The Future Travel Shopping Storefront

Summary

Initially overlooked in the excitement of NDC is the user interface. Shopping is the first engagement in the customer experience. Intuitive interfaces go a long way toward making the customer trust that they are getting the best deal that meets their needs. 

However, with the current NDC and the Next Generation Storefront (NGS), the approach is almost like building a new car by assembling all the interior components, then designing an exterior that can hold all those components efficiently (e.g., we are determining the data to be used in the air shopping and booking processes before we have fully defined those processes). An IATA working group on the Next Generation Storefront finally convened in June 2019. (This group iconnects with the NDC working group.)