This is what has to change for Travel Retail to survive

"This is what has to change for Travel Retail to survive" was the topic of the presentation at Hamburg Aviation Conference, given by Manuel Heidler, Director Aviation Products at AOE. See the video of his talk and find the presentation slides in this article.

Customer behavior is changing - this is already happening, research shows this very clearly, the disruption has begun. In the past, passengers were excitited by the atmosphere at airports. Nowadays, passengers are glued to their smartphone, not really paying attention to their surroundings. This customer behavior change has to be considered by airports and travel retail. Engaging with the customers has become a different story. 

One major aspect of the changed customer behavior is the change of decision making of passengers. Research by m1nd-set shows that only 29% of todays' passengers buy on impulse in duty-free stores. The vast majority of 71% plan their purchases - if airports give them the opportunity. 

In his talk, Manuel gives an overview about the situation of the aviation industry and shows possible solutions to benefit from digitalization.