The variety of digital services and how they can be controlled in the airport environment was a major discussion point in the day-two keynote presentation at the ACI Europe Airport Trading Conference last week.

 

Stephanie Griffiths (right), Director of Strategic Development at the Future Foundation talked about the swift rise of mobile communications as becoming the primary way of interacting with consumers. However, while that is generally welcomed, she warned that in the new digital world airports could find themselves losing control of data if they do not act fast.

 

“By 2015 more people will access the web by mobile than by PC,” she told delegates adding: “By 2020, 50% of shopping trips will be influenced by mobile – and that will be even higher for well-connected airport users,” Currently the figure is 5.8%.

 

But, in addition to the rising numbers, Griffiths said that new services and apps were appearing that would need to be controlled if airport authorities wanted to stay on top of their own passenger data.

 

AWASH WITH PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

She cited iBeacon from Apple as one example of how retailers could directly interact with airport shoppers, a system that Aelia, for example, is already looking into. iBeacon is a new class of low-cost transmitters that can identify nearby Apple and Android devices which, with the owners’ permission, can then send push notifications. So for example stores can easily send offers or discounts to passengers in close proximity of their stores.

 

On the one hand this can be useful if the passenger is looking to buy something targeted to them but could be a nuisance if they are bombarded with irrelevant messages. More than that, Griffiths says: “We all need to think about the rules of the digital and data space. It is important because this data will show what is being bought, which consumers are responding, and to what.”

 

Who has access to this data will be crucial in the coming years. If retailers install these systems without any oversight from airports, the latter could lose valuable information. Griffiths also pointed to a potential digital revenue stream if these services were harnessed correctly. “You must get the basic right,” she told her audience. “You don’t want brands to own iBeacon – you want the data.”

 

[A full report on the 23^rd ACI Europe Airport Trading Conference & Exhibition will appear in the May issue of TRBusiness.]