Airlines and airports can collaborate to share retail profits
SEPANG: New ways of using digital technology and better air passenger intelligence is spawning new income streams for airport retail, said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) general manager of commercial business Hani Ezra Hussin.
“Technology enables new retail opportunities. Airlines do not have the luxury of airborne warehouse space that MAHB, as an airport operator, possess,” she said.
“By using customised digital technologies, we can work together with airlines, such as AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and Firefly, to tap into the convenience of digital in-flight retailing. We’re looking at travellers buying onboard and picking up their purchases at our airports,” Hani Ezra said.
In an interview with the New Straits Times, she explained the plan is for passengers onboard flights to use WiFi services to consider buying products and perhaps, book a service through an app on their smartphones.
Grab, a mobile app already on the market, allows passengers to order food in advance and pick it up at a designated time and place.
“A husband, who is onboard a flight can use the airline’s in-flight WiFi to buy a birthday cake and flowers for his wife via this kind of app,” she said, adding there is no limitation on what can be sold onboard and then sent to the customer at the airport’s collection counter or exclusive lounge area.
On a more lucrative scale, Hani moved on to the topic of holiday-makers fuelling luxury shopping at airports that have international arrivals and departures, particularly with China’s nouvo rich.
A growing demographic of business travellers fly on commercial flights, with considerable money to spend. When they are confined in secure areas for hours at a time, Hani said they are a captive audience likely to spend money on comfort and convenience.
This niche group of big spenders would most likely seek goods and services that offer exclusivity. “There is that exclusivity, and a lot of it is driven by the potential customers on flights from China and the Middle East,” she said.
She also sees growth in luxury retail services such as beauty and wellness. “There are a lot of passengers that are stressed and tired, when they are transiting at the airport. So, the idea of having their hair-styled and a 30-minute foot massage can be quite appealing.”
Retailing in an airport is different from a stand-alone store in a city centre mall. A retailer in the airport takes note that while consumers may roam the airport freely, their schedules and carry-on limits of the airline they are flying, do impact their spending patterns.
As consumers may be limited by what they can (or want to) carry onboard their flights, Hani highlighted some retailers offer luxury products in pint-sized packagings.
Source: NST
