Business Travelers – The customers in this group are low on price sensitivity and prefer better in flight services since the cost of travel is borne by the company. Another major factor that effects the flying behavior is the flight timings and duration. The size of this segment is low, however this is a high profit segment. The customers in this segment tend to be more loyal. SpiceJet right now has low loyalty and grip on this segment. SpiceJet has recently introduced SpiceMax feature with better services and enhanced comfort for nominal fee to target customers in this segment. Also for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) who can tend to be more price sensitive in this segment SpiceJet offers discount and loyalty points to SME travelers to have customer retention in this segment.
Vacation Goers – This is a rising segment for the aviation industry in India after the IT boom and creation of jobs hubs in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The employees in these IT companies have higher standards of living, limited holidays and more disposable incomes and hence prefer air travel during vacation. While going on vacations people usually go for family bookings. This segment is all for value for money. The customers in this segment need basic services and no irritability at low price. The usage rate is very seasonal and peaks during the vacation months. This segment sees a low to moderate amount of brand loyalty where a switch of brands happens only if the differentiation offered is significantly high. There are bulk and family booking discounts provided by low-cost carriers such as SpiceJet in order to target this segment.
Urgent Travelers – These are people who travel for urgent medical/ family needs etc. These flyers are a small segment and due to the nature of travel tend to be more sensitive to time and duration. Price is usually secondary for these travelers. These customers have low brand loyalty due to the nature of their need.
Students and Others – This segment is usually high on price sensitivity and relatively lower on most other attributes. The usage rate is relatively high and seasonal. The brand loyalty is relatively low because of the price sensitivity. The consumers in this segment has higher preference for SpiceJet due to low prices and frequent offers. SpiceJet as well as other low cost brands try and target this segment by offering student discounts currently.