E-commerce and Transportation of goods and Services by Airlines

PART I

The widespread use of the internet has made transportation of goods and services easier and more efficient through online marketing. It is now easy for airline companies to reach out to potential companies and influence them to be their customers. Many companies around the world have taken to online marketing for the various benefits that it offers to the company. Marketing influences customers’ thoughts and opinions about the air company. It influences customers’ trust, loyalty, and satisfaction. Doing it online has the effect of influencing a large number of people since the marketing information reaches many people at once. The effect of it all is gaining customers and retaining them.  The aviation industry specifically needs the ability to retain customers due to its nature. A slight rise in customer retention of a company has the potential to increase the profits of the company. It is for this reason that air companies strive to move with the trend of online marketing for them to remain competitive in the industry.

PART II

Anderson, William P., Lata Chatterjee, and T. R. Lakshmanan. “E‐commerce, transportation, and economic geography.” Growth and Change 34.4 (2003): 415-432.

According to this source, aviation companies market and sell other revenue-generating products and services in addition to transport services. They sell them in addition to the mainstream service on their e-commerce platforms. Some of the most common include car rental, car parking, meals, and accommodation services. The products and services complement the transport service. Some customers choose travelling with the assurance that they can access the services and products they need upon reaching their destination (Anderson 420). It is for this reason that the air companies take the opportunity presented by the internet to market and sell the services to travelers. The facilities have an inflationary effect on the cost of the journey for the customer. They, however, offer the needed comfort for them. According to Anderson (426), the positive impact is especially so when the customer can access and select the services and products from their comfort zones on their devices enabled by the internet.

Selling other products online affects the airline firm in several ways.  One of them is that it increases a firm’s profits. People in modern days are fast switching towards online shopping. The change applies to many industries, including the aviation business (Anderson 430). Availing the shopping experience to travelers whenever they access the transport service increases the chances of them purchasing the additional commodities from the same platform. Air companies, therefore, earn profits from the same. In large airports in such places as Saudi Arabia, side profits have proven to be an essential part of the total earnings. Another effect is increasing the competitiveness of the airline firm.  The services and products are part of the marketing objective since some customers prefer the airlines that offer them as opposed to those which do not (Anderson 428). According to the author, most aviation customers consider complimentary services as more important than the ticket service. With this knowledge, many companies offer services for the completion motive.

Eads, George C. “Airline Competitive Conduct in a Less Regulated Environment: Implications for Antitrust.” Antitrust Bull. 28 (1983): 159.

This source describes the process through which the Federal Aviation Act of 1959 contributed to the safety standards of the aviation industry in the US. After a series of airline accidents, the federal government finally decided that it was time to introduce the Act to control airline transportation. Through the contents of this content, the audience are able to discover how risks of aircraft collisions were addressed and mitigated. According to Eads (150), the Congress came to an agreement to replace Civil Aeronautics with the Federal Aviation Administration to not only enhance safety of crew members, but also facilitate safe transportation of goods and services from one region to another. Essentially, the author uses this article as an avenue to show the details about the safety of US airlines, their development, and implication on the economy of the whole country. There is no doubt that the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was a major milestone in shaping the country’s airlines’ safety standards (Eads 145). Through the content of the article, audience can discover the chronological development of the aviation industry since invention. What’s more, you also learn about the continuous changes that have guided the formulation of other Acts that regulate trade and transportation with other countries.

Leinbach, Thomas R. Globalized freight transport: intramodality, e-commerce, logistics and sustainability. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.

This source explores the aviation industry and how it has embraced the internet in its operations. Airline companies are using various platforms on the internet to attract, serve, and retain customers (Leinbach 7). They are benefitting from the various e-commerce opportunities that the internet presents to them. Aviation firms are gaining through the empowerment to grow, reduce costs, and compete favorably in the highly competitive industry. Customers and other stakeholders also gain from intensive internet usage. The practice has increased their expectations and presented the chance to get better services (Leinbach 20). E-commerce in the aviation market is manifest in several practices.

The revolution of the internet has resulted in the development of several e-commerce activities in the aviation industry. Among the most conspicuous include e-ticketing, revenue management, marketing, customer relationship management, selling of ancillary products, the rise of online travel agencies, and enterprise resource planning. E-commerce applications benefit both airline companies and travelers (Leinbach 27). There is a likelihood of more e-commerce activities in the near future as information and communication technologies improve.