How Biletix Air Ticket Hypermarket Works

At the beginning of August, Biletix presented a new concept of a hypermarket for air tickets presented a new concept of a hypermarket for air tickets with low prices. The managing director of the company, Alexander Mishin, spoke about the essence of the update, due to which it was possible to reduce the cost of tickets and what awaits the air transportation market in the future.



Let's talk about the new Biletix - what is a ticket hypermarket?

It is important to understand that we have not just updated the site and called ourselves an airline ticket hypermarket. We have undergone a global change of concept. The pandemic and the ensuing recovery period, which led to a slowdown in business, freed up time to search for answers to important strategic questions: why were we created? Who are we now? Where are we the best? Who and where do we want to be in 5 years? Who is our client today, why is he with us? Who will be our client tomorrow and why will he be with us?

We went back, revised all the strategic documents fr om 12 years ago and realized that we had deviated greatly from the brand positioning that was originally laid down in the Biletix brand when it was created. Biletix had been created as a specialist in transport, wh ere the main thing was transportation and TICKET, and after 10 years, we transformed into OTA (online travel agency) which essentially sells the Place of Arrival, when both the transportation and the ticket are just tools to be there. After 10 years, the transport specialist has become more like a tourism manager. We decided to return to the transport specialist.

Evaluating our sales, we have always observed the prevalence of sold air tickets over all other types of transportation. And if that's what our client wants fr om us, why not focus on the essentials? Moreover, it was the functionality that was the most expensive to develop for the rest of the types that gave significantly less income. Why not free up the resource and not direct it to the main thing? Plus, aviation is a truly interesting, diverse topic if you deal with it deeply and with love. It was aviation that gave birth to the low-cost business model which was based on the updated Biletix. You can draw a parallel with low-cost airlines, for example, Pobeda or Ryanair, which sell only the transportation itself for the base cost, and ask to pay extra for everything else.

This means that we sell very cheaply our main product - air tickets, and also for an additional fee we offer a full range of additional services related to air transportation - seat selection in the aircraft cabin, check-in, baggage and sports equipment, catering, life and luggage insurance, etc.

“We always have low prices” is a new slogan of Biletix. How did you manage to reduce the cost of air tickets?

First, the low-cost model implies low prices. We sell the main product cheaply, but we earn on additional services. Secondly, we constantly receive exclusive prices from airlines and conduct joint promotions. The fact that we are a part of the largest Russian consolidator for the sale of air tickets, the Vipservice holding, operating a huge number of air tickets, plays an important role here. Due to the volume, we get a good price offer from the airlines.

It is worth noting that, until 2020, Biletix, although part of the holding, was quite independent in determining the development strategy. The pandemic has shown that it is easier to survive together, and in 2021 we are already implementing an all-holding strategy for business recovery based on the division of common resources - from our own support service, development, accounting, we have moved to general holdings. This helps save human and financial resources, and therefore, reduce the cost and price.

Along with the concept, the design of the site has also changed significantly ...

The Biletix website now looks like a hypermarket website in retail - whether it is selling food or electronics. Vibrant colors, best deals, and attention-grabbing strikethrough prices - we have it all. The main page of the site is a showcase of our hypermarket, wh ere discounts and promotions on air tickets, the most popular destinations are presented.

The colors were chosen for a reason: they are bright and emotional. When a client comes to our site, he understands that here he can get positive impressions for little money.

(New, Old)

What prompted Biletix to make such a major change?

In addition to “remembering” our transport competence, disappointing forecasts for the recovery of the global tourism market became an important factor in abandoning the OTA concept. It recovers much more slowly than the transport market.

If the main trend is travel in Russia, then why did Biletix refuse railway tickets, which are just about traveling within the country?

The search engine for air and railway tickets for a user, although it looks almost the same, is a completely different "engine". Therefore, the sale of train tickets requires separate development, support and promotion. There are strong players on the market who historically sell hardware, this is their niche, and in order to compete with them, you need to invest serious funds in marketing and promotion. In our difficult time, we do not consider it necessary to "enter the battle" on a foreign field, we have our own - air transportation, which we have concentrated on.

What to expect in the aviation market? If traffic volumes recover, will Biletix return to the previous model?

Domestic traffic has already recovered and is overtaking 2019 in terms of volume. We see a boom in domestic tourism - 80% of the airlines' planes are used on domestic routes. Regarding international flights, all the forecasts of experts that were previously voiced do not come true - the borders are open conditionally, many flights can only be accessed if a number of conditions are met, and the volume of flights abroad is very low. Everything will depend solely on the situation with the coronavirus in the world. I tend to take into account the IATA forecast - full recovery no earlier than 2024. We will use this time to improve the assortment, fight for the low purchase price and attractiveness of our virtual shelves.

Hypermarket of air tickets "Biletix" is open, you are welcome!!