United Airlines Customer Experience Strategy: A Detailed Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of United Airlines' customer experience strategy, focusing on consumer segmentation, the digital consumer journey, and the development of a customer journey map. It explores the company's overview and its existing customer experience (CX) activities, including the implementation of new services like Agent on Demand. The report also examines the airline's Net Promoter Score (NPS) and its efforts to enhance consumer experiences through digital touchpoints such as websites, live chats, social media, and online advertisements. Key aspects covered include understanding consumer goals, visualizing consumer interactions, and prioritizing touchpoints to improve the overall consumer journey. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of revisiting and updating the customer journey map to ensure the brand remains competitive and responsive to consumer needs. Finally, the report touches on the consumer experience model used for enhancing the experience of consumers.

CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Company’s Overview and its CX activities.................................................................................3
Consumers Segmentation............................................................................................................4
Digital consumer journey............................................................................................................5
Consumer Journey Map..............................................................................................................7
Consumer Experience Model......................................................................................................8
Key Performance Indicator and analytics..................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Consumer strategy includes the plan which the persons puts for giving positive experiences at
each and every touch point with journey of the consumers and meaningful ways for measuring
the experiences online and offline both. Good consumer strategy creates the purposeful
experiences which might enhance the loyalty of consumers. For the formation of the successful
strategy of consumers starts by the setting of firm wide, visions focused on consumers for
matching the results of business by the expectations of consumers. This assessment is made in
the context of United Airlines which is the prime American airline situated in the Willis Tower
in Chicago, Illinois. It was incorporated as Varney Air Lines in Boise, Idaho, USA. Airlines
commenced its commercial operations on 26 March, 1931(Basaran, 2022) .This project will
mention the consumer strategy opted by the chosen firm, along with the formulation of customer
persona. Further it will state the key digital influences for showing understanding of
requirements of consumers in all the phases of consumer journey. In addition, the development
of consumer’s journey map for all stages. In last the SMART CX objectives will also be made
for enhancement of experience of consumers with the proposal of KPI used for evidence based
decisions for improving the experiences with justifications.
MAIN BODY
Company’s Overview and its CX activities
United Airlines roots goes to the Varney Air Lines which was established by Walter Disney in
the year 1926 in Boise, Idaho. United Airlines famously known as United is the prime US
airlines headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Airlines operate as the big
domestic and global route network spanning the cities big and small in US and entire 6 inhabited
continents. By measuring by the size of fleet and routes numbers, United Airlines is the 3rd
biggest airlines in globe after merging with the Continental Airlines in the year 2010. Airlines
has 8 hubs along with Chicago- O- Hare as the biggest by terms of carried passengers and
departures numbers. Airline is one of the starting members of Star Alliance, which is largest
alliance of airlines having almost 28 members. Local services are operated by the independent
carriers by brand name United Express. This name was established by amalgamation of various
airlines in 1920s and oldest is the Varney Air Lines established in year 1926. Fleet size of
airlines is 839, operating in 342 destinations. Company’s revenue in year 2021 was 24.6 billion

US Dollars, operating income of 1.0 billion US Dollars and net income of 2.0 SUS
Dollars(Batat, 2022). Firms provide employment to more than 84000 people according to year
2021 data.
CX activities- United Airlines has announced the new service which enables the passengers for
contacting the agents of consumer service virtually as the effort for promoting the social
distancing in the airports. Contactless travelling is the ongoing goal for the airlines, as negative
perception of public about the safety of air traveling still exists. The new service of Agent on
Demand, presently available at the Chicago’s O Hare and George Bush International Airport,
effort for enhancing the safety of passengers. Airlines is going to offer this service in all hubs.
Consumers may virtually access agents on mobile device by text, call and live video messages.
Scanning the QR code, placing strategically the signage in airports, are directed to the agents on
channel preferred. They may bypass the lines and do communication with the agents from
anywhere in airport in an effective way by decreasing individuals contact air travelling requires
(Villani,2018)
Net Promoter Score (NPS) – It is the metrics of consumer experience which the firms
use for gauging the advocacy of consumers. US airlines sector has average score of 27, whereas
United Airlines has NPS of 50 which is considered as good. It shows that there are more
promoters than Detractors which is the good symbol, it happened due to the change in culture
and enhanced focus on consumers driving great NPS scores.
Consumers Segmentation
Consumer segment- United Airlines is the example of the airlines which applies past
mentioned values based approach of segmentation, permitting them for managing the
consumers as the assets (Vidili, 2021). Airline is one of the largest air travelling service
provider, they are responsible for entire domestic and global passengers around globe. For
delivering high consumer service and effectively targeting the present and possible clients,
they use technology of predictive analytics for finding patters between consumers. They
have aimed for attracting premium clients who wants to pay for the premium services, such
as international executives, schedule optimizers, mile accumulators, corporate troopers etc.
Characteristics of Business Class Traveller’s
 Age, Gender and Income- According to surveys typical age of business class
travellers is about 38 years old, graduate and male.

