Who Is Shopping for Travel & Airline Online?

Much has been written about younger generations’ taste for online shopping, which could easily lead travel and airline ecommerce businesses to align their offerings and CX toward up-and-coming Gen Z.

As it turns out, however, these businesses could be harming their prospects. Diving deep into the data from our original research, State of Consumer Attitudes on Ecommerce, Fraud and CX, we discovered the people most likely to purchase trips from online retailers are those aged 40-54 — essentially, the Gen Xers who are now moving into senior roles at work and starting to face empty nests … but who are much more comfortable shopping online than their baby boomer parents. Millennials are just as comfortable shopping for travel online, falling only a percentage point behind the top position.

And what of Gen Z? Surprisingly, they’re less likely to buy travel online than their grandparents are. That reluctance may be short-lived, however: A recent Allied Market Research study revealed plenty of potential market growth in the 22-31 segment, with it “estimated to reach $539.2 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 15.0% during the forecast period.”

As such, travel and airline ecommerce businesses will want to take very good care of their existing customers, while paying careful attention to what younger consumers are looking for and how to win them over. This puts travel and airline ecommerce businesses in a pickle, however. As we mentioned, the industry serves every demographic, making it tricky for businesses to keep everybody happy.

For online merchants, this poses a huge challenge. How do you keep pace with the younger generations without alienating your older generations of consumers?

Possible concerns impacting airline travel for climate-conscious

Most passengers understand that aviation has a significant impact on the environment. Emissions are now the top concern of respondents in 11 of the 13 countries polled in a 2022 McKinsey survey, up from four in the 2019 survey. More than half of respondents said they’re “really worried” about climate change, and that aviation should become carbon neutral in the future. Around 60% of travelers in Spain are willing to pay more for carbon-neutral flights, for example, compared to 9% in India and 2% in Japan.