AirAsia’s embryonic e-commerce marketplace Ourshop has negotiated a significant agreement with Lotte Duty Free in Indonesia, TRBusiness can reveal.

The deal with Lotte Duty Free, which enables Ourshop to curate, advertise and target products to customers based on trending items, is the digital marketplace’s second headline travel retailer signing since it went live with Plaza Bali Duty & Tax Free in July.

Ourshop is currently shortlisting products and will start its service imminently with Lotte Duty Free on a test trial basis at its Jakarta Downtown Store in Indonesia as a possible prelude to a wider rollout.

‘NEXT LEVEL’ SIGNING

Commenting on the new contract, Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO and AirAsia X Co-Group CEO told TRBusiness: “We are extremely excited about this new partnership between Ourshop and Lotte.

“Together, by embracing innovative digital strategies, we aim to take travel retail to the next level while of course enhancing the customer experience.”

Lotte Duty Free Indonesia President Director Yoon Hyun Cheol shared his enthusiasm on the tie-up: “It is such an honour for us to partner with AirAsia’s e-marketplace Ourshop. AirAsia Group is a leading and globally renowned airline and we couldn’t be more excited to work together with Ourshop to enable travellers to shop more conveniently.”

Bringing Lotte Duty Free onboard will add sizeable weight to Ourshop’s existing product inventory, particularly in the fields of perfumes, cosmetics, fashion & leathergoods.

Launched by entrepreneur Fernandes earlier this year, Ourshop positions itself as the traveller’s first point of reference for all things retail, connecting subscribers to a global network of airport, high street and local retailers.

Powered by the low-cost Malaysian carrier’s estimated 80m passenger base, Ourshop targets a wide selection of products – from duty free to local brands or high-street labels – at consumers across multiple travel touchpoints according to their purchasing preferences.

The concept is designed to allow travellers to benefit from dynamic shopping opportunities during their these journeys – from pre–flight, to ticket purchase, at check-in and boarding gate, upon arrival, and inflight using Rokki Wifi.

HOME DELIVERY ‘COMING’

At present, they have the option to shop and order goods for delivery in-store at the airport (departure or arrival) or pre-book for delivery onboard. However, downtown instore collection and home delivery services are due to roll-out by the end of the year.

Additionally, Ourshop offers cashless transactions and the ability to ‘earn and burn’ using Air Asia’s Big Loyalty points, which are transferable across Ourshop and AirAsia platforms.

Meanwhile, retailers can tap into customers’ interaction with the aforementioned touchpoints during their journeys, the wider objective being to generate increased footfall into stores, maximise cross-selling opportunities and provide a central portal to shop and connect.

“Aside from enjoying the convenience of buying from their device, they also enjoy the peace of mind that they are essentially purchasing from an official retailer or brand directly, thus removing any doubt of product authenticity that has plagued e-commerce traditionally,” stated Ourshop’s Head of Commercial Jonathan Lee.

“Shoppers also have the added benefit of not just earning Big Loyalty points but also spending unused points on www.ourshopcom or redeeming on an AirAsia flight.”

To read more about Ourshop’s plans, watch out for the October issue of TRBusiness, available from the press racks at next week’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference.