Both in the air and on the ground, consumers are becoming increasingly value-hungry, deal-savvy, and information-soaked by the day and, with that, some inflight retailers and airlines may feel apprehensive. Their nimbleness is tested by the speed at which consumer attitudes, habits and expectations are changing.

These changing attitudes are being driven largely by the rise of e-commerce. Consumers have a huge assortment of product, purchase, and delivery options on the ground – leading to higher expectations in the air.

If bricks-and-mortar retailers, with row after row of shelf space, are struggling to keep up, what can you realistically hope to achieve with an aircraft trolley?

Quite a lot, actually. Despite the apparent challenges facing retail as a whole, smart airlines continue to build and maintain healthy ancillary revenue streams from inflight retail.

In our experience, a successful end-to-end retail programme's primary ingredients are a strong understanding of customers, an appetite to experiment with ancillary opportunities, and a well-defined product mix which includes on-point bespoke offerings. Investing in bold, engaging, and of course high-quality product reflects positively on the airline as a creative investor in its customer experience and brand.

In contrast, a retail offer without the right bespoke products may work in the short term but often indicates strategic weaknesses that put steady, long-term revenues and overall brand standing at risk. Simply reselling 'corner store' products (often at an increased cost) does little to build an airline’s reputation as a customer-centric, creative organisation.

As outlined above, e-commerce is rewiring passengers’ attitudes and expectations, and the new competitive landscape can be justifiably intimidating for airlines weary of asking passengers to open their wallets.

Our recommendation is to look for market advantages that can ensure bespoke products are attractive and deliver value to your customers.

It can be tempting for inflight retailers to play defense by focusing only on the now and meeting their captive audience's minimum levels of expectations and preferences.

But simply accommodating their expectations tends to leave travellers unimpressed and hungry to reach their destination and devour 'proper' food.

Orchestrating a winning inflight retail experience around a certain product, as in the tortilla example, is a complex process taking into account factors such as: