3. To increase sales, increase footfall in outlets
Once you have convinced passengers that they should buy something at the airport the key to success is to actually get them into the shops. Globally, 50% of passengers who enter a retail outlet purchase something, and this figure rises to over 90% of passengers entering a restaurant.
The walk-through duty free store is arguably the most visible way of doing this, but airports are also exploring other means such as ensuring that must-buy products are placed close to security (so that passengers complete their pre-planned purchases as quickly as possible) or positioning last minute offerings near gates to intercept passengers who spend a minimum of time airside.
Ensuring that your airport has effective processes also has a direct influence on the number of passengers entering shops. If passengers are stuck at check-in or immigration, for example, they are very unlikely to have the time to visit the airport retail.
Keeping passengers informed by communicating the distances between commercial areas and gates and by including FIDS in outlets are also helping airports maximise the time passengers spend in shops.
4. Passengers need to be able to find products quickly
Getting passengers into the shops does not necessarily guarantee that you will be able to sell them something. Most passengers only have a limited amount of time to shop (20 minutes on average), and so need to be able to find the product they are looking for quickly or they will simply not make the purchase.
Indeed, over 30% of passengers who had planned to buy something at the airport but ended up not doing so, claimed that the inability to find what they wanted as the main reason for not making a purchase.
To overcome this difficulty airports are working to implement better communication to inform passengers of available products before they travel, making sure key products are located near store entrances and are clearly visible as well as ensuring sales personnel are on hand to quickly guide passengers to the product they are looking for.
Conclusion
Taken together, these four findings represent the main levers airports have to increase commercial sales.
Working with them, however, remains a complex process and focusing on one or the other may result in fleeting success, but will not produce a steady increase in sales performance.
Airports that succeed in improving their retail performance year-over-year are likely to be those that are most systematic in identifying and implementing best practice through regular use of customer research and benchmarking with competitors around the world.