Innovation in Customer Experience

The travel industry is recovering well from the COVID-19 crisis, but we still have some way to go before returning to how things were before coronavirus became a household term.

The disruption of the previous two years brought with more than loss of revenue alone. Due to the lack of travel during the pandemic, the industry experienced a paucity of data. The modern traveler still very much expects an innovative experience from the brands they choose to engage with, but with 2020 and 2021 being so utterly unrepresentative, travel brands have had to adapt like wildfire to inspire customers and ensure stellar experience.

However, with every cloud – there is a silver lining. Since the pandemic hit, we have seen a mulittide of new innovation technologies emerge to allow travel companies to provide a outstanding, next generation, efficient and seamless journey for travelers in 2022 and surpass customer expectations using the latest in innovative technologies.

Image Source: https://hoteltechreport.com/news/travel-technology-innovation

Innovations in the Travel Industry Landscape

Airlines, for example, still have access to a host of data which remains very much relevant, even considering the upset of the last two years – a great opportunity is afoot.

Dates of birth, home addresses, travel patterns, vacation preferences, beverage purchases, and whether a customer’s last flight was good or bad can all be used to help provide a personalized experience. That said, using this information could be perceived as being overly invasive – especially given the prominence in the news of issues relating to data privacy.

“There’s a point where you don’t want to make people feel like, ‘Gee they know everything about me and they’re tracking everything I do,’” said United Airlines Senior Vice President of Inflight Services, John Slater.

However, brands such as United have found innovative methods of using data in a far less explicit manner – methods which make sure customers have a fantastic experience during their flight without feeling like their privacy is being intruded upon.

For example, United has a tablet system which color-codes seat status, such as a black seat for a Global Services frequent flier, United’s top tier. The seat map also has icons for wheelchairs and lap children. A seat with a dog face means the customer has a pet onboard, and million-mileage levels are also depicted. This means cabin crew can get an idea of the needs of a particular customer before they approach them, and then use their experience and judgement to deliver a service to the individual’s needs and expectations.

For those customers with connections on their journey, a separate color-coded system is used – green seats have good connections, yellow seats have connections which could be in jeopardy, and red is reserved for very tight connections. This allows the cabin crew to keep those passengers informed at each stage of their journey.

Feedback from the use of these devices has been largely positive from both cabin crew and customers. Crew members like that they have instant access to information which allows them to perform their role more efficiently and effectively, while travelers enjoy the comfort during flights.

The “Netflix Experience” and Behavioral Targeting

Image Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2021/08/15/the-netflix-experience-is-the-new-b2b-standard/?sh=2fcff43d39d7

With a new era of ultra personalized customer experience comes a new generation of targeting. Brands in the travel space need to deploy fresh data-driven techniques of assembling packages and other products which will have the greatest chance of capturing the attention and imagination of the post-pandemic traveler.

When it comes to using data to target customers with custom products, few brands are as successful or as ubiquitous as video streaming platform Netflix. The way Netflix uses behavioral targeting data to not only create custom recommendations for viewers based on movies and shows they’ve already viewed and rated positively, but also to create brand new productions for its membership is exemplary.

It’s extremely well-known that Netflix uses predictive data analytics to create recommendations for its customers – much in the same way Amazon and other ecommerce platforms do. However, what is less well-known is the way it does so for new shows.

When deciding to commission original content such as House of Cards or Stranger Things, or indeed purchase properties such as Breaking Bad, Netflix leverages the power of its data to assess the potential of those shows to perform well. With data from 30 million plays per day, four million subscribers, and three million searches, Netflix can gauge the market for certain shows before commissioning or purchasing them.

Travel brands can take lessons from this method and use their own data to craft custom packages which have the greatest likelihood of resonating with as many travelers as possible. Search and cookie data, ratings and comments on your own and third-party platforms, and comments on social media and other sources can all be leveraged to help you determine if a product, service, or even a new feature in your travel experience is likely to be well received.

Traversing the Metaverse

When Facebook/Meta cofounder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg announced his company’s intention to create a fully immersive virtual reality world dubbed the Metaverse, it was met with a fairly muted response from the world.

While the jury is out on whether the Metaverse will see significant engagement from the public, it hasn’t stopped many brands and industry experts from speculating on the potential for so-called “super apps” to provide new ways for brands to connect with their customers and craft new personalized experiences for them.

“There are definitely signs of super apps gaining more traction in the US and Europe,” said Head of Insights for App Annie, Lexi Sydow. “PayPal has announced its intention to become a super app, as well as Lydia in France. We’ve also seen many apps branching to other verticals as well, such as Netflix moving into games. The super app effect will likely be gradual as apps branch out into more services and begin bundling in natural next steps.”

This presents further opportunities for the travel industry. Imagine a world where a traveler could take a virtual reality preview tour of their holiday destinations. We are already seeing hotels offering a similar experience to this and it’s likely to become even more popular as the technology matures.

Conclusion

Customer Experience Innovation is going to gain new meaning and relevance in the post-pandemic travel business and brands need to find inspiration from wherever it comes to make the most of its opportunities.

Super apps, behavioral targeting, and intelligent and unobtrusive use of data are all going to be relevant in this new landscape and those brands which learn necessary lessons the soonest are going to be the ones most likely to succeed going forwards.

Innovation in CX is going to be part of the conversation at Digital Travel Summit 2022, taking place in August at the Equarius Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.