SkyMall's History
SkyMall is a very popular specialty publishing that is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona which is best known for its self-titled publication with a yearly circulation of roughly around 20 million copies distributed and placed in the seat pockets of airplanes. This is a multi-channel, direct marketer that sells products through manufacturers and marketers through its catalogue and website which is SkyMall.com. Seen by around 88% of domestic air passengers in the U.S., this company was founded by Bob Worsley, Mathew Del Bianco, Graham Alcock and Alan Lobock in 1990. The idea of establishing this company came about when Worsley took a plane from Seattle to Phoenix and found a catalog from the airline seat pocket which he thought had very poor merchandise. SkyMall takes pride of working with the industry-leading catalogers, distributors and manufacturers over the past 25 years and it promises to continue to be the destination of choice for the coolest stuff online at SkyMall.com
SkyMall's Values
The original plan of the founders of SkyMall was to allow air passengers to use the ‘Airphone’ which is a phone that is placed on the back of most seats to make a call to the company and when they landed, they can already pick up their purchases. This business model came out as a bit of a disaster so the company had to have warehouses located near the airports stocked with all the products just in case someone would buy something. When purchases are made, it would be a lot easier to transport them to the gate but this model still didn’t seem to work as well. What SkyMall did was to come out as a magazine where other companies could advertise their product with firms either paying a flat advertising fee or pay a percentage of each transaction to SkyMall which became a major success.
What makes SkyMall unique?
SkyMall is the largest in-flight catalog company in the U.S. that makes high quality products and services for over 400 million airline passengers each year. This company sells and markets premium merchandise from participating merchants that include major catalog companies as well as specialty retailers like Frontgate, Brookstone, The Shaper Image, the Wine Enthusiast and Hammacher Schlemmer. What a lot of travelers like about flying is browsing through magazines tucked in the pockets of their seats but now that there’s already SkyMall.com, there is no need for anyone to fly just to shop because they can recapture the same experience they had staying home with SkyMall stocking full products leaving shoppers a lot of items to choose from. From quirky to conventional products, this magazine has them all—health and fitness, pet products, home living, outdoor living, apparel and accessories, travel products, gifts, auto and hardware, sports, and so much more.
