5 Automated, Non-Aeronautical Revenue Ideas For Airports

By 31st July 2018 March 5th, 2020 Airport Marketing & Sales

Is your airport making the most of its non-aeronautical revenue? In this blog we show you 5 ways you can generate automated, non-aeronautical revenue from the passengers moving through your airport.

In 2017, the top 10 busiest airports saw a total of 793 million passengers passing through over the course of a year. Each one of these passengers has the potential to make extra purchases, but many don’t because they are never asked. If only you could speak with each one of them directly, and make a personal offer or encouragement to purchase.

Now you can.

BizTweet allows you to contact passengers at scale, directly in their app of choice, with targeted messaging and offers. Here are 5 ways our client airports are using our technology to generate more non-aeronautical revenue.

 

1. Time-limited discounts

Few things excite a potential customer more than an offer with a time limit on it. The urgency that it creates is often too tempting not to take advantage of before the offer expires. They work wonders for inspiring purchases when motivation is not quite enough. They just need a nudge.

Imagine your passenger is sat right next to Costa. They kind of feel like a coffee, but aren’t really committed enough to get up and make the purchase. Then, they receive a message which reads:

“Fancy a coffee at Costa? Buy within 30 minutes to get a 15% discount”.

Since they are sat right next to the coffee shop, that little push may be just enough to get them into Costa and make the purchase, which otherwise would have been missed.

 

2. Shopping discounts based on demographics

It’s much easier to make sales if you’re sending offers the potential customer is actually interested in. Using demographics and other known information (such as previous shopping behaviour) to target your messaging more accurately will improve your conversion rate and improve the customer experience. Every one likes to feel they are being treated with a personal touch.

A simple example of this would be splitting your audience into male and female, and sending offers that are more likely to be appreciated by the different sexes. A simple example of that would be sending men’s clothing offers to your male demographic, as Glasgow Airport demonstrates here:

A commercial offer aimed at male passengers in Glasgow Airport (using BizTweet)

A commercial offer aimed at male passengers in Glasgow Airport (using BizTweet)

The same can be done with your female passengers, perhaps sending offers for perfume or make up at duty free—items which females are statistically more likely to complete purchases for.

 

3. Destination-based offers

Another way to improve the relevancy of your commercial offers is to provide destination-based targeting. This means sending communications based on where your passengers are travelling from and to.

Picture a passenger travelling to Bangkok from London. Like the majority of passengers, they’re taking their cell phone, laptop and tablet and possibly an electric toothbrush and other electrical items. Naturally, each device has its own charger, but not everyone will have planned ahead and picked up adaptors that fit the sockets in Thailand.

This is a perfect opportunity to send a message like this:

“Travelling with electronics? Don’t forget to pick up universal plug adapters – currently 25% off at Boots”.

The message won’t be relevant to those who already have their adapters. But for those who forgot it will be a much appreciated reminder, resulting in purchases and revenue for your airport.

 

4. Target business and leisure passengers

You can also provide specific offers to business and leisure passengers. Business travellers have different needs and spending habits than leisure passengers, so it makes sense that different offers would resonate better with either group.

We have already identified each airport as a primarily business or leisure destination. If the passenger is heading to Zurich, there’s a high chance they’re a business traveler. If they’re travelling to Alicante on the other hand, it’s more likely they’re on holiday.

It may be as simple as offering discounts on formal clothing for business passengers, and holiday items to leisure travellers. Another idea is to send reminders about the premium lounge to business passengers, who are more likely to use the service than leisure travellers:

Sending airport lounge reminders to business passengers using BizTweet

Sending airport lounge reminders to business passengers using BizTweet

 

5. Engage passengers with competitions

Finally, competitions offer a great way to increase engagement with your passengers, while also giving them a sense of inclusion and participation. The best way to do this is to make the competition relevant to the passengers’ target destination, and making an in-airport purchase the condition of entry.

A prize draw for tickets to an upcoming local event is a great example for passengers flying in Sydney Airport:

“Spend $20 or more and receive entry into our prize draw to win tickets to this week’s show at Sydney Opera House.”

The relevancy of the destination location and upcoming timeframe are essential making this work, and the relatively low barrier to entry (most passengers will be spending around $20 anyway) mean the incentive will be enough to nudge many passengers to spend just a few dollars more.

 

Putting it into action

These are just 5 ways airports can generate more non-aeronautical revenue. With a little brainstorming and a full understanding of what BizTweet’s technology can offer, the opportunities are endless.

If you’d like our assistance generating more revenue in your airport, get in touch with us today.