 | Content (0-4): 2.5 |
 | Pricing (0-2): 2 |
 | Navigation (0-4): 3 |
 | Style/Design (0-4): 3 |
 | Supplementary information (0-2): 0.5 |
 | Overall incentive to shop (0-4): 1 |
 | Total (0-20): 12 |
Scoring system explained – click here | |
Website of the week – Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, based in Kuwait International Airport and wholly owned by the Kuwaiti Government. It operates scheduled international services to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia, the United States and throughout the Middle East.
STYLE
Kuwait Airways’ website adopts a classic airline colour theme of shades of blue against white – a pleasant combination that is easy on the eyes.
The website’s header features the Kuwait Airways logo and the tagline “Earning Your Trust” against an animated backdrop of the sky with moving clouds.
A navigation panel displaying the various sections, with drop-down menus of sub-sections, is situated at the top of the homepage and is a fixture throughout the site.
Important links and information are displayed on the homepage via neatly boxed sections and banners, though it takes a while for the eye to process and absorb the information from the many boxes, banners and links, all vying for the visitor’s attention.
On the whole, the website has a modern-looking and well-designed layout.
CONTENT AND USABILITY
“˜In-flight Shopping’ offered by the airline is an extension of the main website – part of “˜Onboard Services’ located under “˜Our Services’ on the navigation panel; the airline does not have a dedicated online duty free site.
The “˜In-flight Shopping’ page is simple and straightforward, featuring seven category links (Toys, Electronics, Watches, Men’s Fragrance, Ladies’ Fragrance, Jewellery and Cosmetics), an image of the inflight catalogue cover and five banner advertisements of featured brands. Being a part of the airline’s main website, the left and right columns of the page displays other airline-related links, information and tools.
Clicking on a category link will display the products under that category in a neat product listing format. One product is displayed per row. The brand and product name is highlighted in light blue, which also serves as a divider between one product and the next. Visitors will have to keep scrolling down until they reach the last item.
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Kuwait Airways’ website adopts a pleasant and classic colour theme of shades of blue against white |
Each item is accompanied by a product image, description and prices in Kuwait Dinars and US Dollars. Product images are of good quality and we like the fact that the images can be clicked on for an enlarged, close-up view, displayed in a separate pop-up window.
Clicking on the banner advertisements at the bottom of the page will lead to the product category of the featured brand. Three banners feature fragrances, one features watches and the last one features eyewear.
The banner display and links to the product categories are however, not consistent. One of the three fragrance advertisement banners cannot be clicked on to link to the product category page. Clicking on the eyewear advertisement banner will lead to the eyewear product listing page, but the eyewear category and product are not found under the category links listed on the In-flight Shopping page.
An actual pre-order service is not offered by the airline; the product listings only serve as a preview of the airline’s duty free selection.
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The In-flight Shopping page is straightforward, featuring links to the product categories and banner advertisements below |
Product offer
The Toys category offers two items that are also suitable as souvenirs – playing cards with the Kuwait Airways Logo in a leather holder and a set of two Kuwait Airways miniature aircraft models.
The Electronics category offers a small variety of electronics and useful travel accessories such as a travel adaptor, tactical LED floodlight, Bluetooth hands-free speaker as well as a handheld LCD Sudoku game.
A total of 11 timepieces are available under the Watches category, with prices ranging from US$29 for a Scorpio Dual Time Watch to US$519.00 for a Aigner Verona Watch. The labeling of the watches tend to be a little vague as the brand name, and whether the timepiece is meant for men or women, are not clearly stated at times.
A total of 32 perfumes are listed under Men’s Fragrances, spread across a wide variety of popular brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Diesel and Lacoste.
The Ladies’ Fragrances category offers 35 perfumes featuring popular brands as well as newer items and coffret sets. Fragrances on offer include classics like L’Eau d’issey by Issey Miyake and Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier and new items such as Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf, Delicious Night by DKNY and Daisy by Marc Jacobs.
A good variety of items is also available under the Jewellery category with the new USB Memory Stick jewellery pieces from Swarovski and earrings, necklaces and jewellery sets from Aigner, Jakk, Pierre Cardin, Toscow and Ella Morissa.
Travel retail duo and trio sets and make-up palettes dominate the Cosmetics product selection including travel retail palettes from Christian Dior, a lipstick trio from Clinique and a mascara duo from Lancôme.
Information
Although the website displays ample information and FAQs regarding other airline and flight-related topics, useful information pertaining to duty free shopping such as duty free allowances, is not available.
The website however, does provide a full listing of Kuwait Airways Offices worldwide, a list of international telephone codes and an online contact form for comments, suggestions and enquiries.
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Product images are of good quality and enlargeable via a seperate pop-up window for a close-up view |
NAVIGATION
Navigating the site is easy with a navigation panel that is rooted to the top throughout the site. Visitors can proceed to the desired page or return to the homepage at any time. The drop-down menus of sub-sections makes it easy to browse through the various sections of the site.
The site also features a sitemap that gives visitors a general overview of the site content.
When browsing the duty free product listing pages, a “˜Back to Main’ link is always provided at the end of the product listing, making it convenient for visitors to return to the main category links page.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Being a part of Kuwait Airways’ main website, the airline’s inflight shopping section shares the same design and layout – pleasant and well-designed. Browsing and navigation is straightforward as well. The airline offers a small selection of duty free items, but one that is varied and features a popular and attractive mix of products. The good usage of product images goes a long way to enhance the product presentation and entice customers. However, there is room for improvement with the addition of a pre-order service and useful information pertaining to duty free shopping.
What we like:
o Pleasant design and layout
o Good quality and enlargeable product images
o Varied and attractive product selection
o Easy and straightforward navigation
What needs adding/improving:
o Pre-order service
o Currency converter
o Information pertaining to duty free shopping
o Consistency in product labeling/description and linking of advertisement banners
Website of the week scoring system explained:
Content: How wide is the range of items on offer? Are there good quality photos and product descriptions?
Pricing: Are product prices listed? For all products?
Navigation: How easy is the site to use?
Style/Design: How does the site look?
Supplementary information: On allowances, currencies, after-sales service, useful tips and so on.
Overall incentive to shop: This includes tone, promotions, offers, competitions and, importantly, pre-order.
PREVIOUS WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the Week: Iberworld – 22/01/09
Website of the week: Qatar Airways – 15/01/09
