inside travelport merchandising platform

Inside Travelport’s Merchandising Platform

A paradigm shift in distribution

Travelport’s Merchandising Platform transforms the way airlines distribute and retail their differentiated products to Travelport’s travel agency customers.

Travelport now provides its global agency community with access to unrivalled airline content comprising fares and ancillary services from both traditional airlines and Low Cost Carriers who recognize the value of the travel agency channel.

Travelport’s airline customers are able to present the value and differentiating features of their products to Travelport’s agency community using both traditional and API based distribution technologies. Airlines who choose to distribute through the travel agency channel experience yields up to 18% higher per ticket sold, relative to tickets sold in their direct channels.

At the point of sale, Travelport’s Merchandising Platform consists of 3 components designed to communicate and compare both the fares and product attributes being offered by airlines today:

• Travelport Aggregated Shopping: Consolidates in a common booking flow the shopping results for carriers who connect through ATPCo and those with whom we have an API connection. This new capability includes new screens for our Classic Desktops and Smartpoint App™ interfaces. Shopping in Travelport Universal Desktop™ and Universal API™ is automatically aggregated today.

• Travelport Ancillary Services: Lets travel consultants sell airline ancillaries within their existing workflow so there is no need to navigate to airline.com to offer the full range of products from a carrier.

• Travelport Rich Content and Branding: Allows airlines to communicate the value of their content to and through the agency community. In turn the travel consultant has access to all of the information on an airline’s product within the booking flow improving efficiency and levels of customer service.

Executive summary

Contents


Chapter 1 03

Answering industry needs

Chapter 2 06

The value of choice and flexibility

Chapter 3 08

Retail

Chapter 4 09

The architecture, capability & components

Chapter 5 10

The Travelport merchandising platform for airlines

Chapter 6 13

The Travelport merchandising platform for agencies

Chapter 7 14

About Travelport

For our airline customers:

We enable an airline to distribute all of its content in any way that it chooses.

For our travel agency customers:

We enable agents to access all airline content in their normal workflow in any way that they choose.

your way Retailing & marketing your brand

your way Unrivalled content. Your workflow.

03

What does Travelport’s Merchandising Platform mean to airlines?

We enable airlines to distribute all of their content in any way they choose.

The Travelport Merchandising Platform means an airline can achieve consistency in how their product is presented and sold across all channels. Airlines maximize the return on their investment in branding and new products by ensuring clear differentiation from their competition and increased ancillary sales.

What does Travelport’s Merchandising Platform mean to travel consultants?

We enable agents to access all airline products in their normal workflow through any Travelport point of sale.

Travelport’s Merchandising Platform means agencies can access the full range of airline products in a consolidated and integrated working environment that assists them in making the best informed choice even as airline offerings become increasingly complex.

This means better service, expertise and productivity with lower training costs.

What are the industry challenges we aim to solve?

AIRLINES

Airlines need to be more competitive, drive profit and get target their offers more effectively. Some airlines do not believe they can deliver their full product portfolio with equal impact across all distribution channels. They may question the indirect channel’s ability to support retail and marketing techniques that they increasingly rely on to differentiate their brand and products to drive success.

In the search for profitability airlines need to be able to deliver their full product portfolio with equal impact across all distribution channels. They need to know that the indirect channel can enable them to communicate their brand effectively, articulate the value of their product and differentiate their services in a competitive market to grow transactional value and win market share.

AGENCIES

Agencies need to offer a complete service to both airlines and consumers but often they cannot access all airline products from their points of sale. They leave their workflows to find products and services from other channels, such as an airline’s own website, and are therefore affected by inefficiencies inherent in a disrupted booking flow. If an agency chooses not to offer these services, well-informed consumers may detect a discrepancy in the product offering compared to what they have seen on other channels which may lessen the travel agency’s credibility and question the added value they bring as a travel expert.

CONSUMERS

Consumers today are expert shoppers and expect a consistency of service regardless of where, when or how they purchase. For airlines, the challenge is ensuring that this omni-channel experience is supported effectively in indirect channels of distribution.

Chapter 1

Answering industry needs


How will Travelport solve these challenges?

• By enhancing the retail capabilities of the indirect channel.

Travelport’s Merchandising Platform establishes parity in direct and indirect distribution channels by making all airline products available to travel agents and by presenting their product offers in a way that allows airlines to clearly communicate and differentiate the value of their product offer. An example is the way many websites visually represent, describe, promote and sell their products, and this is not just limited to the display: it also includes the ability to allow relevant tailored offers to be pushed to consumers, for instance when they have been identified by their frequent flyer number.

