危 wēi  danger

Price comparison sites (such as Expedia) have exerted downward pressure on the airlines’ margins by offering the consumer greater visibility of their choices.  The sites also frequently offer content such as reviews to help ensure that they are the consumer’s first port of call.

机 jī opportunity

Recognising that there is considerable value in owning the consumer relationship British Airways offers low cost fares on these sites but aims to draw these consumers into direct bookings subsequently.  It uses a price guarantee on its own site (best available fare),  its loyalty programme and also continually improves the booking process relative to other sites.  One tool that it uses to this end is the ‘default option’ – adapting the default offer to different consumers.  For example, it automatically offers flyers seat and meal choices based on previous choices (through recognition of the flyer’s IP address).  This can be a particularly economic route to improved consumer experience and therefore differentiation of offer.

how about…

• examining what ‘default options’ exist in your offer and adapting them for improved service to the consumer
• varying the ‘default options’ and assessing the impact on sales or other key variables