ASIA PACIFIC: AIRASIA AirAsia Ourshop: ‘First airports, then downtown’


AirAsia has upped the ante on the development of its new digital marketplace Ourshop, which launched in July. As negotiations to assimilate the platform progress with a number of travel retailers, Luke Barras-Hill checks-in for a status update.


Downtown and home delivery services are planned to come online by the end of 2018. S


hortly after knowledge of AirAsia’s new inflight e-marketplace


platform


ourshop.com became public in July, the Malaysian low-cost airline struck a partnership with Plaza Bali Duty & Tax Free. The agreement meant the


Indonesian travel retailer, which operates Surabaya Duty Free at Juanda International Airport and under its eponymous title at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta


International


Airport Terminal 2, became the inflight marketplace’s first official airport partner. Plaza Bali’s excitement and


willingness to embrace new technology to grow its business proved the catalyst for the link-up with Ourshop, explains Hassan Choudhury, General Manager, Ourshop.


“We decided to join Ourshop first of all because we believe in the vision about this potential marketplace, especially with AirAsia’s number of customers.”


July Fadriani,


Head of Business Improvement & Development, Plaza Bali Duty & Tax Free


98 TRBUSINESS


“I fully respect them and the fact they are up for the challenge together, for being honest, open and supportive,” he tells TRBusiness. “We know it’s a bumpy road,


but they want to be part of it and I can’t thank them enough – they are incredible partners.” Choudhury says AirAsia is


currently working with Plaza Bali on a series of marketing and promotional initiatives surrounding the forthcoming Asia games, but could not be more specific when pressed by TRBusiness. “We are working with them


from an analytics and insight perspective – it’s very early days but we’re determined to deliver the commercial results.”


Education process July Fadriani, Head of Business Improvement & Development at Plaza Bali added: “We decided to join Ourshop first of all because we believe in the vision […] about this potential marketplace, especially with AirAsia’s number of customers. This is a strong foundation for getting started.” Since that announcement, things have developed fast for the


platform AirAsia dubs the ‘ultimate e-commerce marketplace’. “Every day the technology


develops, every time I speak to a potential partner or client or get feedback from a customer, we have to make changes,” says Choudhury. “Technology doesn’t wait for


anyone. I know why nobody has done this, because it is challenging, but it is a challenge we are up for. “It is going to be short-term pain,


but definitely long-term gain. We keep adding resources every week.” Ourshop, which has designs on


something much larger than a simple e-commerce site, has one critical advantage as a startup: AirAsia’s huge passenger network. The platform is designed to


connect its estimated 80m customer base, which spans a network of more than 130 destinations in 26 markets, to a wave of airport, high street and local specialist retailers. “This business is going to be


about two things: product and technology and matching the two,” says Choudhury. “The challenge is to find the


balance […] to get the product up and running and educate the consumers about a new way to


OCTOBER 2018


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