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Aeroporti di Roma has installed the A’ La Gate Carte at Rome Fiumicino Airport to enable last-minute shopping |
Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) has become the first travel retailer in Europe to install mobile shopping carts at its airport gates in a bid to boost sales and make its duty free offer more attractive.
The new merchandising solution, called A’ La Gate Carte and supplied to travel retailers by US-based distributor Go Snacks Inc, aims to convert passive passengers into active spenders, stimulating impulse purchasing and enabling last-minute shopping – even one minute before boarding.
AdR purchased three motorised, mobile carts following a meeting with Go Snacks Inc at the TFWA World Exhibition last year and began installing them at its remote airport gates in November 2011.
“Very often passengers are rushing to the gate and pass by the commercial offer without entering any shop,” explained Aeroporti di Roma Head of Business Intelligence Marco Bassanini. “These mobile units – or wheeled shops – display a wide range of selected products from the typical duty free categories, such as tobacco and liquor but also perfumery, jewellery, chocolate and wine. It is a new way of approaching clients, letting them know the last offers and products and teasing their purchases.”
Bassanini added: “This project makes Aeroporti di Roma the first retailer in Italy to use this type of mobile unit, and is bringing a new way of managing airport retailing, providing higher flexibility and effectiveness but also enhancing the commercial offer.”
Bassanini noted that the Classic version of A’ La Gate Carte “perfectly matches our needs, especially in terms of dimensions. The units fit into the elevators, providing a high flexibility and range. The electrical drive was also essential as well as the global quality of the cart, in terms of materials, look, capacity.”
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The mobile cart offers typical duty free categories such as tobacco, liquor, fragrances, jewellery, chocolate and wine |
Promotional spots for short periods
AdR is allowing the most important suppliers in its duty free stores at Rome Fiumicino Airport the opportunity to rent one or more mobile units as promotional spots for short periods, enabling them to bring their brands and products into areas with high passenger flows that have no commercial offer.
“Fiumicino does not have a single shopping mall where most of the commercial offer is concentrated,” Bassanini continued. “The commercial offer in the airport is highly fragmented since the infrastructure is quite old and was not conceived in terms of commercial effectiveness. A’ La Gate Carte gives us the possibility to bring the goods to the passenger waiting at remote gates, during peak hours. We also manage to attract those anxious passengers that do not think about shopping until they are at the gate and that shop only near the gate.”
The carts were installed on 3 November. AdR described the first sales results as “encouraging” and added that there was still a sales potential to be exploited.
Commenting on the background to the AdR project, Go Snacks Inc’s and Co-founder of the A’ La Gate Carte, Mark Mariani told The Moodie Report: “AdR met with us [at the TFWA World Exhibition] in Cannes 2010 and stated they were interested in our new mobile cart concept, one that would significantly bolster the company’s revenues – and be the first retailer in Europe to introduce the A’ La Gate Carte.
“By bringing an innovative merchandising concept to AdR, they then identified a substantial opportunity to enhance the customer’s travel experience via a new service option”¦ sell at the departure gates. They realised this is a significant mindset change for all retailers, but AdR played an integral role in implementing the roll-out, as well as training their staff for this new merchandising and sales tool.”
Praising the approach of AdR’s team, Mariani added: “Because of their hard work and dedication, we believe AdR has initiated a long-term vision to capture new customers and improve their sales penetration. We are very thankful and fortunate to have worked with such an amazing group of individuals. We remain committed to assisting AdR with this initiative now and in the future.”
For details on A’ La Gate Carte, e-mail Mark Mariani at mmariani@alagatecarte.com Visit www.alagatecarte.com
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