GCC countries have become focused on opening large, luxurious airports as the scramble for airlines to secure passenger market share kicks on – above all for the lucrative East-to-West (and vice versa) long-haul travel sector. One of the results – duty-free operators suffer from the collateral damage – as passengers enjoy a variety of services such as hotels, health spas, and fine dining. Another anti-Retail element is the all efficient & shortened transit journeys which omit large wafts of the Airport and often most of the vast array of duty-free shops. How can retail be taken to the passenger?
Engagement: Mobile Retail units were already in place at this GCC flagship airport, but products were very generic catering to all customer demographics. A project was set up to target certain flights – the initial focus was on Chinese destinations. Analysis was done on which products customers were buying for Chinese destinations (by using transaction analysis linked to boarding cards which provided the intelligence needed). Core duty-free products that were high on the top-selling list for these destinations were ranged on the mobile cart. The design team was engaged to produce signage and a visual ‘call to action’ in Mandarin. The cart was also resourced by Chinese speakers. The carts, rather than roaming around randomly, were strategically placed outside the boarding gates of Chinese destinations. As passengers came to the boarding gate, they had opportunities for last-minute purchases – most of these flights had Chinese nationals, so the presence of native speakers, plus products relevant to their needs was a game changer in terms of taking retail to the passenger.
Impact: Within 3 months, the targeted Gate Cart for Chinese destinations began contributing 1% of the total revenue of the duty-free operation – the majority of this was incremental. The project was also planned for other destinations, with relevant products and a native speaker. But the Chinese project was by far and away the biggest revenue driver and resulted in lots of repeat customers and referral business.
