Airlines are targeting in-flight sales as the next big revenue driver, but first better tech is needed to tailor product offerings to certain passengers and increase the likelihood of purchase.
Gogo's partnership with Samsung is the kind that Wi-Fi providers cherish. There's no need to mail anything in, to present a coupon or enter a promotion code. Samsung tablet users just launch a browser and get directed right to a Gogo log-in page.
Providing tablets for passengers who didn't bring a computing device is a nice add-on service, and WestJet will make a few bucks (Canadian) out of the program.
Tablets are trendy and we love them, but mobile phones are in consumers' pockets, pocketbooks, hands or just a few feet away, and travelers are using them to dream of their romantic getaway in Tahiti (or Namibia).
Airlines have been faster at rolling out tablets to in-flight crews than airport employees, but both places present valuable opportunities for carriers to improve the customer experiences.
Travel companies slow to set up mobile functionality may be comforted by this news, but mobile usage will only continue to rise due to changing consumer habits and the growth of travel in emerging economies where mobile devices are more common than desktops.