• By allowing airlines to choose how to deliver their fares and ancillary products to Travelport.

Airlines are now able to choose to distribute

– through existing Industry Standards, based on EDIFACT messaging and filling through ATPCO.

– beyond those standards for example through an XML based Application Programming Interface (API).

– through a mix of both approaches.

Travelport ensures that technology is not a barrier to the airlines’ preferred technology approach for their distribution strategy.

• By presenting all airline products (flights, fares and ancillaries), inside a consolidated workflow.

All airline product offers, whether from Industry Standard airlines and API connected carriers, are compared in a single view and workflow.

• By providing the technology to showcase these products through rich user interfaces.

Whether an airline chooses to deliver their content to Travelport via Industry Standards or an API Connection we offer the capability to display product images, product descriptions, branding and fare families on the agent’s desktop in a way that allows them to quickly and easily understand the carrier’s differentiated product and value proposition and communicate these effectively to customers.

What are the Industry Standards we refer to in this document?

In the main we mean ATA/IATA Reservations Interline Messaging Procedures – Passenger or AIRIMP. In IATA’s own words these are:

“The sole reference source of universally agreed upon communications standards for the handling of Passenger Reservations Interline Messages. The AIRIMP standards are used in millions of transactions between Travel Agency and Airline systems and by Airline to Airline systems.”

These standards along with the fare filing processes associated with ATPCO and SITA and the fulfillment mechanisms governed by ARC/BSP make up the Industry Standards we are referring to in this document.

05

How relevant is IATA’s proposed New Distribution Capability (NDC) to Travelport’s Merchandising Platform?

Travelport’s Merchandising Platform is the result of Travelport’s recognition of the need to reduce the barriers to indirect distribution presented by both technology and existing Industry Standards around fares and ancillaries. Travelport has invested in enhancing its current distribution capabilities and point of sale experience to lower technical barriers and overcome the challenge of differentiating products and services within the constraints of a common industry format. While these goals are similar to those ascribed to IATA’s New Distribution Capability project, Travelport has already moved beyond standards and beyond the pace of the industry to bring compelling capabilities to its distribution channel.

Both airlines and agencies have the unparalleled opportunity to satisfy consumers’ requirements to find, select and purchase value based products and ancillary offers.

IATA have also recognized the limitations of existing Industry Standards and technologies and are moving to upgrade those standards to an XML based schema which they believe will enable their member airlines to better communicate their products across all channels.

However Travelport will continue to drive at pace our own innovation and that of our airline customers and not wait for a single industry standard, to be defined and adopted. There will always be airlines who will innovate beyond any industry standard as well as airlines who do not wish to be members of IATA or follow their standards. At Travelport we acknowledge that standards will continue to evolve and that the need for airlines to seek competitive differentiation means that we will continue to work not only with the adherents to an industry standard but also the innovators who are looking to push the boundaries of distribution.

It is in fact Travelport’s existing capability to source, manage and merge airline products directly from carriers today and how we harness these capabilities today that is revolutionary.

We enable more and richer content from airlines, regardless of technologies or standards to be displayed across our agency points of sale – in effect transforming the indirect channel into a best-in class retail environment.


What is the inherent value in allowing an airline to choose how they connect to Travelport ?

There are multiple airline business models, some are suited to working within Industry Standards and others are built precisely to by-pass some of the inherent complexities that are necessary to work through standards – these airlines have found alternative methods of distribution and mainly use APIs to deliver their content.

Carriers that favor APIs – typically Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) and focused on leisure travelers – have become extremely successful and often dominate in their domestic regions. But as they mature, there is an increased focus on the agency channel to reach new and high yield business and potentially target higher paying business travelers. This presents opportunities for those carriers working with Travelport as we are able to work ‘beyond standards’ and seamlessly integrate content sources directly from the airline.

It is entirely feasible that one airline is running multiple models: these may be legacy carriers needing heightened flexibility to compete with an LCC domestically while at the same time running a successful long haul or partnership strategy within a traditional model.

Why would an airline choose to connect using APIs?

