Airline self-service booms
SITA, the specialist provider of IT solutions to airlines and airports, said a major survey of passenger habits at six leading airport hubs across five continents has found 20% growth in adoption of self-service check-in options over the last year, says Travel Daily News.
The passengers are demanding improvements in security procedures and airport dwell times as they check-in less baggage. The survey also found that convenience as much as price is driving online booking, which is now close to 100% availability in mature markets.
The passengers are also spending more through airline Web sites on ancillary services such as hotels and car hire and their numbers are expected to double.
Passenger unveils self-service application
Passenger, creator of online brand communities, now offers a software-as-a-service platform that enables the marketing industry to build and manage private online communities on a self-service basis, according to Business Wire.
Passenger will continue to offer a full-service model where the company manages the community on behalf of the brand, but will now also provide the platform and tools necessary for brands and agencies to build and manage communities through an easy-to-use, Web-based interface.
In addition to the new delivery model, the announcement includes several new features that will help companies extract maximum insight from the community, while improving the overall user experience and building brand advocacy.
Self-service checkouts more prevalent
Europe is following America's lead in the installation of self-service checkouts in supermarkets, reports International Market News.
All the major chains are now using a significant proportion of the checkouts throughout the UK, with Tesco being the most notable user of the new technology.
Tesco now has the checkouts in half of it British stores. Sainsbury's aims to have 2 000 of the units in 250 of its stores by the end of 2009; Morrisons should see 1 000 in 270 by the end of January next year, and Asda - which currently has the technology in 99% of its stores - will be using it across the board by next spring.
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