Airport Business - 33

COVER STORY

Mobile
ordering and
kiosks can
increase your
bottom line.

The kiosks are the first to be deployed
at gates C6, C19 and C35. Participating
vendors include Bánh Shop, Caribou
Coffee / Einstein Bros. Bagels, Chili's,
Freshens, Maggiano's Little Italy, Pizza
Hut, Shake Shack and TGI Fridays.
Jeff Livney, chief experience officer
for Grab, which deployed the kiosks, said
the initial pilot was started to enhance the
passenger experience within the terminal.
Traveler feedback noted a lack of food
options and the airport has limited space
to address the issue.
"Terminal C is the oldest terminal at
DFW," he said. "It's also the one terminal
that hasn't gone through a remodel and
given the curvature of terminals at DFW
and the fact that 80 percent of travelers
are a once a year traveler and don't
really know their way around, there's a
lot of gate huggers that stay in the gate
environment and if they don't see a
restaurant nearby that they want, then
they don't order anything."
Food delivery options have increased
at North American airports in recent years,
so Grab partnered with Airport Sherpa to
make it available. Livney said there's an
interest in delivery for a lot of airports,
but there's an issue with user adoption.
"We thought the kiosk is really the
perfect bridge to that problem," he said.
"We can set up kiosks inside of the gate
hold environment, especially in front of
chokepoints where there's not a lot of food
options nearby and from an awareness
standpoint, it's already visible. They don't
need to know about or download a third
party app that only works in this airport."
According to metrics compiled in the
pilot, there were 5,100 orders using the
program in May. About 51 percent were
placed on the Grab app; 28 percent were
placed from the American Airlines App;
13 percent were placed at the kiosks; and
8 percent via the airport website.
The average check is $2 more via
Grab compared to orders taking place at
the counter.

Sea change in
concessions
According to the 2019 OAG Airport
Delight Report, 50 percent of travelers
wait 45 minutes in lines at airports.
Overall, 78 percent of passengers said they
prefer human interaction compared to
automation when it comes to concessions,

but changing demographics show a need
for investment by airports.
The report states millennials are 30
percent more likely to prefer automated
concessions compared to travelers older
than 50 years old.
"I think it's more the nature of, there's
still not enough information and data in
the hands of the average traveler to feel
like there is something helping them to
have a seamless travel experience," said
Vipul Nakum, chief product officers
for OAG. "They're relying on the idea
of, 'I'd much rather prefer a human
interaction to deal with my delay issues,
my rebooking issues, my getting through
security process.'
"The expectation is there must be
more bodies that you can throw at
this because every time I travel, I'm
experiencing a wait period that's
unexpected or unacceptable."
About 45 percent of all passengers
stay near the gate due to concerns about
missing their f light. About 26 percent
said they would be more likely to spend
money if gate-side food delivery was
available and 37 percent would spend
more if pre-ordering on mobile devices
for pickup were made available.
While only six percent of travelers
have pre-ordered food or drink for pickup
at a restaurant, 66 percent said they would
consider doing it in the future. About 9
percent have ordered delivery to the gate
and 62 percent are willing to try it.
Nakum said airports can look at
technology to increase self-service
ordering, but they should also look at
adding more information about flights.
"If you look at why they're waiting
there, it's because there's not enough
information being put in front of them with
respect to delays and cancellations or even
prediction information around delays and
cancelations or the wait times, he said. "Can
I be alerted 10 minutes before boarding and
if that's consistently happening, I'd be free
to wander around retail and buy food and
products and services.
Nakum said 78 percent of travelers in
the report said they wanted more flight
information, 77 percent wanted more
information about security wait times and
75 percent wanted real-time updates on
boarding times.
"If you think of the 70 percent and
above, that's a clear signal for airports

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 33
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Airport Business

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