Through an API an airline can be more flexible and agile, responding faster to business conditions, and enabling the airline to:

• distribute some or all flight availability through an API which enables an airline to sell and revenue manage those routes more dynamically

• adjust fares rapidly according to the latest flight demand forecasts or competitive activity or an agency’s performance

• code share is supported for API-connected carriers

• tailor, add or remove certain optional services such as ancillaries with speed

• distribute fares though an API to unlock customer-centric selling capability

• recognize which agency or customer is requesting which flights and return a customized offering based on a frequent flier tier level, agency identifier or a corporate ID

• recognize consumer trends and booking history to return relevant tailored offers for both price, upsell opportunities or ancillaries

Why would an airline choose to connect through Industry Standards?

Through Industry Standards an airline is part of an established process particularly well suited to more complex international routes or itineraries. Industry Standards allow airlines to:

• interact with other carriers, support partnerships, code sharing and interlining

• distribute fares or schedules for flights – such as long haul – that may not require such regular or dynamic changes

• align to common agency fulfillment processes that permit efficient payment and agency ticket issuance globally

Chapter 2

The value of choice and flexibility

07

Why would an airline choose to connect through a blend of Industry Standards and API?

Through a hybrid model, using both API and Industry Standards connectivity, an airline can choose which fares or schedules are best suited to fast-moving situations that require change and reaction – such as their domestic business, or those routes or product offerings needing less dynamic change.

Don’t GDSs already accept airline content through APIs?

Yes but until now this content was not integrated into agency workflows.

The Travelport Aggregated Shopping component of the Merchandising Platform, will aggregate availability, fares and ancillaries from all airline types: displaying LCCs or API carrier content alongside Industry Standard carriers in the same booking flow.

If API connections are so flexible, then why wouldn’t all airlines want to use it?

Many airlines’ existing operations, both internally and with partner airlines, are deeply integrated with the existing Industry Standards and it is not simple to move away from those standards to something wholly based on exposing content through an API. Newer airlines attribute much of their competitive advantage to the fact that they consciously chose not to adhere to the existing standards. Their business models did not require interoperability with other airlines and therefore only did not need to use Industry Standards to focus on selling their products through their own website.

In addition, not all airline APIs are created equal. Some are feature-rich and enable all functions such as modify/amend, the ability to hold a booking without payment, or support forms of payment other than credit card. However other airlines only offer shop, price, book and retrieve and not all of their available optional services such as paid baggage are supported.

There are other limitations as well. Interline connections are not currently available in any airline’s API and for large airlines that participate in alliances and other partnerships that is a sizable limitation. Code share is usually supported.

Don’t GDSs already accept Low Cost Carrier content through ATPCO standards?

Yes, all GDSs accept a fairly significant amount of LCC content through traditional standards. However Travelport believes that by lowering barriers to indirect distribution it can enable more LCCs to gain the benefits of using Travelport’s global distribution capabilities to compete effectively for both leisure and business customers. Up until now, this decision has been one that LCCs make as their initial markets mature and they start to look to wider markets and business customers to either drive improved load factors mid week or drive increased average yields per passenger. Travelport’s philosophy is that Low Cost Carriers are now able to consider indirect distribution as a key element of their distribution and marketing mix sooner.

Through Travelport, no airline is held hostage to their technology. There are no restrictions and a carrier can participate within the Travelport Global Distribution System using the technical approach that is right for them and their business model.


Why is Travelport’s Merchandising Platform so important to airlines, agents, consumers and the industry as a whole?

1. Omni-channel distribution, sales and marketing

Any business that operates a multi-channel retail strategy will want each channel to be effective and equally able to demonstrate value, generate sales and provide a consistent brand experience. For airlines and consumers, an omni-channel strategy, with seamless interaction and tracking between an airline and a consumer across multiple touchpoints, is key to a positive consumer experience and exceptional customer service.

2. What consumers expect today

Consumers, who are now experts in online shopping, expect consistency whether interacting with an airline’s website or through an agent or any other channel. The best retailers provide this with multi-device capabilities and a continued dialogue with consumers before, during and after the booking flow.

3. Websites do have boundaries

Website penetration can only go so far. Domestic penetration is naturally much higher but even that can’t access certain higher value passengers who may be required to book travel through an agency aligned to corporate policy. Equally it is expensive to raise brand awareness outside your home country, particularly in a trade setting with agencies. Travelport’s global reach provides airlines with a highly cost effective channel beyond the natural boundaries and limitations of direct distribution.

