Full on experience

3 March, 2010

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t all go bonkers in the shops once we get airside at the airport. In fact, the majority of us can’t be bothered according to the 80/20 figure that’s bandied about – that’s 80 per cent turning up their noses at airport retail – that’s bandied about in these circles.

One reason may be what Portland’s director of environments, Lewis Allen, calls a lack of joined-up thinking in the whole process: ‘A lot of passengers complain, “You treat me badly with queues at check in and in security and then you expect to woo me with these flash retail environments.’”

But that said, more and more space is being given over to retailing in airports and retailing is now very much part of the development process of any new airport, whereas once it used to be a bolt on. The demise of Duty Free in Europe meant that it became no longer about selling on price, as RPA: Vision’s CEO, Nigell Collett, points out: ‘It used to be small-boutique offers, often in secondary locations, and the whole experience was not thought through. Now the operators are more savvy to the needs of the retailers and are starting to create true retail environments, such as T5.’

And the reason that airport operators are becoming more in tune is that they need that extra revenue stream from passengers to make their airports profitable – there’s a lot of competition out there and there’s also great potential for growth.

‘Airports are realising they are a destinations in themselves, and that people have a choice of which airport to go to,’ adds Allen. ‘So they want to give their airports personality and character, not just the generic grey granite, concrete, glass and steel. That’s reflected in more iconic statements in architecture and reflected in retail, with the sense of place and the palette you devise and the type of offers as well.’

And at the coal face, the retail airside experience itself is changing – and ‘experience’ really is the key word here. We all know by now that there are various pretty specific types of customer for airport retailers, from business to tourist, time-poor to browser. For the time-poor, the retail process has been focused and honed right down to a second-saving, cash-and-grab process. But for the rest, adding a new and high level of experience to the environment is, as most will agree, considered de rigueur these days.

‘Experience is one way of appealing to those people who are not buying, while upselling to those who already are,’ says Lewis. And booze, in particular the whisky sector, seems to be embracing the idea with gusto.

World of Whiskies is a World Duty Free brand and has recently had a makeover by Sheridan & Co at Heathrow (T4) and Edinburgh airports. The whole retailing has been based around the experiences people have of the product in the past while also getting them to experience first-hand, there and then, with sampling and information on the brands’ heritage.

‘Normally they merchandise whisky by origin, but we found whisky was often attributed to specific occasions and experiences, so we decided to promote these occasions in the store – giving it a little more personality and making it more open to whisky novices,’ says Matt Millington, sales and marketing strategist for Sheridan & Co.

‘We also wanted to give them a first-hand experience, so we created the bar where they can taste the product, learn about it and hopefully form a stronger relationship with the brand.’

Also linked closely to the idea/ideal of experience is the ability to keep the offer fresh, and in the near future you can expect airside retail to be ‘much more event-driven, much more pop-up, more fluid and flexible – generally there’s going to be a far higher frequency of change within the airport’, says Portland’s Allen.

‘Experience can go a lot further with new technology and it shouldn’t be linked just to the store,’ adds Sheridan’s Millington. ‘For example, if you’re short of time you could pick something up airside, like a pack, take it on to the plane and do your tasting there. Then you could replenish by mobile. It’s about creating more integrated experiences.’

Meanwhile RPA’s Collett’s future gazing is looking towards the frontend of airports: ‘There’s a focus on airside retail, but there’s also an opportunity landside. There’s a captive audience and we should be doing more to tap into the potential customers waiting to meet and greet people.’

So essentially, in the future the airport looks set to become a highly experiential shopping mall, where you can also catch a plane.