Airports are turning into shopping malls
With the recovery of global tourism, passenger traffic at major airports is gradually picking up. As an important channel in the travel retail market, with the continuous improvement of supporting facilities, the airport has also begun to become a "shopping destination" for consumers to wait for their flights. Many brands have also put the layout of airport scenes on the agenda, trying to seize the "one hour before boarding" for passengers. Recently, Blue Bottle Coffee opened the brand's first official store in the world at Pudong Airport in Shanghai.
The airport scene blends with specialty coffee
The new store of Blue Bottle Coffee is located at the D75 boarding gate of Terminal 2 of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which is the brand's sixth store in China.
The store was designed with a clear design proposition that uses a tranquil boulder representing the "anchor" as the main axis. The building as a whole is simple white, and the curved bar space shortens the communication distance between the barista and the passengers. Judging from the menu, this store offers Blue Bottle Classic Espresso and Pour-over Drip Coffee, as well as waffles, pastries, sandwiches and other meals to accompany it.
It is worth mentioning that the store is equipped with the first Blue Bottle Coffee vending machine in the mainland, providing Blue Bottle Specialty Instant Coffee (Espresso) and classic coffee beans produced by Blue Bottle's self-built roastery in Shanghai. At the same time, the mini program mobile order self-pickup service has also been launched, which is convenient for passengers to place orders in advance and reduce waiting time.
It is understood that Pudong Airport has formed a coffee matrix including 10 brands such as Starbucks, Costa, M Stand, Segafredo, Blue Bottle Coffee, Seesaw, Tims Hortons, etc., to provide passengers with a richer and more diverse coffee culture experience for air travel. In fact, not only the coffee at Pudong Airport is rich in aroma, but also the coffee choices at airports in major cities are gradually becoming more diverse.
In the airport scenario, the brand with the largest number of stores is Starbucks. Starbucks has 10 stores at Beijing Daxing International Airport alone, while Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has five Starbucks stores, three of which are located near the boarding gates.
In addition, %ARABICA moved into Terminal 2 of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in 2021, integrating its specialty coffee and design aesthetics into the airport business.
Starting from the second half of 2021, MANNER has also entered a number of "airport locations", such as Beijing Capital International Airport and Daxing International Airport.
Luckin Coffee not only entered the airports of major domestic cities, but also entered the "world's most beautiful airport" Singapore Jewel Changi Airport in the process of going overseas, and opened the largest local store in July 2023;
Guangzhou specialty coffee chain brand store.by JPG opened its first store in Guangzhou Baiyun Airport T2 in November 2023, providing specialty coffee, burgers, fried chicken and other light meals...... As an important place to facilitate passenger travel, airports naturally gather high-quality consumers, and almost every coffee brand can find its own sticky consumer group. Eliminating the fatigue of traveling with a cup of specialty coffee has become an important reason for coffee brands to show their skills at the airport.
The airport's "shopping and eating" is infinitely expanding
In fact, in recent years, the airport business has been continuously iterating, and many brands have taken over the "olive branch" thrown by the airport and actively sought ways to change the airport scene. In terms of catering, not only coffee brands, but also many trendy food brands have also appeared in the airport.
For example, the western restaurant FASCINO has customized a "bazaar" concept store for Shanghai Pudong Airport, which combines freshly baked baking, fresh fruits, freshly squeezed juices, salads and light meals, souvenirs and other categories to create a comprehensive dining experience for passengers.
Lao Xiang Chicken's new store opened in Shenzhen Bao'an Airport in July 2023 is based on the brand's original store model, starting from the brand perception of "healthy, clean, rich and friendly", and has been added or subtracted (from the image, menu settings, etc., to enhance the consumer experience and reduce waiting time), which is more in line with the needs of consumers in the transportation hub.
In addition, tea brands such as Hey Tea and Bawang Tea, as well as Internet celebrity catering brands such as Tao Taoju, Taier Sauerkraut Fish, and Chen Xiang Guilanzhou Beef Noodles, have also realized the layout of airport channels. It is not difficult to see that today's airport catering is no longer only KFC, McDonald's and other fast food, but also the food that can be enjoyed in the city can also be enjoyed in the airport. In terms of the retail sector, there have been many changes in both brands and categories. As far as luxury brands are concerned, they were keen to open stores at major airports before the pandemic, and now they are accelerating the pace of entry.
Among them, Louis Vuitton, which opened its first airport store in Chinese mainland at Beijing Daxing International Airport in September 2019, has now entered five airports: Beijing Capital, Beijing Daxing, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun and Chengdu Tianfu. Not only LV, but also Hermes, Gucci and Dior have opened boutiques at airports such as Daxing in Beijing, Hongqiao in Shanghai and Tianfu in Chengdu, while Bvlgari has entered the travel retail channel from Bao'an in Shenzhen, Tianfu in Chengdu and Jiangbei in Chongqing.
In addition, with the addition of new brands, the airport's commercial formats have covered clothing, jewelry, fragrance, digital, automobiles, trendy toys, etc., and the consumption experience of passengers has continued to upgrade.
For example, in September 2023, Huaxizi opened a "Welcome to the Asian Games" seasonal pop-up store at Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport, with the theme of welcoming the Asian Games, continuing the artistry and style of the "Fashionable Chinese Garden" of the global flagship store, West Lake Hidden Garden, highlighting oriental aesthetics and becoming a beautiful scenery of Xiaoshan Airport.
In December 2023, Australian skincare brand Aesop opened its first airport store in China at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, with the theme of "Twilight Dawn", inspired by its environment, aiming to interpret the feeling of floating in the air during the flight and the moment of time passing through the store design.
Car brands are also introducing experiential spaces to the airport scene, and NIO will also open its first airport NIO House at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in December 2023. This airport cattle house includes a user lounge, a NIO Life boutique sales area and a showroom. The user lounge has nearly 40 lounge seats, free drinks, coffee and snacks, and the first bottled NIO Café latte has been launched. The Airport Cattle House also includes NIO Life's first Blue Sky Lab store, and some of its merchandise can be sold on-site.
Jewellery brand Chow Tai Fook recently opened its first store in the mainland airport at the T3A terminal of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, introducing the brand's flagship products to meet the needs of different customer groups. Obviously, the airport is no longer a simple transportation hub, but is constantly moving closer to the shopping mall, and its commercial value is becoming more and more prominent, providing a new stage for the brand. Commercial real estate has entered the era of stock, the dividend of urbanization development has faded, and market competition tends to be white-hot. Although the airport scene has a huge passenger flow and strong purchase potential, it is not easy for brands to take advantage of such advantages. The very real problem is that airport stores tend to have limited space and short customer stays compared to downtown stores. Brands need to think about how to attract consumers' attention more efficiently and maximize space utilization, so that it is possible to achieve differentiated success in the airport retail scene and form a new increment for more consumer groups to recognize the brand.
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Author | W Picture | From brands and official airport channels
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