to view all the products available or to narrow them down by pre-order (inflight sales), mail order or ground sales. This makes shopping on the site much easier and more organised. The nifty function also allows shoppers to switch between the viewing options at any time, even within a particular product category.
The “˜Show all’ option displays all products without the “˜Add to cart’ button – it is meant for shoppers who only want to browse through the items available.
The other three options – Pre-order (Inflight Sales), Mail Order or Ground Sales – are more applicable for shoppers who have plans to purchase items, being more specific and including the “˜Add to cart’ option.
We will focus on the duty free selection under Pre-order (Inflight Sales) for this review.
Product offer
The airline has an impressive range of 18 product categories: New Arrivals, Temptations Exclusives, Fragrances, Cosmetics, Jewellery, Fashion Accessories, Leather, Timepieces, Electronics, Travel Accessories, Stationery, Children’s Collection, Chocolate, Your Well Being, Cigars, Cigarettes, Liquor and Mail Order Special.
Products are rigorously sorted into specific categories which makes is easier to browse and locate items.
Items are displayed in a neat grid of three product thumbnail images per row. Each product is labelled with an item code, brand and product name, prices in Malaysian Ringgit and US Dollars, a box to key in the quantity required and the Add to cart button. Clicking on the thumbnail image will display an enlarged image of the product and the product description.
We like that products are well-labelled with descriptions, prices in US Dollars are stated for reference and enlarged product images are provided for closer inspection.
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Products are neatly displayed, consistently labelled and accompanied by product descriptions and enlarged images |
The airline offers a wide range of products which cater to a variety of demands.
The “˜New Arrivals’ category keeps the site fresh for visitors by showcasing items that are new to the selection. Scents from Amouage, Lancôme travel palettes and eyewear from Carolina Herrera and Adidas are some of the new items featured.
“˜Temptations Exclusives’ features items exclusive to the airline such as Malaysia Airlines aircraft models, toys and Plush Pilot Bear as well as batik sarongs, ethnic-inspired jewellery, silk shawls and bags.
Women’s and men’s fragrances are housed together in the ‘Fragrances’ category. Big brands like Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bvlgari as well as celebrity fragrances from Mariah Carey and Sean John are available. Several miniature fragrance sets are also offered.
A good range of beauty products and cosmetics are offered with an abundance of travel retail exclusive value sets, multi-packs and palettes. Brands featured include La Prairie, BeneFit, Estée Lauder, L’Occitane and L’Oreal.
“˜Jewellery’ carries popular brands in travel retail such as Carlo Gioielliere, Folli Follie and Misaki as well as two items for men from Tateossian.
“˜Fashion Accessories’ features shawls, wraps and sunglasses. Under “˜Leather’, products such as wallets, belts and bags from Hugo Boss and Aigner are offered.
Ladies’ and Men’s watches from brands like Folli Follie, Aigner, Esprit, Jacques Lemans and Casio can be found under “˜Timepieces’. Prices range from RM225 (US$73) for a Andre Piasso Ladies & Gents Watch Set to RM1399 (US$451) for a Aigner Perugia ll Ladies Watch.
“˜Electronics’ offers a digital camera and two handheld games. “˜Travel Accessories’ includes items such as a mini massager, universal travel plug, battery operated shaver as well as special items like a wireless spy camera detector and KLIA Ekspres bus tickets to the Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station.
Five types of writing instruments and pen sets are available under “˜Stationery’. Five items are also featured under “˜Children’s Collection’ including a Snoopy stationery case, a Barbie watch and belt set and a Disney Princess Cinderella edt spray for girls.
Boxed chocolates from Godiva, Guylian and homegrown gourmet chocolate brand Fidani are offered under “˜Chocolate’.
“˜Your Well Being’ section caters to the health-conscious with supplements, magnetic bracelets and massage oils.
“˜Cigars’, “˜Cigarettes’ and ‘Liquor’ offer boxed cigars from Davidoff, Neos Selection and J cortes, seven types of cigarettes and four types of liquor products. “˜Cigarettes’ is the only category with no product images.
The last category, “˜Mail Order Special’ is only available for mail order and ground sales. A variety of items from iPod and laptop cases to aircraft models and a duvet similar to one found in the First Class Cabin are offered here.
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The convenient shopping cart feature and online order form makes shopping a convenient and hassle free procedure |
Features and information
The boxed section on the right of the website displays the shopping cart stating the number of items currently in the cart. It would be good if a summary of items can be listed as well. Two buttons are available: Checkout and Reset. Shoppers can reset the shopping cart to its original empty state. Only upon clicking the checkout button will the items in the shopping cart be displayed.
Items in the shopping cart are listed in a neat table and item quantity can be edited, with changes to the total quantity and price being updated instantly.
To submit the order, shoppers are required to fill in a form below the shopping cart before clicking the “˜Submit’ button on the checkout page.
Links to useful information such as duty free allowances and the terms and conditions for shopping with the airline are displayed only on the checkout page. These are not displayed on the homepage for browsing. However, clicking on the links displays comprehensive information on a pop-up window.
Duty free allowances for 30 countries are provided.
“˜Terms and Conditions’ provides detailed information on payment methods, pre-order procedures, mail order procedures, location of ground stores with map and contact details.
NAVIGATION
The simple design of the website makes it easy to navigate and keeps the shoppers focused on the important areas.
The navigation panel on the left, viewing options at the top and shopping cart on the right are fixed in place throughout.
Browsing the products was simple thanks to the rigorous categorisation, neat display, and well-labelled products with enlargeable images.
The only thing to take note of is that links to information pages are not displayed on the homepage but only upon checkout. This can be a little confusing to shoppers who are browsing and have not yet added items to their shopping cart but are looking to read up on duty free-related information and shopping procedures.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Malaysia Airlines’ Temptations Inflight Shopping website scores well with its simple but well-executed design and wide range of products catering to a variety of needs. Product display and categorisation is neat and consistent which makes shopping a pleasant experience. Retail services such as pre-order and mail order further maximizes the value of the website. There is room for improvement but the site is definitely on the right track in providing shoppers with convenient and well-rounded retail services.
What we like:
o Simple but well-executed design
o Organised, consistent and comprehensive product display
o Pre-order facility
o Well-rounded retail services
What needs adding/improving:
o More open access to information pages
o Currency converter
o Incentives to shop: highlighting promotions, special offers and savings
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.
PREVIOUS WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the week: bmi Onboard Shopping – 09/10/08
Website of the Week: US Airways Duty Free – 02/10/08
Website of the Week: Thai Airways Inflight Duty Free – 25/09/08
Website of the Week: Cyprus Airways’ Shop in the Air – 18/09/08
