Following the second shopper-voted Travel Retail Awards in May, an expert panel of consumer judges have revealed what they believe can be done to improve the airport retail experience.

[Click the below video to discover what travellers think need to be changed to improve the airport retail experience]

The only DF&TR media to run an awards programme voted for by consumers, TRBusiness is also the sole member of the trade media to offer a video series highlighting consumers’ views on the travel retail and duty free airport environment.

The second video in this year’s series follows the publication of the first one in April, which focused on the likes and dislikes of shoppers.

Judges agreed that airports place too much emphasis on forcing passengers to walk through stores and suggested shops should be moved to one side to create freedom of choice.

“They should focus on providing a strong competitive store with a great offering and items people actually want.”

More spacious aisles in shops and cheaper outlets would also be welcome, according to another judge, who remarked: “We need more spacious aisles because people are often carrying trolleys or large suitcases and there is usually a high concentration of people in the big airports.

“I would also like to see cheaper shops because sometimes you go on holiday and realise you forgot to pack something on the way out. It would be nice to be able to pop into a cheaper clothing store to pick up some t-shirts, underpants or socks. Usually there are more designer or bespoke outlets.”

Another judge, even encouraged airports to introduce a magazine enabling passengers to see what is available.

“An iPad would be a very simple way of implementing this so the airport would not have to waste ink and paper. It would just be an app which you can download and see everything that is available.”