Airline Industry Case Study Analysis

This assignment requires students to analyze the planning and optimization strategies employed by airlines, using case studies of Southwest Airlines and FlyHigh Air Lines as examples. It delves into various aspects like management incentive plans, e-commerce integration, mobile marketing, and patent innovations within the airline industry. Students will need to critically evaluate these strategies and their impact on the success of these companies.

Running head: INNOVATION IN MOBILE E-COMMERCE
Innovation in mobile e-commerce
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

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Essay 1
Apple Inc. is a multinational company that excels in creating consumer electronic gadgets such
as computers, mobile phones and other hardware and software devices. They specialize in
products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod and others.
Apple is a wonderful company with respect to their e-commerce capabilities where they
are the top most B2B and B2C e-commerce website in the world. It is extraordinary on the part
of Apple because most of the popular companies in the world are not in the top B2C list. In this
case Apple has proved that it can bend its technological bonds beyond the space used in the
device and influence their e-commerce website to carry out business transactions with the
consumers as well as other business in great volume. As per the survey it was found out that in
2015 B2B ecommerce sales Apple has gained 21.93 billion whereas in 2014 it was 18.28 billion
with a growth rate of 20% in 1 year (Madden et al., 2017).
In order to analyze the advantages of using the mobile e-commerce website the
introduction of the new system Apple pay can be mentioned. This new system permits the
customers to tap the mobile device simply for using it like the credit card. There is no risk of
disclosing the credit card information because those are stored in the device itself to make things
as easy and smooth as possible for the consumers. The payment history of the online transactions
is also updated at an instant (Končar, Stanković & Leković, 2015).
The most important benefit of using Apple Pay is that whenever any transaction is done it
creates an encrypted security code. For those individuals who are mostly dependent on mobile
banking and mobile e-commerce this updated system of Apple is a great opportunity to conduct
safe transactions. This is because the device that is used verifies the fingerprint of the consumer

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as per his consumer id and if it does not match then the transaction fails; it does not work at all.
Moreover, to use the activated system of Apple neither extra set up nor payment is required (Sun,
2016). In this way, undoubtedly the most successful business of Apple has been able to make
effective use of their e-commerce and increase their sales as well as build up the reputation.
Moreover the industry’s five forces have been implemented in the service of Apple through thei
e-commerce activities.
On the contrary, there are disadvantages of using the Apple e-commerce website or
mobile applications too. It is proved from the fact that this system has not gained much
momentum since it was launched in the year 2014. A survey has shown that only 6% people
among the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners have used the Apple Pay for making online transactions
whereas 85% have not yet given it a try. Due to this fact many popular companies such as
Macy’s and McDonald’s have started using this service recently and overall 10% of US retailers
have signed in to this application (Moss et al., 2014).
This shows that although there are a number of advantages of this application and a large
population of US uses Apple but still Apple Pay failed to spread among the Americans. One of
the reasons behind the failure of this technological giant’s new adoption can be that the
consumers were not quite sure how effective will that be. In addition to that the devices need to
be backed up with the advanced technology for being able to use the system. Especially in B2B
e-commerce sales the employees need to get through and accustomed with the new system. It is
difficult to get used to a new system all of a sudden which can be expensive and time-
consuming. The size and type of the business also matters in case of B2B e-commerce sales
(Bull & Wood, 2016).

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Below is the graph given to highlight the recent revenue and sales of the Apple e-
commerce.
Fig: Revenues and Sales of Apple e-commerce
Source: (Kloba et al., 2016)

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Fig: E- commerce growth in Apple Inc.
Source: (Končar, Stanković & Leković, 2015)
In order to discuss about Apple’s e-commerce it is important to mention about their
customer care services. Since Apple is the most rapidly growing retailer currently in the world
therefore there customer services are the major point of attraction for the rival companies. The
company makes sure that the right people are selected and trained for the specific job they are
assigned to. Also the way their product is sold is unique as compared to the other technological
companies (Minakhmetova & Savchenko, 2015). .
These specific values on the part of their mobile services help them to retain the
customers and attract new ones. To support with an example it can be said that the user always
values the features offered by these kinds of services because all of them want something extra in

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addition to what they pay for. On top of that, when the brand name is Apple the users are always
delighted to get whatsoever offer they get (Ghosh, Jain & Dekhil, 2017).
It can be contradicted by saying that there are flaws in the system too. Even though Apple
goes a long way to satisfy their customers but their ultimate aim is to gain profit. Therefore in
order to earn hat profit there remains certain loopholes in their system. The products are designed
in such a way that it lures every individual to buy more than their necessity. There lies the
advantage on the part of the company where they make use of the customers to sell their
products. Sometimes doubts can arise regarding the products of Apple even though all of us are
aware about their outstanding range of products. Their products are not protected from the same
design and he manufacturing defects. The customers do not deserve to get a defective product by
paying a high price (Capps, Minor & Voss, 2017).
The entry of iPad mini by Apple was a protective as well as unpleasant step because by
that time Amazon’s kindle fire and Google’s nexus 7 were already ruling in the market. But
Apple had no such small tablets to offer to their customers at that point of time. But they will use
their old products only to stick to their customers and they will also spend their money in order
to remain stuck at that brand. There are ethical issues too in terms of mobile commerce and
customer service is the most important in that. As there is lack of regulations about the online
transactions therefore it has led many individuals to question the ethics. In this respect the
marketers can shop in their own website via other mobile devices do change while the
company’s website might not change (Chen, 2016).
The potential customers of Apple include the teenagers, college and university students,
business people and professionals. In short it can be stated that almost all the population of the

