COMMENT The consumer is always right
Now and Then... A
candid interview with
then- IAADFS President
David Bernstein in the March 2000 edition offers a timely reminder of the current state of airport DF&TR. Asked at the time how
he thought airport retailing had changed in the past two or three years, Bernstein stated: “I think it has become much more sophisticated. I think you can see the results of that in our bigger airports and the constant drive to present new ideas and fresh reasons for the consumer to come into the store is a reaction to that.” Aside an acknowledgement that
Americans remained ‘the worst duty free customers’ (an epithet perhaps not entirely deserved today given the region’s heavy domestic travel tilt and preference for news/convenience and F&B options rather than core duty free) Bernstein’s thoughts on the chief factors influencing travel retail over the coming five years were telling. He said: “I think sophisticated retailing
such as that we a seeing from customer studies. In other words, what it is he or she wants and will buy, where they are buying it and where they are taking it. Really it is all about learning and reacting to the customer. “More research – definitely – and to act
on the results and make sure your buyers act. I don’t think much of that has been done here as elsewhere, although World Duty Free and Duty Free Shoppers do a lot of it. The fact is that if you are going to run a ‘mom and pop’ store in an airport today you are not going to sell anything.” Research methods have undoubtedly
moved on since the 2000s; the internet boom put paid to that. However, instore penetration, conversion and average retail spend-per-passenger levels at airports remain stagnant globally. Alleviating what is a multi-faceted
Rubik’s cube of challenges necessitating customer engagement,
comfort,
convenience and speed is no easy feat. However, a seamless security process can certainly help.
70 TRBUSINESS
The Duty Free Business reports on a pipeline of duty free bids worth more than $330 million for North American retailers.
Twenty years on, the prospect of introducing 3D cabin baggage screening technology across the world has the propensity to transform the passenger experience. From landside to airside, travellers could benefit from quicker and easier airport security checks and the ability to store liquids and electrical equipment like laptops in their carry-on luggage. In the US, investment in upgraded technology continues apace. “I think it is a more scattered progress
report around the globe where some of the first-tier airports are able to do it, but some of the second tiers are not in the same time frame,” IAADFS President & CEO Michael Payne told TRBusiness recently. Payne says that the push on technology
can help to reduce passenger processing times, but invariably it is expensive and enough are needed to service the volumes, particularly at gateway airports. He said: “We are working with US
customs in the states for a lot companies who operate out of the states to simplify some of the customs requirements. There is an opportunity to influence some thinking. It is not going to be a 60-day solution.” «
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