This article was originally published in December/January’s issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For more details, including how to subscribe, click here.
Airports are microcosms of the cities and countries in which they’re located. Travellers expect and want to experience a strong sense of place when they’re in an airport.
According to Global Travel Retail shopper research, a significant proportion of travellers are looking to purchase items that are from the country or the region where the airport is based, or international products with a local touch. This applies to alcohol as much as to – if not more than – other categories.
There are many drivers for this, such as being able to find something unique to take home to give as a gift or as a memento of a trip.
Many international and regional airport stores, however, only offer a glimpse to the traveller of where they are; they could be anywhere in the world. So, what can airports, retailers and brands do to create a strong sense of place and offer a unique shopping experience?
A starting point would be to design outlets using architecture and elements that deliver on the locale. This could be done by incorporating local symbols into the store’s floors, ceilings or walls, thereby creating a feeling of being in a local shopping environment.
Retail operators should think carefully about the amount of space they want to dedicate to regional products and maybe set a target for the number that are locally sourced. On a recent trip to Tenerife, I noted that about 50% of the space given over to alcohol was dedicated to local wine and spirits. In order to offer an interesting range of local products, retailers will need to adapt their purchasing approach to actively seek out, support and develop local producers.
Staff also have an important role to play, by talking with passion about local products and the culture. An area in the store where shoppers have the chance to try local wares, to learn about how they’re made and why they’re important to the culture and history, would help reinforce a sense of place. This also gives an opportunity to remind shoppers of what they’ve experienced on their trip. One example is to offer samples of a high-quality limoncello in Italian airports.
It’s important to shoppers that local products are authentic and, therefore, this is something shop staff and promoters should communicate. Signage should also do this.
International spirits brands can also add a regional touch to their offerings in airports, thereby driving the opportunity to trade up travellers to higher-priced products. This can be done with special editions or airport exclusives. Pernod Ricard’s Absolut Vodka Cities Edition series, for example, adapts the international brand’s packaging to include the name of a city on its bottle. Other brands have used local festivals, celebrations and sponsorships to create airport-specific packs, either by changing their bottle design or by using specially-designed gift boxes.
Another option is through promotions where bottles are engraved or feature personalised labels to make the pack unique to where it’s purchased. Gift-with-purchase items can also be given a local touch.
Experiential activations are worth investigating. A whisky brand, for example, could recruit local artists to turn their barrels into works of art. Displaying these in an airport would create awareness for the brand while also forging a link between a brand and its location.
One area that may be harder for international brands is to add a regional twist to their ingredients. Imagine how powerful it would be if a gin brand released an expression made using local botanicals from a specific country (or region) that was exclusively on sale in that market.
Retailers, airports and brand owners can all play a part in creating that sense of place. We know this is what a significant proportion of shoppers are looking for, so it’s important to think carefully about how they can work together to create it. A successful approach will draw more travellers into the liquor section of airport stores and convert more of them into shoppers.
These shoppers will leave having had a positive – and lasting – experience.
This article was originally published in December/January’s issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For more details, including how to subscribe, click here.
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