Passengers’ satisfaction with their entire airport experience translates into higher spending on concessions, new data from Switzerland-based airport market research firm DKMA shows.
Using publicly available data from airports around the world, DKMA concluded that on average, an improvement of 0.1 (on a five-point scale) in satisfaction with an airport experience overall translates into an 80-cent increase in non-aeronautical revenue per enplaned passenger.
James Ingram, director at DKMA, says the analysis stripped out airports that recently had undergone a concessions overhaul and instead focused on airports that, in large measure, had the same concessions offerings year over year.
“The idea was, what happens when airports adopt a more customer-focused mentality and try to improve the customer experience – what’s the return on investment for that?” Ingram says.
Turns out, the ROI is significant. An airport’s most satisfied passengers are twice as likely to shop and typically spend 7 percent more on retail and 10 percent more on duty free, Ingram notes.
“While it seems logical that passengers who are happy with the commercial experience are more likely to purchase, our data further suggests that satisfaction with the [entire] airport experience also influences their likelihood to buy,” Ingram says.
With that knowledge, Ingram says improving the passenger experience should be a strategic goal for all airports seeking to grow commercial revenue.
More concessions data and analysis from DKMA will be featured in the April issue of Airport Revenue News.
