Website of the Week: South African Airways – 24/05/07

Website of the week: South African Airways Onboard Shopping

South African Airways (SAA) is South Africa’s flagship carrier serving more than 700 destinations, including 34 cities in 26 countries on six continents. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.

The Onboard Shopping homepage lists 19 product categories

Style

Simplicity plays a leading role on South African Airways’ shopping site where design and layout are concerned. Sky blue and white make up the colours of the site. The product showcase takes the form of a duty free catalogue in PDF format with generously sized images.

Content and usability

Following a brief introduction, the versatile product catalogue takes centre stage on the homepage, sitting firmly beneath the welcome note in table form with 19 options: Africa in fashion, African elegance, Ladies’ fragrances and cosmetics, Men’s fragrances, Watches, Fashion accessories, Sunglasses, Capture the moment, On safari, Sound and vision, Africa at home, Gadgets, Keep in touch, Accessories, Play time, From South African Airways, Sweet travel, and Cigarettes and liquor.

The homepage also includes the main menu on the top right hand side, featuring three options: Duty free catalogue (which acts as the homepage), Duty free allowances and Payment methods. More on the allowances and payment methods later.

The 19 categories in the product catalogue are in downloadable PDF format (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required) and includes price in US Dollars, comparative local price/RRP in US Dollars (not for all products), attractive images, product description and a ‘Fun fact’ per category.

Africa in fashion offers a range of ‘Made in Africa’ local beaded jewellery and accessories, including Antica Murrina Cuba Necklace retailing at US$65 (recommended retail price US$83) as well as inflight exclusives like Kasuku Trade Bead Necklace, US$39. The fun fact here is a spot of trivia on one of the country’s renowned beasts – the leopard.

African elegance also features local jewellery but in a higher price range. It includes a range of necklaces, pendants, rings, earrings and bracelets made of gold, diamond and/or tanzanite. Tanzanite and Diamond Earrings retail at US$225 (RRP US$261) and Elegant Elephant 9ct gold Pendant with 9ct gold necklace US$90 (RRP US$133). A minor note on South Africa’s mineral resources make up this category’s fun fact.

Ladies’ fragrances and cosmetics includes a host of fragrances by top brand names such as Christian Dior J’Adore 50ml US$65 (RRP US$103), an inflight exclusive from Kenzo Amour 50ml, US$59, as well as several inflight exclusive coffrets like Givenchy Miniature Coffret, US$36.

Cosmetics, too, fall under similar designer brands such as Hugo Boss Skin Instant Moisture Gel US$31 (RRP US$45) and Revlon Unforgettable eyes – Fabulash US$23 which offers a gwp Color Stay eyeliner.

The PDF documents contain good-sized images and highlight onboard exclusives as well as savings on high street prices

Capture the moment is a nifty addition to the list as it pushes the notion of South Africa as a tourist destination and offers digital cameras and video cameras. Three models are listed – Vivitar Vivicam 3799XI digital camera, US$195, Minox Digital Classic Camera Leica M3, US$229 (RRP US$384), and the new Vivitar DVR-510 Digital Video Camera, US$385. The fun fact found here concerns Great White Sharks – regular visitors to South Africa’s waters.

On safari stays on track with the tourist theme and features a range of handy items, including Vivitar Magna Cam 1025×2 All-in-one digital camera and binoculars, US$160, Akita Solar Charger (mobile solar power supplier), US$56, and Zero Walkie Talkie Set, US$55.

The product showcase is impressive in its range and content, but it appears to be not much more than an online version of the inflight catalogue – it’s not an interactive website in its own right. The main drawback with the PDF format is that it’s difficult to find a specific product: the Ladies’ fragrances and cosmetics category spans over 29 PDF pages, which means scrolling up and down the document in search of it. A list of items with corresponding page numbers at the start could resolve this problem.

Duty free allowances for cigarettes, fragrances, edt, gifts and liquor span 21 countries worldwide and includes separate allowances for Hong Kong residents and non-residents, and Swiss residents and non-residents.

Guarantee and methods of payment are listed beneath the allowances.

What we like: