Touchscreen Shopping at 35,000 Feet: Virgin America Upgrades Seat-back TVs with 'The Red Store'

June 10, 2010 at 8:33 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (4)

Skymall is dead, long live Skymall!

EXCLUSIVE: In a first for airlines, Virgin America has announced that their state-of-the-art touchscreen seat-back TVs will get an upgrade to become an "on-demand touch-screen in-flight Shopping platform," called The Red Store.

Already on Virgin America, you can use the TVs to order food, chat with other passengers, play games and watch satellite television, but The Red Store kicks it up a huge notch. This will be the first time that Skymall products are available for purchase through a seat-back TV, and don't you know that Virgin is throwing a few special nuggets into the mix.

Did somebody say $38,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone?!

A screenshot of a PSP product page

Heck yes, you'll be able to tap the touchscreen to buy such goodies as ridiculously luxurious tech gadgets, but also regular items like Apple Nanos, and you'll even be able to choose the color.

And that's not all! Here's what else Virgin America is bringing new to the ~~table~~ touchscreen:

· An �open tab� function so guests can swipe their credit once per flight and order food, drinks, and anything else now available via Red—including a $38,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone
· Enhanced seatback interactive Google maps, including terrain view
· Suggested meal pairings, like a Lemon Tarragon Chicken Salad Hand Roll, PopChips and Gordon Biersch Marzen Beer
· A custom bar for �Cocktails with Altitude,� developed with input VX teammates and from guests via social media

Currently The Red Store is live only selected test aircraft, but it will spread fleet wide in July. And now you ask, what's next for their seatback TVs now that you can even shop from them? Well, WiFi integration of course. Someday, you'll be able to draft and send emails from 35,000 feet without even having to bring your laptop onboard or power up your smartphone. Of course we'll keep you updated when that happens, but for now, you should be pretty well entertained on your next Virgin America flights with the new shopping network.

What do YOU think of Virgin America's new in-flight shopping platform? Will you be buying the $38,000 iPhone diamond-encrusted iPhone on your next flight? Please do tell.

[Photo: Virgin America]

Comments (4)

Return to » Touchscreen Shopping at 35,000 Feet: Virgin America Upgrades Seat-back TVs with 'The Red Store'

why would i order through RED when i can just go online during the flight and order through Amazon.com or something? also, everyone knows SkyMall is just for shits and giggles when you're waiting for the plane to take off. i think RED should offer more Virgin-y products like the first class Virgin Atlantic pajamas. oh and more vegetarian meal options aside from the hummus plate! (dont get me wrong, i love VA but I can only eat so much cheese and crackers during a flight.)

Totally agree with Juliana. The GogGo wifi on VA flights makes this announcement ho-hum for me too. Once the 10,000 foot bell dings I am off and running with gogo and can go to Amazon, or wherever else I need to go. More food options would be cool via RED -- as far as I know, food is not something my laptop can deliver to me in-flight ... yet.

People still fly laptop-less. And maybe those laptop-less people want to buy a PSP while the idea is floating in front of them. The Red Store's most exciting feature is probably those exclusive items, which haven't yet been revealed.

Now there is an interesting idea, private sales for folks on VA flights. "$ Item only available until we begin our descent"

Jaunted

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