4. Airlines need to use rich content to describe a product - from economy to first class – to promote their value and their differentiators

Agents today go to the website, if a carrier is lucky, to understand the product being offered by that carrier. This takes time and slows down the booking process. Much better to give the agent the information they need at the right point in the booking flow to enable an informed choice to be made. Merchandising is by definition:

“the planning and promotion of sales by presenting a product to the right market at the proper time, by carrying out organized, skillful advertising, using attractive displays, etc” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/merchandising)

At Travelport we want to enable airlines to communicate to the agent and end consumer seamlessly within the booking flow.

5. Enhanced personalization

Personalization happens today with Frequent Flyer based pricing for ancillaries as well as deals done with agencies and businesses to try and capture their booking volumes. Greater personalization and targeting of relevant offers is happening and is key to airline profitability. Where this doesn’t harm competition and the consumer then it will be supported by the Merchandising Platform.

6. The changing travel agent

Agencies offer a clear and valuable service, but travelers are now better informed and airline products are more complex with more attributes than ever before. Agents need to be focused on their service value proposition and recognize that they need solutions which provide them with rich information on available offers, and the ability to focus on listening to customers, understanding their needs and matching the available products to those needs.

Chapter 3

Retail

09

Chapter 4

The architecture, capability & components

What are the technology developments that drive Travelport’s Merchandising Platform?

1. We have redesigned how our Air Content Hub (where we manage airline APIs) interacts with the Travelport GDS.

2. We have designed new agency screens which aggregate industry standard filed content with fares and ancillaries from the Air Content Hub, enabling all content to appear in the agent booking flow.

3. We are enhancing all desktop solutions to integrate the new content while taking advantage of the features agents know and love.

4. We are rationalizing our API solutions by offering a single way for online travel agencies to gain access to all the content available in Travelport though Travelport Universal API™.

5. We are using a Service Oriented Architecture to ensure that content and functionality is provided seamlessly and consistently to all points of sale.

What is the Travelport Merchandising Platform Architecture?

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Industry Standards

API

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API

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Travelport merchandising management

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Aggregation of airline fares from

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Aggregation of ancillary

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Rich content display

ViewTrip

Universal desktop

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Chapter 5

API

Airline Fares & Participation

and Airline Ancillaries

Hybrid

IndustryStandards

FLEXIBLE CONNECTIVITY

DynamicPricing

CUSTOMER CENTRIC SELLING

Travelport Advertising

Tools

Travelport Rich Content& Branding

MARKETING & RETAILING

Travelport Aggregated

Shopping

Travelport Rich Content and Branding

Travelport AncillaryServices

Merchandising at the point of sale

SELLING SOLUTIONS

TravelportMerchandising

Platform

Airline Solutions

11

1. Flexible connectivity:

Airline fares & participation:

The objective is to

• give airlines the choice of the method of content distribution that best suits their distribution strategy and technical capabilities in order that they maximize their reach and hence their revenues

• distribute airline API connected content globally which will promote additional airline participation, expanding the content available within the Travelport GDS

• normalize API content ‘display’ into a single workflow for all Travelport agencies and points of sale by providing new screens and creating a common booking flow for our Air Content Hub (ACH) carriers alongside our GDS-connected carriers

• aggregate our Customer Centric Shopping capability (which returns ACH shop results) alongside ePricing shop results (which returns GDS shop results). Whether distributed via Industry Standards or via API, product offers from all airlines will be displayed alongside each other, fares and ancillaries included

In simple terms, all airlines no matter whether they connect through Industry Standards or through APIs and their corresponding fares and ancillaries will be displayed together on agency screens.

Airline Ancillaries:

The objective is to

• implement API-published ancillaries (through the Air Content Hub) and Industry Standards-filed ancillaries (through the GDS) to allow airlines to generate extra revenue through the sale of airline merchandise and into all points of sale

• aggregate our Customer Centric Shopping capability (which returns ACH shop results) alongside ePricing shop results (which returns GDS shop results). Whether distributed via Industry Standards or via API, product offers from all airlines will be displayed alongside each other, fares and ancillaries included

Airlines may choose to sell ancillaries such as paid seats, extra luggage, lounge access, meals and WiFi on certain routes or for all routes depending on their commercial and marketing strategy.


