Travel is taking a beating this year that is for sure! If you're one on the many travel businesses out there, you'll no doubt be thinking what can you do to improve tourism business in this current environment? To support your existing customers, pivot travel plans and just survive the next few months, one of the key trends we see emerging from tourism boards and travel businesses is to focus on the customer pathway and journey to purchase.
Do you understand your customer journey and have you got a robust digital e-commerce engine to transact?
Travel will bounce back, it is inherently in our nature the key over the coming months is to chart a course and revamp products to allow for travel restrictions, border closure and to capitalise on what's in our own backyard. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran openly communicated this week that the airline would retract to a domestic operation. No doubt this is a challenging time for all Air New Zealanders but where there is change there is opportunity. Our role is to find that opportunity and to shape our landscape to support it.
As New Zealand completes the first week of lock down signs of encouragement are emerging from some of the Asian destinations regarding ease of restrictions and certainly in China we are beginning to see some signs of life returning to normal. Could this be an opportune time to revamp your business and look to new models for revenue generation?
More than 228,000 New Zealanders have signed up to buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) schemes and 70% of those shoppers are women, according to a NZ Post online shopping report. New Zealand shoppers under 30 are a high growth demographic, with 44% shopping online regularly, the 45-59 age group are making the most expensive purchases.
Benefits of buy now pay later for business owners include:
If you use a payment system like Laybuy a well known and trusted New Zealand company, you can seamlessly integrate the app into your online purchasing experience and spread the risk.
Digital campaigns to "buy now and pay later" is on the increase. With social media consumption and content online going through the roof now is the time to communicate to your target markets and be "ready now" for ramping out of the lock down. And you won't be alone, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Canada, the Maldives, Kenya, Norway and the UK are all actively running campaigns to inspire hope, change and future adventures.
Remember, if you are not talking to your customers, your competition is.