Counter Intelligence Retail is launching its second Global Airport Shopper Study in the first quarter of 2010 which it says could 'revolutionise' the way suppliers think about their category strategies, product merchandising, promotions, and new

product development and provide valuable insight into the way passengers perceive and respond to the retail offer.

This new study will be the second carried out by UK-based category development agency Counter Intelligence Retail, following a debut study in 2008 which was based on passenger interviews in 30 airports covering the Middle East, Asia, Europe and USA. In that study, the company says that over one million questions were put to more than 30,000 passengers which were aimed at gaining an understanding of their perceptions of the travel retail offer and their intention to shop (or not) at the three key locations of check-in, on the concourse, and at the gate.

These questions were designed based on the specific needs of the survey's sponsors which included Nestl?, Imperial Tobacco, BAT, Est?e Lauder, Brown Forman and Bacardi.

CIR Founder Director, Garry Stasiulevicuis said: ‘The overall purpose was to understand how the passenger's perceptions and intentions of shopping at an airport location develops as they move through the airport from check-in to gate, looking at motivations, key drivers, purchase triggers, the decision process and, equally important, understanding the barriers to shopping, etc.’

In a statement the company says that the 2010 Global Airport Shopper Study has been developed to provide more in-depth analysis and insight, creating a detailed picture of how passengers – whether they are 'shoppers' or 'consumers' – engage (or not) with the retail offer. ‘It's a very personalised survey designed to address the key objectives and acquire the specific information that each sponsor actually needs,’ said Stasiulevicuis.

He added that as with the 2008 study, the sponsors of the 2010 Global Airport Study will have the opportunity to develop specific questionnaires which will put to passengers alongside generic questions.

‘We will be conducting the total global study during the first quarter of 2010 so that results will be available to sponsors within a matter of weeks, enabling meaningful planning and implementation for the remainder of the year and into 2011,’ says Stasiulevicuis. ‘We are also reducing the number of airports to 20 key global locations, but doubling the number of surveys at each, creating a much more exhaustive, thorough and comprehensive study for both sponsors and location.’

Data will be collected using the latest state-of-the-art PDA technology with surveys translated into all relevant languages for each location and incorporating live-data streaming for fast response data access.

CIR says that several of the 2008 study sponsors have expressed their intent to take part in next year's study. It adds that sponsors will each receive detailed reports and analysis with at least 3,000 responses 'totally geared' to their specific brand and/or category needs, along with a further 2,000 general responses into passenger's travel retail/duty free purchasing behaviour and opinion.

Stasiulevicuis also believes the 2010 Global Airport Shopper Study is equally applicable to retailers as it is suppliers, offering shopper insights that could determine their future range, space and layout, category design and brand execution.

‘Certainly following the 2008 Survey the suppliers involved used the insights gained to drive improvements and create positive change at point-of purchase,’ said Stasiulevicuis.

CIR says it hopes to have all of its sponsors in place by October 2009 with a final discussion and review of the study expected to take place at the company's annual breakfast meeting during TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.

Any suppliers, retailers, and airport authorities interested in taking part in the 2010 Global Airport Survey should contact Garry Stasiulevicuis or Julia Padgett at Counter Intelligence Retail: Tel: +44 (0) 1904 449408 or Email: [email protected] or [email protected] .