 Stay connected- About 3rd of business class travellers uses technology for staying
connected by various devices such as smartphones, laptops and broadband.
 Expenditure- These travellers do not hesitate for spending money on quality
services.
Consumer Persona- They are the detailed, presentations of core consumers based on
real market research and data (Rahimian, and et, al., 2021). Here are the examples of United
Airlines consumer persona-
1. Client- Valerie who is as CEO in a firm situated in Hong Kong.
Digital Mediums- She is highly active on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram,
sometimes google also and uses it for searching about various services.
Purpose- She has to travel frequently every 15 days to US for meeting with potential clients.
Barriers- She is native of Hong Kong so faces issues in accepting foreign customs, stereo
types and prejudices. Despite being the CEO of the firm she looks for discounts and airport
lounge facilities by comparing many airlines from online sites.
2. Client- Jill Anderson is a Regional director in the firm of Japan.
Digital Medium- She isn’t a hard-core user but searches about all services on Google
and believes that it provides the correct information about everything.
Purpose- She has to travel 4 to 5 times a month in a particular region for meeting with
supplier and vendors.
Barriers- Spends too much time in booking and visits many sites per visit.
Motivations- Finds comfort in traveling and uses loyalty rewards for different purposes.
Digital consumer journey
It is the path followed by the internet users, from awareness step straight to buying stage.
Basically it includes every interaction which takes places online among consumers and brand in
journey of buying(Pine II, 2020). The digital consumer journey may extend beyond purchase to
loyalty of consumers.
Influence- Digital boom has effected the journey by addition of new stages like blogs and
websites with physical stores and radio advertisements. Closely followed by the voices
assistants, social media and chat bot’s emergence of the new channels of marketing have
added complexity layers to journey. Here are the digital touch points used by United
Airlines-

Awareness- It’s the first stage when the consumers came to knows about airlines.
 Website- It is the common and widely used digital touch point for reaching to potential
clients by airlines. For this purpose, they have well designed the website so the clients
stay longer and keep them invested for the offerings.
 Live chats- It is becoming one of the vital channels for interacting with the clients.
Business travellers prefer this touch point more as it is more reactive and gives immediate
sales and assistance. United Airlines solves the queries of consumers in real time
providing them satisfactory services and enhance sales.
 Social media- Many clients of airlines are avid users of social media and United Airlines
knows that it is significant touch point for consumers for reaching to brand. Different
platforms such as Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter are the highly preferred mediums
for seeking information and resolving issues. These channels are the great way for
growing the audience and reach the objectives of business by active engagement and ads.
They even aid in connecting with the consumers, boost the awareness for brand and
increase the engagement of users(Perazzo, 2020).
 Events- They are the famous way for marketing the good and services. United Airlines
takes active part in trade shows and events for building the awareness of brand, show the
influence of industry and get sales. Consumers have more trust on these types of touch
points as they physically connect with the brand, which gives more values to brand and
view as favourably over the rival firms.
 Online advertisement- It aids for finding right audience and target who are interested in
the offering. United Airlines may leverage the tools of online advertising like social
media, display ads and video ads for reaching the target audience in an easy way and get
leads.
 Phone calls- It is vital touch point which the consumers prefer even after invention of
digital channels. Business travellers like this touch point very much as the airlines
provides them with personalized solutions for the problems.
 Emails- A widely used medium for reaching to clients which is immensely used by
United Airlines. They send official mails to business travellers as mail impacts
everything from repeat buying to creating the lifelong value. They use its power for
leveraging and drive the engagement for delivering the experience of consumers.

Consumer Journey Map
It is the diagram which depicts stages by which the consumers go through while interacting
with brand, from purchasing goods to accessing the consumer services on mobiles for airings the
grievances on the social media (Li, 2020). For creating the effective visual maps which reflects
the journey of consumers by these channels, these should be rooted in data driven research and
should present various stages consumer experiences based on the several dimensions consisting
the consumer segment, objective and digital touch points. Here is the journey for United
Airlines-
 Identifying, listing and outlining all existent touch points- In this stage the
airlines first finds the various digital touchpoints by which the consumers can
connect to them. In airlines case the digital touch points are social media,
emails, online ads, websites, events, live chats etc.
 Choosing the target consumer persona- Every brand is required for
narrowing downs the focus and clarify who they want to reach for the
offerings. United Airlines have opted the business class travellers as they travel
frequently and do not hesitate for spending on quality services. Average age of
the clients is 30 to 38.
 Understanding the goals of consumers- For strategically moving consumers
with the path of purchase firm must understand what target audiences hopes.
United Airlines review digital touch points which they have established above
and think of reasons why target consumer will interact with brand and how?
For example – through websites, social media platforms, apps and phones.
 Visualizing & mappings consumer’s interactions flow- In this stage journey
of consumers come to life. For example- United Airlines first time travellers
and start with placing the step on 1st digital touch points with the linear paths
workings to the desired result. This relationship can be extended by building
relationships and by nurturing the loyalty.
 Prioritizing the touchpoints by interacting frequently- United Airlines takes
a step backs and review big picture by keeping the target audience in mind.
They find out where the consumers spend their most time and influential

