Qatar Airways Cargo's digital transformation amps up with the Digital Lounge

The first step in Qatar Airways Cargo's Digital transformation journey is visible with its brand-new website released in May this year. The new website boasts a brand-new design that offers simple navigation and intuitive positioning of information backed with robust security. Since the new website is cloud-based and requires fewer clicks to source relevant information, it also boasts of a lower carbon footprint than its predecessor.

In accordance with its VISION 2027 and through its partnership with Salesforce, Qatar Airways Cargo has now pioneered its next-generation Digital Experience platform with a revamped, comprehensive, and intuitive cargo customer portal called 'Digital Lounge.' The Digital Lounge experience will bring added value to the airline's customers, offering better engagement and interaction, increased productivity and time management, as well as better visibility, transparency, and performance monitoring.

The Digital Lounge portal is built on the Salesforce platform and provides Qatar Airways Cargo's customers with a seamless digital experience, leveraging Salesforce Customer 360 features integrated with its native Experience and Analytics platform. The Digital Lounge will give customers full access to a broad range of activities with single access. The platform offers instant confirmation for General Cargo bookings subject to availability and required validations. The airline's customers can book free sales and allotments with dimensions (excluding BUP). In the future, customers will be able to book any product available in the portfolio of Qatar Airways Cargo through the Digital Lounge.

The Digital Lounge acts as a comprehensive platform and offers customers several features such as booking, shipment tracking, account management, reporting, and other services online. Customers will be able to retrieve information more quickly, and will no longer have to resort to phone or email communication as in the past. Greater process efficiencies result in better use of resources and less negative environmental impact.

"Digitalisation is the cornerstone of The Next Generation, which places user experience and ease at the centre of our activities," Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways, underlines. "Through the Digital Lounge, Qatar Airways Cargo has opted for an omnichannel digital strategy whereby the customers are given a wide variety of choices in how they wish to interact with us."

Over the past two years, with the utilization of API (Application Programming Interface) technology, third-party digital marketplaces have seen unprecedented user growth as customers have quickly embraced the offer of real-time market capacity and rate information, and access to immediate booking confirmation. Following its highly successful global launch on WebCargo last year, Qatar Airways Cargo now also offers its capacity on CargoAi and Cargo.one in selected markets and is thus present on all three leading third-party digital marketplaces.

All three platforms are actively developing new products to match market requirements. The cargo carrier signed up for WebCargo Pay by Freightos in seven countries: Spain, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa, enabling customers to add cash credits to their account to easily book shipments from the WebCargo platform, without a bank guarantee. With WebCargo Pay, the cargo carrier is offering non-IATA or CASS freight forwarders as well as customers who are not registered with Qatar Airways, the possibility to e-book cargo on flights in the Qatar Airways Cargo network.

To support its rapid e-booking growth and provide full real-time rate transparency and swift auto-confirmation, Qatar Airways Cargo has selected PROS pricing and quoting solutions. PROS constitutes a fundamental pillar in the airline's new pricing strategy. This unique digital technology will assist the carrier in achieving its strategic growth objectives by enabling personalised real-time pricing across all available channels.