Interviews

Kian Gould Interview Part 3: “You need to be able to order a product with the swipe of a finger”

What does digitalization mean for airports? What can airports do to avoid beginner’s mistakes when introducing E-Commerce solutions? Why are premium products purchased so frequently in the travel retail environment? And how can airlines and airports work together optimally to achieve a win-win situation for everyone involved? Kian Gould, CEO and founder of AOE, answered these and other questions in an interview with Peter Marshall.

Aviation

Kian Gould Interview Part 2: "With OM³, airports really know their passengers for the 1st time"

What are the USPs of airports when it comes to E-Commerce? Why do airports underestimate the cost of implementing E-Commerce solutions? And what about the Return on Investment (ROI)? Kian Gould, CEO and founder of AOE, answers these and other questions in an interview with Peter Marshall.

Aviation

Kian Gould Interview Part 1: "Frankfurt Airport was a pioneer in Omnichannel E-Commerce"

What are the challenges in Travel Retail? How can airports, travel retailers and airlines respond to changing customer behavior? And what role does E-Commerce play in airports' new business models? Kian Gould, CEO and founder of AOE, answers these and other questions in an interview with Peter Marshall.

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How airport data can be used for personalized travel retail offers - fireside chat (5/5)

What does the future airport look like? Kian Gould and Peter Mohn discuss how can airports create an integrated online and E-Commerce customer experience. The airport industry is one of the industries with the largest amount of data, especially when airports and airlines collaborate and connect their data and loyalty programs. With E-Commerce and data automation, airports have a unique opportunity to create personalized offers for each customer. Having this passenger footprint is a major advantage compared to big players like Amazon and Alibaba. Airports have another big advantage: for airports, the two main cost drivers in E-Commerce, traffic acquisition and product returns, can be neglected. For airports, online traffic comes for free, and returns and return shipping costs can be almost zero, as passengers get their delivery at the airport. With those two cost drivers at nearly zero, digitalization and E-Commerce represent a major opportunity for airports and travel retail.

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How BI & travel data can be used for compelling customer experience in travel retail - fireside chat (4/5)

When and where are the high-spending groups coming to the airports? What kinds of products do they want? Customer understanding and forecasting is a big issue for travel retailers, explains Peter Mohn, CEO and owner of m1ndset, and Kian Gould, CEO and founder of AOE. The m1ndset business intelligence service (B1S) data measures attitudes and behaviors of travellers at airports around the world. This data can help airports and travel retailers a great deal in finding out the needs and interests of passengers and what is missing in retailers’ portfolios to meet the needs of different target audiences. Combined with travel data, retailers can precisely meet these needs and interests – and travelers love it, as they see it as a positive customer experience. For a complete Omnichannel experience, this data should be used for both online and offline campaigns in the same measure.

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How airports & travel retail can enable digital transformation - fireside chat (3/5) with Peter Mohn & Kian Gould

Why are airports and travel retailers so reluctant when it comes to digital transformation? How to increase sales in travel retail? Peter Mohn, owner and CEO of m1ndset, and Kian Gould, founder and CEO of AOE, express chances of digitalization in travel retail, such as multiplication effects, up-selling and cross-selling with high conversion rates. Airports plan in very long investment cycles and have a multitude of partners. So, how to begin the digital transformation process? Building a digital strategy, creating a unique, compelling experience and integrating many different partners is time-consuming and expensive. However, airports have one big advantage: They have a guaranteed growth in the next years, which gives them the opportunity to invest into digitalization. Major airports such as Frankfurt, London Heathrow or Changi, but also smaller airports such as Auckland, are thinking and experimenting with digital solutions. Different ways to digitalization can be e.g. in one big 5-year digitalization investment plan, or building digital solutions in small iterations.

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Airport shopping trends - how travel retail can benefit from digitalization - fireside chat (2/5)

How to create customer engagement and how to master digitalization? During their fireside chat, Peter Mohn, owner and CEO of m1ndset, and Kian Gould, founder and CEO of AOE, discuss why many airports and (travel) retailers struggle with digitalization. Approaches such as click & collect only show products and prices with little benefits to the customers. Digitalization is often seen as a way to drive more traffic to stores. But E-Commerce is a completely different channel with different target groups, fulfillment, etc. Hence, due to non-compelling offers, typical conversion rates are less than one percent of travelers, which leads to an extremely limited ROI. So, how to create customer engagement? Amazon can be the best teacher for travel retail and the digital airport. People are expecting a seamless, easy-to-use journey that gives them unique advantages. Online shopping is very much about convenience. Airports and retailers need to create a compelling Omnichannel customer experience with convenient benefits for everyone. Convenience could include pre-completed personal data forms, online shopping and payment, delivery to gate, lounge or home, or offers for re-purchases and related products and connection to airport services such as loyalty programs, fast-track and lounge access.

Aviation

How consumer behavior changes in travel retail - fireside chat (1/5) with Peter Mohn & Kian Gould

Travel retail has changed significantly in the past years and is undergoing serious disruption. For example, 70% impulse buying five years ago has turned into 79% planned buying in recent years. Duty-free shopping is not considered cheap any more, but is regarded as a convenience. Digitalization has a big impact on how travellers buy products on their journey, which also affects airports and airlines. Peter Mohn, owner and CEO of m1ndset, and Kian Gould, founder and CEO of AOE, talk about changes in consumer behavior and how travel retail must react to survive digital transformation in the aviation industry. They also describe how the industry can profit from opportunities that digitalization brings.