contact points while moving along purchase path. End goals of this is for
enhancing the entire flow among the touch points of brand.
 Revisiting, reviewing and updating the map when required- When United
Airlines makes improvements and adjustments to digital touch points, they
may see fluctuations in the interactions of consumers. Making adjustments in
specific areas may reveal the opportunities in other area, hence constantly
reviewing the consumer journey map makes sure that brand is ahead (Koetz,
2018).
Consumer Experience Model
For enhancing the experience of consumers, CX Maturity Model is used as it identifies
various development areas which CX need, with the key milestones in every area. Leaders
of United Airlines used this model for assessing presents CX state where the improvements
must be focused and guide CX optimization and evolution. Here is the models explanation-
 Emerging- In the first stage of CX maturity, main players in United Airlines
discovers that offering approach has reduced in effectiveness and realize that airlines
needs to become consumer centric. These drivers of CXs lead to conversations about
essential capabilities of CX and initiate starting efforts for improving particular touch
points and processes.
 Learning- Now experimenting with the process of CX and improvements grows as
research on needs and points of pains like mapping. Leaders starts for reporting on
CX and metrics of consumers at touch point level. Efforts of the airlines remains
isolated in the functioning groups (Chen and Yang, 2021).
 Committing- CX support is secured between the various key managers in the stage,
so airlines formalize the CX. It defines the resources allocated, strategies, teams
establishment, opting the new technologies, new skills teaching, engages the
programs of CX and set specific targets for the CX. Collaboration of cross functional
is cultivated as the developments of CX involving great integration.
 Accelerating- Quantified return on CX is achieved and integration need of CX with
strategy of business, hence the CX touch points ecosystem, tools, teams and
partnerships are build. United Airlines enhances its proficiency with data and

technology for identification and implementation of CX solutions. It makes sure the
brand engagement of employees and experience alignment.
 Excelling- For United Airlines at most mature stage of CX, it becomes the way of
business as all managers empower and embrace transformation. The firm’s wide skill
set of CX and mind set is formed and CX gets integrated in the practices and
structure of airlines. Ecosystem of CX continues for scaling and evolving as firm
proactively identifies the new opportunities for consumers and finds for innovating
the breakthrough experience’s.
Every business enterprise is different and starts the journey at various points, so leaders
of CX might find progression differs at firm. The 5 stages indicate the milestones on
journey to maturity of CX.
Key Performance Indicator and analytics
Key Performance Indicator refers to the quantifiable performance measurements over
time period for the particular objective. It gives the targets to teams for shooting,
milestones for gauging progress and different insights which aids individuals across firms
for making better decisions. They are very crucial as they keep the teams aligned, gives the
health check, do adjustments and hold the teams responsible. There are different types of
KPIs such as strategic, functional, operational and leading vs lagging. Here are some
consumer experience KPIs for tracking performance of United Airlines-
 Consumer churn rate- Percentage rate at which the consumers stops subscribing to
offering over the given period of time is called churn. Decreasing rates is initial step for
learning how to retain the existent consumers and enhance the streams of sales (Bolton
and et, al., 2021) Low rates of churns in airlines reveal service level satisfaction and
superior experience of consumers and loyalty.
 Net Promoter Score- They are essential for the assessment of where the airlines
stand among consumers. Low NPS indicates that they require to put more efforts
for changing the opinions of consumers. By implementing the consumers
program voice is a wonderful start for beginning the incorporation of
consumer’s feedback in offerings for boosting Net Promoter Score. It plays the
vital role in boost of the retention rate of consumers.

 Average time for resolution- It is the consumers service KPI which refers to
average time which the consumer executive takes for solving the issues of
consumers. In airlines consumer support metrics correlates directly to
satisfaction of consumers and reflects the efficiency of teams.
 Consumer acquisition rate- Giving the better experience in the journey of
buyer aids in keeping the prospects engaged and move to the decision of
purchasing. Lower rates of consumer acquisition mean that airlines are required
to invest in sales and marketing campaigns for getting consumers.
 Pages per visit- Amount of time the visitors spend on website of airlines is the
indicator that the content is related and very appealing. By enhancing
experiences of consumers on website is the best method for ensuring that
consumers do not lose interest and learn about the airlines and offerings.
Cart abandonment rate- Average rate is approximately 68 %. There can be many but may be
fixed by experience redesigning. For ex if the possible consumers abdon carts because of
lingering questions they airlines may use chat bots on checkout pages so there is easy method for
reaching support (Batat, 2022).

CONCLUSION
The above report concludes that for enhancing the experience of consumer’s
organizations use different strategies. The report mentions the critical evaluation of
digital CX activities and NPS. Further the formulation of clear consumer persona along
with identification of various digital touch points was done. In addition, the development
of consumer journey map for identifying and critically evaluating the main digital touch
points was also done, with the development of 2 smart objectives by constructing a CX
model. In last the evaluation by using different KPIs for improving the consumer
experience.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Villani, I., 2018. Transform Customer Experience: How to achieve customer success and create
exceptional CX. John Wiley & Sons.