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country falls under the banner of Apple’s target market. This is because the five forces of
wireless industry play a major role in this case. The five forces include- barriers to entry,
bargaining power of suppliers, rivalry among existing competitors, bargaining power of channel
and end users and threats from the substitute products or services (Capps, Minor & Voss, 2017).
The five forces of the industry signify that if the whole world flexes towards e-commerce then
the procurement will lead to bargaining power of suppliers and also provide channel to the
suppliers to reach their end users. The rivalry against Apple Inc. in a way reduces the difference
among the competitors but also increases the probability of differentiation. Mobility will help the
company to make their operations more efficient by increasing the market size. Not only that but
also the approach of mobile services have led to complementary opportunities instead of
substitution threats. The use of mobility services in the company of Apple Inc will lead to
shipping through mobile scheduling, mobile distribution and other such activities
(Minakhmetova & Savchenko, 2015).
Essay 2
FlyHigh is a startup American airlines company with its headquarters in Atlanta and they
are struggling hard to make their place among other competitors. As a consultant to this
organization the following mobile e-commerce strategies can be recommended.
In the initial days of e-commerce, USA played the most important role in its growth.
Currently this trend of marketing has captured a great place in the business market and USA still
holds a key position there. But the FlyHigh Airlines of US has started with most of their task
offline and that is why they need to be recommended certain important strategies. As they carry
out their activities mostly offline therefore they should think of mobile e-commerce as an

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alternative. This is because it has become the trend of the customers to shift towards online
transactions. Most of the population does their shopping online due to time constraints and easy
accessibility. This can be a good idea for the new airlines company to penetrate the market and
carry on their business online in order to develop their B2B and B2C sales (Shaw, 2016).
A survey has shown that most of the smart phone users have an average of 3-4 online
retail apps and they use those on a regular basis. That is why if this particular airline also starts
their online activities then they can become one of the top competitors in the US airlines
industry. Moreover as a consultant it can be observed that most of the customers take online
help to search for discount coupons or offers for availing. If the airline company can make use of
this opportunity then they should provide discounts on flight tickets for the first ride or free
anniversary flights and many more as such (Dana et al., 2017).
The online website should be visually appealing because attractive and catchy things
always pull the crowd. There should be sufficient information in the website so that the
customers can have the best idea before complaining that it was not provided. The destinations
and the price chart should be provided separately along with the complimentary services that are
provided to the passengers. This is because most of the passengers will not be aware of the
schedule of the new airlines company. More the colorful website it will be, more will be the
number of customers it will gather. There are few points that need to be kept in mind before
implementing the marketing strategies (Coursaris et al., 2014).
First and foremost the target group is an important factor and the market research should
be done in such a way that the potential target group can be benefitted. Keeping an idea about the
customers and the competitors plays a great significance in case of B2B or B2C sales. While

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creating the mobile website the company has to simultaneously get hold of the mobile
applications too. In this way they can rule the online sector both in terms of website as well as
applications. The name of the application should be relevant and recognizable with a unique but
not gibberish icon. Both these things must connect to the objective of the FlyHigh airlines
company (Hanke, 2016).
Apart from that the keywords should be maximized and made available in the app store
and the Google store. The screenshots and screen recording of how the app functions should be
provided in the website or in the promotional video. This will make the users realize the use of
the app and they will not find it complex while using. The list of mobile e-commerce strategies is
endless. The internal members of the company should have a clear idea about the use of mobile
website and applications and the reason for its implementation within the company (Bravman,
2016).
With respect to target market, each and every individual can be the potential customers of
the airlines company and that’s why they should make it a point to improvise their services in
every way in order to stay ahead of the competitors. With the use of mobile e- commerce they
can pose a barrier to the new entrants; fight the threat of substitute services; go on top of the
rivalry among the old competitors and play a role in the bargaining power of suppliers on one
hand and channel and end users on the other (Airlines, 2014).

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Reference
Airlines, D. (2014). FlyHigh Airlines management incentive plan for 2014. Retrieved on
June, 26, 2016.
Bravman, J. (2016). Southwest Airlines and FlyHigh Air Lines: A Review of Key Planning
Optimization Activities and Their Execution During 2015.
Bull, W. E., & Wood, P. (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9,390,440. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.
Capps, S. P., Minor, J. P., & Voss, C. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,626,701. Washington, DC:
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