2. Customer-centric selling (through API Participation)

Dynamic pricing

The objective is to

• allow the agent – during the initial shopping request – to include a set of unique identifiers such as a Frequent Flyer, corporate or agency number which then allows the airline to return a personalized offering which could be a special fare or free bag or seat allocation

This ability to provide customer centric selling will enable

• offers to be tailored to the actual traveler

– special fares to Gold Card members

– allow access to a limited capacity flight

– Inclusion of ancillaries

• enable agile corporate deals

– enable an airline to be more competitive while negotiating with travel buyers

– deals could be set to provide greater discounts as bookings rise

– push short-sharp offers at speed – without the expense or time associated with fare filing

• agency deals to be more dynamic

– routes and rates can be adapted at speed by airlines, made to vary, reflecting fast moving market conditions

– discounts can be aligned to increases in sales

3. Marketing and retailing

Rich content & branding and advertising tools

The objective is to

• allow airlines to showcase their ancillaries and fare products supported by a solution that allows them to include extended description and images

• allow airlines to differentiate their content early within the agent flow

• allow airlines to distribute their content, branding and positioning through all channels, providing consistency for the end users

• allow airlines to display the value and scope of their product offers to allow agents to compare and contrast different offers along side each other and so promote upselling opportunities

• promote airline offers directly onto agency screens

4. Selling solutions

Aggregated shopping, ancillaries, rich content & branding and advertising tools, at the point of sale

The objective is to

• incorporate API content and ancillaries into a single workflow for all Travelport agencies and points of sale by providing new screens and creating a common booking flow for our Air Content Hub carriers alongside our GDS-connected carriers

• showcase and display branded airline offers that reflects contemporary retail and marketing techniques

• allow airlines to use and also understand our agency channel more effectively. Our solutions actively bring the supplier and retail channels closer together to serve a new generation of consumers who expect more

13

Chapter 6

Rich Content and Branding

The objective is to

Communicate the value and differentiation of each airline’s offering in a way that informs the agent and keeps them productive.

Travelport Aggregated

Shopping

Travelport Rich Content and Branding

Travelport AncillaryServices

Merchandising at the point of sale

Aggregated Shopping

The objective is to

Present all products from all airlines in a common workflow for agents regardless of the technology used to bring in those products to the Travelport GDS.

Ancillary Services

The objective is to

Enable the sale in a common workflow of the ancillary services which are so vital to airline profitability. Ensure payment methods match all possible derivatives or preferences for carriers, consumers and agents.


Providing the broadest range of travel content

As one of the world’s largest travel organizations, Travelport powers business success by enabling providers and agents to sell how and what they want through an enhanced travel buying experience.

• Operating in 170 countries

• Serving travel agencies, travel suppliers, corporations and travel wholesalers

• Global travel distribution and transaction processing services

• Comprehensive travel technology portfolios

• Mission critical airline IT applications and multi-host platform

• Global travel market intelligence and data analysis solutions

• 3,500 employees, with worldwide sales, service and support offices

• 2011 annual revenues of USD $2billion

World-class global data center

Our data center offers a state-of-the-art facility that has completed comprehensive technology upgrades to the latest IBM processing and storage platforms. The combined facility features an industry-leading technology platform in terms of functionality, performance, reliability and security.

• Advanced hybrid technology infrastructure running the Apollo™, Galileo™ and Worldspan™ global distribution systems (GDS), and several major airlines

• 99.99 percent core system uptime

• Less than 300 milliseconds average system response time

• Up to 2.2 billion unique travel-related messages processed daily

• Average of 77 million daily availability searches for flights, car rentals and hotels alone

• Real-time bookings with guaranteed fares and rates

Chapter 7

About Travelport

Connecting buyers and sellers of travel worldwide

Travelport offers the unparalleled reach and strengths of two of the world’s leading global distribution systems (GDS), Galileo and Worldspan. As the world’s leading provider of informed travel choice, we enable travel companies to provide travelers worldwide with the most exceptional travel experiences.

System participation among the world’s leading suppliers

Airlines

• 400+ participating airlines

• 6 billion+ stored airfares

Hotels and resorts

• 91,000 GDS properties worldwide

• 300 hotel chains

• 27 million hotel room nights booked annually

• 650,000 hotel offers from over 250 hotel properties via Travelport Rooms and More™

Car rental companies

• 30,000 locations worldwide

• 25 car rental suppliers

• 17 million car rentals booked annually

Rail operators

• 12 major domestic and international rail networks

• 2 million European rail tickets booked annually

Additional suppliers

• More than 760 travel suppliers

• Thousands of bookable travel products and services, including ground transportation, ferry, travel insurance, excursions, theater tickets, restaurant reservations and more

Points of sale through subscribers on nearly every continent

Traditional and online travel agencies

• 67,000 travel agency subscribers worldwide

• A strong and growing presence in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, and an expanding global footprint in emerging regions, including the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe

15

inside travelport merchandising platform

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