Airlines Push Into Smart Luggage Tracking

Plus: LeSportsac leans on collabs to win Gen Z

Author

Zihan Lyu
August 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Travel Unpacked

Here's what's happening this week in the world of travel eCommerce:
- Qantas teams with July for networked trackable luggage
- LeSportsac rebuilds travel retail via collabs and utility
- TESSAN unveils 205W global adapter for multi-device charging

💸 The $200B Miscalculation Marketers Can’t Afford

On stage at eTail Boston, Fospha’s Chief Product Officer, Dom Devlin, warned that retail’s reliance on last-click metrics is outdated, and it’s costing brands $200 billion in under-credited sales.

The missed connection is clear: shoppers often discover on TikTok, Meta, or Snap, but complete their purchase on Amazon, Walmart, or Target. Traditional attribution frameworks rarely connect those dots. As a result, channels that spark demand are stripped of credit, while budgets overweight the “closers” - whether or not they truly created the sale.

Dom called this the bottom-of-funnel trap: over-investing in channels that finish the purchase while underfunding those that generate demand. The fallout is higher acquisition costs and shrinking pipelines of future customers.

Fospha’s Halo platform was built to break that cycle. By integrating marketplace and DTC sales into one unified ROAS, it captures the full impact of discovery spend across the funnel. For brands like Nécessaire and Give Me Cosmetics, that visibility has unlocked the confidence to double down on demand generation while protecting profitability.

📥Download Fospha’s Halo Report to see how leaders are funding growth where it really starts.

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

Qantas partnered with July to embed Apple Find My and Google Find Hub tracking into new suitcases, with CaseSafe hardware integrated in the TSA lock and live status in the July app. This moves smart luggage from add-on to airline-aligned infrastructure, cutting lost-bag anxiety and raising CX expectations. Airlines, luggage brands, and retail partners will feel pressure to integrate network tracking across product lines.

LeSportsac is re-energizing travel retail with Gen Z-focused, culture-led collaborations and airport shop-in-shops, targeting a return of travel retail to 20 percent of revenue. The pivot doubles down on durable, lightweight materials and limited drops to drive relevance and traffic. Airports, duty free operators and airline partners gain a utility-meets-fashion brand with experiential potential.

Joolz launched the Aer2 travel stroller at 14.3 lb with one-handed fold, lay-flat ergonomics and recycled fabrics. Sustainability plus compact convenience positions it for premium family travel assortments and airline partnerships. Parents and retailers get a Red Dot-winning product that extends use from newborn to 50 lb.

🧐 What Does Brand Building Really Mean in eCommerce?

I had an engaging conversation with Alex Brownsell for the latest episode of the WARC Podcast. | Sam Carter, CEO at Fospha

We discussed where most brands get it wrong when it comes to brand building, with bad measurement and poor organizational structure amongst the biggest contributing factors - and how Fospha is aiming to solve the biggest questions around brand measurement with Glow.

Thanks Alex and team again for having me (and for offering a brief airconditioned respite from the intense heat and chaos of Cannes!)

⚡QUICK READS

Editor-Tested Travel Accessories 2025 Winners Named: Shop TODAY’s award list will steer search and conversions for portable chargers, earplugs, water bottles and packing cubes into peak season. (More)

‘Like a Startup’: Inside the Rise of Travel Media Networks: Expedia, Uber, Trainline and TripAdvisor are turning first-party data into ad businesses that span loyalty insights, journey-based targeting and creative partnerships. (More)

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the DTC eCommerce division