Andrea Fiore, Head of Global Sales, Retail inMotion talks passionately to TRBusiness about Etihad Airways’ new Vibe Lifestyle Shopping Guide in an exclusive video interview.

Retail inMotion is to explore different channels including pre-order, home-delivery and e-commerce following the launch of Etihad Airways’ new Vibe Lifestyle Shopping guide. The new shopping guide replaced the previous boutique catalogue, effective 1 October 2019.

Since being awarded the Etihad retail contract in November 2018, Retail inMotion has been working on creating a lifestyle brand for the carrier. The end product was Vibe, which is very aspirational and engages differently with the consumer.

Andrea Fiore, Head of Global Sales, Retail inMotion told TRBusiness during an exclusive video interview in Cannes: “The pre-order, home delivery and e-commerce operations will hopefully be up and running by the end of next year at the latest. This is where the exponential growth will come from.”

[Click below to view video].

Reflecting on the planning process in the build-up to the launch of Vibe, Fiore said: “We have been preparing for this moment since being awarded the retail contract in November 2018. We wanted to create a lifestyle brand for Etihad, which sees itself as a lifestyle brand. We see ourselves and the market going that way.”

ETIHAD GUESTS ‘LOVE BRANDS’

The launch of the shopping guide was preceded by extensive market research with loyal passengers and crew in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and London. “Whenever we win a contract, we always do market research. What came back in the case of Etihad was basically that guests love brands. It was also clear that they love great content and want ease of purchase (convenience) and really well priced products.”

This led to the creation of a lifestyle shopping brand in partnership with Etihad. Fiore explained: “We have created a lifestyle shopping brand with Etihad for the Etihad guest. It is very aspirational and a different way of engaging with the consumer.

“Instead of having flat products presented to passengers in a rather static manner, our inspiration was Vogue, Asos and even IKEA.”

In terms of product assortment, Retail inMotion is looking to offer all product categories including as many ‘exclusivities’ as possible. “We are very proud of the product range we presented in November. It was more about changing the way the product is presented.

The launch of the Vibe shopping guide was preceded by extensive market research.

“Conversations around presentation have taken place with every supplier. Without their support this would not have been possible.”

On the partnership with Etihad, Fiore commented: “Etihad is obviously a partner and they see themselves as a partner which is fantastic. They have outsourced the programme to us. As I always say to them, it is our job to deliver the strategy that they sign off. We obviously consult with them and ensure the strategy is being met.”

He added: “Our role is to implement the airline’s overall strategy which is a very premium lifestyle proposition, hence the creation of Vibe.”

Etihad Airways sees itself as a lifestyle brand, according to Andrea Fiore, Head of Global Sales, Retail inMotion.