Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2024

Right: Sammy Patel, vice president of commercial at Vantage Airport Groups, noted the challenge is figuring out a revenue model if concessions spaces veer away from transactional sales.

He explained that the most successful retail concepts of the future will be those that curate experiences. “It’s about shifting from shelves with products for sale to stages with stories to share in this era of the spontaneous, the surprising, the unplanned and the serendipitous,” he said, adding that he believes airports need to become “serendipity machines” that deliver more than just products but moments of surprise and delight. “No longer are we going to be thinking just about sales per square meter—it’s about ideas, engagement, senses,” Ibrahim said. “A future-ready airport will still sell like a shop but will also speak like a magazine, change like a gallery, share like an app, build loyalty like a club, play like a game, experiment like a laboratory, connect like a community and entertain like a show.” Concessions’ Changing Face Ibrahim shared his vision during his keynote address, then sat down for a panel discussion with other concessions leaders on how concessions will evolve further. Philippe Guertin, vice president of business development, Americas at Plaza Premium Group moderated the discussion with Deanna Zachrisson, director of revenue generation and partnership development at San Diego International Airport (SAN); Vantage Group ’s vice president of commercial, Sammy Patel; and Ibrahim. Panelists passionately agreed that while a willingness to solve problems creatively was necessary to keep concessions fresh, there was no need to completely reinvent the store concept within airports. “I think there’s a balance there,” said Zachrisson of creating a concessions

environment with the appropriate combination of intrigue and familiarity. Patel and Ibrahim agreed that concessions concepts should aim to stay ahead of their customer’s needs. “How do we figure out what they want — and how do we actually make some money out of it as well?” asked Patel of airport design, while Ibrahim recommended that concessions shift to “becoming a predictive business” through design and concept. One way to stay ahead of the curve, panelists said, was in future-proofing physical design. “15 years ago, concessions was a flat box,” said Zachrisson, who noted that despite a limited square footage allotment at SAN, the airport seeks to maximize its commercial usage. At Vantage, responsible for much of LaGuardia International Airport (LGA)’s transformation and John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK)’s Terminal 6 project, it’s not “a one-size-fits-all,” strategy, said Patel. “We have to figure out what the dynamics are in one particular environment and adapt accordingly.” In looking to build engaging, profitable concessions programs, panelists agreed that there was one retail model they distinctly did not want to replicate: the mall. “Have

you seen what happened to malls?” said Zachrisson of the legacy shopping center’s continuing decline. SAN is moving into “store-within-a-store” concepts, she added, allowing operators to mold and change their offerings over time to suit passenger trends. Ibrahim went on to suggest that one way for airports to tempt passengers into browsing longer is to embrace terminals as a “town square” suitable for co-working, working out, and shopping, suggesting that the right airport design could convince business travelers to make a terminal their office, gym, and kitchen for the day. Patel and Zachrisson noted that they liked the idea “in principle,” but that specific demographics — like early-morning business travelers at SAN — would be less convinced to show up six or seven hours ahead of takeoff. Despite some U.S.-centric challenges — the confines of the RFP process, higher labor costs — panelists were confident that North American airport retail could reach the intrigue that some of the world’s most popular airports had garnered. “Know your audience, know what is going to engage them,” said Ibrahim, “and have a real clarity of proposition.”

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AX NEWS APRIL/MAY 2024