Next phase of digitalisation strategy will see the introduction of fresh new initiatives
Etihad Cargo has marked the first year of its ambitious digitalisation program, which went live with iCargo in October 2018, by reiterating its commitment to enhancing customer experiences with a pipeline of further programmes and initiatives.
Etihad Cargo implemented a full overhaul of its booking processes and platforms 12 months ago with the successful migration of Its front-end systems to the market leading SPRINT – an IBS iCargo fully integrated technology platform that combined six legacy Etihad platforms into one.
Since its launch, the system has successfully handled almost half a million bookings, equating to 115,000 flights processed and 10 million messages from close to 3,000 customers and nearly 6,000 users.
“iCargo marked a significant shift in the way Etihad Cargo operates; it was a momentous first step in our ongoing journey of improvement and adaptation to a new and exciting digitised world for air cargo,” said Abdulla Mohamed Shadid, Etihad Aviation Group’s Managing Director Cargo and Logistics Services.
Of the approximately half a million bookings processed in iCargo, Etihad Cargo’s online booking portal at www.etihadcargo.com, which also went live last October, accounted for 20% of total bookings. The monthly booking rate grew from zero in October 2018 to 33.7% in September 2019, an unprecedented in the industry over the timeframe.
The region with the highest online booking penetration rate for Etihad Cargo is Asia, with India completing 96% of its September 2019 bookings through www.etihadcargo.com and Thailand close to the 90% mark. The Americas represents the second highest rate with the US recently crossing the 50% mark for online bookings. Etihad Cargo is working to boost the rates in Europe as several new initiatives come online in Q4.
To further its commitment to digitalisation and offer multiple channels to its clients, Etihad Cargo’s automated Freight Forwarder Messaging (FFR) booking function went live in April 2019, allowing instant bookings and confirmations from its global operations as well as key forwarder customers. A total of 2,100 bookings were made through FFR during the past five months, with September marking the highest percentage of FFR bookings at 2.9%.
Etihad Cargo has also successfully launched its enterprise data lake, which feeds key internal and market data to its interactive data visualisation tool Microsoft PowerBI. The key tool provides access to on-demand information for smart commercial sales steering, volumes and yields trend monitoring, customer booking behaviors, global accounts and loyalty targets, as well as station KPI performances, and is complementing the ongoing rollout of customer resource management tool, Salesforce, across all Etihad Cargo stations.
“Our digitalisation roadmap is only in its infancy. The foundations have been laid for a number of exciting projects in coming months, including our new, soon-to-launch and state-of-the-art Cargo Control Centre, a brand-new website and mobile app, dynamic pricing, and APIs to support several new booking channels,” added Shadid.
Etihad Cargo’s complete product portfolio is also available across its digital platforms, including general cargo, TempCheck (pharmaceutical), SafeGuard (valuables), FreshForward (perishables), FlightValet (automotive) and FlyCulture (arts and music), among others.
Now considered one of the world’s leading loyalty schemes with more than 5,300 active members from 74 different countries, PayloadRewards, Etihad Cargo’s cargo loyalty program, will also roll out further functionalities and rewards to its customers in coming months.
