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Airbus sees intellectual property in customer data that deserves recognition. Therefore, the aircraft manufacturer wants to charge maintenance companies for access to data usage fees in the future. That data is valuable has now also become known in the B2B business, says Hans-Christian Riekhof.

Airbus shows: Customer data is valuable – also in B2B business

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Airbus wants to charge aircraft maintenance companies for access to necessary data in the future. Handelsblatt refers to a report by the specialist portal “MRO Network”, according to which this information has not yet been officially confirmed, but is already causing a stir in the industry.

“That (customer) data has a value should have become clear to us at the latest when we look at the stock market valuation of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Airbnb or Uber”, explains Hans-Christian Riekhof, Professor of International Marketing at PFH Private University of Göttingen. The value of these companies is largely not based on physical assets. Some of these companies even report high losses and still achieve high company valuations.

Companies benefit from customer data provided free of charge, which they resell

The reason for this, according to Professor Riekhof, is the value of the customer data that these companies have. Data that they partly resell and that is usually provided to them by customers free of charge. “A second aspect should not be completely overlooked: already in the basic lecture on economics one learns that one can make decent profits in monopoly situations.”

According to Riekhof, data is valuable has now also become known in the B2B business. “A very nice example in this respect is Airbus: there is a dispute with the suppliers or with the maintenance industry about who may use the data and who has to pay what price for it.”

Airbus sees intellectual property in customer data that represents a value

According to the MRO Network report, maintenance companies are to pay a certain percentage of the amount they themselves charge the airlines for maintaining the jets to the European aircraft manufacturer as a data fee in the future. Airbus has so far provided essential data free of charge, while others used it for their business. But Airbus sees intellectual property in them, which represents a value, access to which must be rewarded with usage fees in the future.

As Handelsblatt further explains, it is about future data sovereignty in aviation. In addition to Airbus, Boing and maintenance companies such as Lufthansa Technik also want to play a leading role in the evaluation of the data. Airbus, for example, wants to record 10,000 aircraft from 100 companies on its Skywise platform by the end of the year.

Photo: pixabay.com

Lidl is currently testing digital customer cards, with which coupons can be delivered directly to the mobile phone. The project, which initially runs in the pilot region of Berlin and Brandenburg, raises questions in its orientation.

Pricing at Lidl: Discount store attracts with app as digital customer card

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Lidl is currently testing digital customer cards, with which coupons can be delivered directly to the mobile phone. In Berlin and Brandenburg, customers can use the new customer loyalty app “Lidl Plus”. With this, they receive special offers and features such as discount coupons, digital receipts or the flyer ready for every purchase. It is noteworthy that the coupons are not delivered location-based, says pricing expert Hans-Christian Riekhof.

Lidl Digital Customer Card

The free app, available from the Apple and Google app stores, serves as a digital customer card. Lidl has come up with a number of “exclusive benefits” for users. For example, a 5-euro welcome coupon, new digital discount coupons for selected products and savings benefits with the so-called “Lidl Plus crackers”. Also scratch cards with further coupons and price advantages with partners, e.g. at Lidl-Photos, Lidl-Travels, FlixBus and regional, activate providers in the app.

In return, the discount giant receives valuable customer data. Lidl can thus compensate for the major disadvantage of stationary compared to online trading, where it is common to collect and evaluate customer data. Based on customer profiles created from this, the app can then make offers to the customer that Lidl assumes the customer needs at this time.

With the customer data, Lidl sends suitable offers to the app users

According to Lidl, customers do not see different prices based on their data. However, there is indeed a price difference in favor of the app users – compared to customers who do not use the app.

With the digital customer cards, Lidl is faster than e.g. Aldi, the main rival, says Hans Christian Riekhof. The pricing expert finds it interesting that the app is advertised on various local channels – here the example Out Of Home. Even more noteworthy is that the coupons are not delivered location-based. “You could also deliver the push notifications in front of the store, in the store and maybe even directly on the shelf. This would significantly increase the relevance – measured by opening and redemption rates – according to our project experience. Maybe this will come in the second expansion stage”, says Riekhof.

Which campaigns promise particular success can be read in the News from locandis.

By the way, the project of the digital customer card, which is currently running in around 250 Lidl markets in the pilot area Berlin and Brandenburg, is planned to be extended to all of Germany during the year 2020.

Note:
Also read our empirical Study on Digital Customer Cards in retail, system catering and tourism (Riekhof/Brinkhoff 2018).

Further links:

Lidl:
https://unternehmen.lidl.de/pressreleases/190612_lidl-plus

Advertising and Selling:
https://www.wuv.de/marketing/lidl_bringt_digitale_kundenkarte_als_app


Photo at the top: Lidl Germany
Photo: UNICconsult Strategy Development GmbH