Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2025

INDUSTY INSIGHTS

In our North American retail stores, travelers are flocking to our self-checkout for its convenience and speed. Year to date, we’ve reported more than 44 million transactions in duty-paid locations, with travelers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Calgary International Airport (YYC) having the highest rate of adoption . At our grab-and-go dining, computer-vision self-checkout – while still an emerging opportunity compared to travel convenience – is growing. Travelers are seeing the benefit of the AI-powered cameras to instantly recognize items, reducing their checkout time to under 20 seconds. These interactions are what travelers, especially those in North America, want: simple and fast. The next level of engagement and an area our industry is beginning to embrace globally is data and AI to deepen personalization. This is how we build loyalty. Building Loyalty Ensuring travelers have a great experience leads to loyal customers. Now, data and AI are deepening connections with guests to enhance the overall experience. Traditionally, a traveler shopped, paid and left. We didn’t know if they were a first-timer or a frequent flyer. We didn’t know where they lived or where they were going and we didn’t know their shopping habits. Our Club Avolta loyalty program is changing that. We want travelers to be recognized and rewarded across every airport they visit. Globally, the program is a common thread connecting more than 5,000 outlets across 70 countries. Club Avolta currently boasts more than 13 million members, with loyalty transactions every 2.5 seconds. Club Avolta is not just a loyalty program. It’s a growth engine. Our worldwide data shows that members spend three times more than non-members, which supports non-aeronautical revenue growth

Club Avolta is not just a loyalty program. It’s a growth engine. Our worldwide data shows that members spend three times more than non-members, which supports non-aeronautical revenue growth for our airport partners.

for our airport partners. It generates data-rich insights that augment space planning and promotional impact, while encouraging repeat visits, dwell time and cross-shopping between travel retail and food & beverage. Travelers gain access to exclusive offers, rewards and cross-promotions in about 1,700 retail stores and dining venues in the U.S. and Canada alone. As the leading region in terms of year on-year growth of loyalty sales, and growing, we’re providing travelers with a consistent, rewarding experience – one they can access on a convenient app wherever they are. Our digital channels aren’t only engaging travelers during their journey, our connections stretch to beyond the terminal. Ecommerce through our Reserve & Collect program in duty free shops, which we currently offer in more than 20 airports in the U.S. and Canada, enables us to connect with customers before their trip. By offering an incentive to reserve an

order, travelers are inclined to commit to making a future purchase even before their trip begins. Eyeing the Future Our focus for the next two years in North America and around the world is to continue to analyze data and collaborate with our airport and brand partners to evolve our digital efforts into a seamless and unified shopping experience across categories. Digital is laying the groundwork for the future of travel; beyond adopting new tools, it’s crafting meaningful, intuitive experiences that serve millions of travelers. Through continued innovation, collaboration, and a deep understanding of the traveler mindset, together with our partners we can create a blueprint for how to transform the travel experience, making the traveler’s entire journey a world-class and truly memorable one.

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2025