Flight Centre shakes up strategy

Flight Centre shakes up strategy
By Hannah Edensor


Flight Centre has detailed the strategy which has seen it move away from being supplier-driven and toward customer-specific product curation and creation.

“What we are moving to now is a partnership between us and key suppliers,” Flight Centre product, advertising and consumer experience general manager Keith Stanley said.

Flight Centre will launch their own product range chosen from multiple suppliers for each brand, calling itself a retailer not an agent.

“The difference really is a retailer controls their inventory and know their customers intimately whereas an agent represents wholesalers and airlines,” Stanley said.

Flight Centre will choose product as the consumer experience comes to the fore of their business, and said that the travel consultant is their competitive advantage.

“We are working with key suppliers to jointly understand what we need to do,” Stanley said.

Where there are gaps in product Flight Centre will partner with suppliers to develop it.

Flight Centre will also start to commit to inventory and sales figures on a product level, which they have never done before.

“The way we add value is by deeply understanding our customers. So we can sit down with Contiki and say ‘we believe that there is a market for this kind of product and this destination and we are prepared to back that with sales,’” Stanley told Travel Weekly.

Flight Centre said it will add value to suppliers by providing the relevant product to the right customer and match it with consumer insights.

The marketing strategy is closely aligned to customer experience, and Stanley said that this was not the historic attitude.

“We were obsessed with deal and price but they were actually interested in experiences,” Stanley said.

Yet Flight Centre will not abandon it’s reputation for the best deal, and said it will still be ruthless on pricing.

The corporation sees competition from other industries, rather than in its own space.

“Our biggest competitors are actually airlines, but don’t tell them that,” Stanley said.

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