Website of the Week Rome Airports Shopping Gallery http://rome-airports-shopping-gallery.adr.it/ | |
 | Content (0-4): 4 |
 | Pricing (0-2): 1 |
 | Navigation (0-4): 3 |
 | Style/Design (0-4): 2 |
 | Supplementary information (0-2): 1 |
 | Overall incentive to shop (0-4): 4 |
 | Total (0-20): 15 |
Scoring system explained – click here | |
Website of the Week: Rome Airports Shopping Gallery
Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino, Rome is Italy’s main airport operated exclusively by Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), which also manages Rome Ciampino Airport.
The Rome Airports Shopping Gallery within Leonardo da Vinci Airport is home to more than 130 stores, including international brands and native Italian products. Travellers can find exclusive travel retail packages at the airport as well as other special offers.
The Rome Airports Shopping Gallery website recently underwent a revamp, bouncing back with a new look and several new features for travellers. The website is currently only available in Italian.
Style
Despite relying more on text than images, the site manages to exude zest thanks to its cheery orange colours. The white background and occasional touches of grey, as well as the neat tables and alignments, are easy on the eye and make for easy browsing.
While the product images on the home page are a little small, the site presents high-resolution images of each of the airport’s shops in the gallery section of the store’s profile page.
Content and usability
Displayed across the top of the site is a banner with the Rome Airports Shopping Gallery logo and a note declaring it as “Your first destination for shopping over 130 stores,” alongside an image of a woman reminding us that it’s “Time worth spending.” Below this banner is a grey navigation bar that appears on every page of the website. It contains links to Home, Virtual Map, B2B Contacts, Shopping Guide and the ADR official website.
The highlight of the site is a virtual map, an interactive feature that allows users to locate stores using three-dimensional coloured blocks to correspond with the shopping area. Users can opt to view the map of either Terminal A-B or Terminal C by clicking on the respective links on the home page.
Clicking the link to view the map of say Terminal C brings the user to the main virtual map page with the viewing screen centred on Terminal C. The cursor on the screen can be moved using a mouse to other areas on the map; this can also be done with a clickable control to move up, down, left and right as well as zoom in and out of the map.
Outlets are colour-coded according to store type: orange for retail stores, green for bars or restaurants and blue for services. The areas marked in red are meant only for passengers and those marked in blue are available to the public.
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The highlight of the site is a virtual map replicating the shopping area at Leonardo da Vinci Airport |
On the right of the screen is a list of all the stores in that particular terminal and boarding gates in the vicinity. Hovering over a shop name on the list displays not only an arrow pointing to its map location, but also the shop’s telephone number, e-mail address and the product categories it carries in a separate window.
Another innovative feature is the route planner, which makes use of the virtual map to display two suggested routes for travellers heading to their boarding gates. The short route covers the shortest distance to travellers’ boarding gates and the shopping route allows travellers to pass by the maximal number of shops before getting to their boarding gates.
Users first select their travel destination from a drop-down menu from the section of the home page which asks: “Hai già un Biglietto?” (translated as: “Already have a ticket?”). An introduction to how the route planner works appears and users are invited to select which route they prefer. Selecting an option starts the simulation in which an animated coloured dot traces the route, generating a list of shops it passes. A timer displays the amount of time taken to complete the route.
The home page also includes a search function featuring four drop-down menus, allowing users to search by shop name, product category, airport terminal and product brand. Ten results are shown per page.
Clicking on the “Vai al Negozio” (“Go to the Store”) link on the results list brings you to the shop’s profile, where users can get information on operating hours, website URL and contacts such as e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. The gallery section features high-resolution images of the shop, giving users a sense of place.
Because the site is not an online shopping facility but rather a shopping guide, there are no extensive product features. However, the home page includes a section highlighting special offers. The promotional information includes a product image, product name, promotion period, amount of saving, and before-and-after prices.
Other promotions include opportunities to earn frequent flyer miles with Alitalia, Italy’s national airline, by shopping at stores displaying a certain symbol.
The shopping guide section features a short video clip of the Rome Airports shopping experience, as well as an informative guide to purchase allowances. Those unfamiliar with the Italian language can choose to leaf through a 74-page virtual shopping guide in English. A PDF version is also available for download.
What we like:
• Virtual map
• Shop profiles, with useful contact information and high-resolution pictures
• Four-way search function
• Route planner
• Downloadable shopping guides
What needs improving/adding:
• Other language options
• Ability to shop online, or at least pre-order products
• More incentives to shop such as competitions or promotional events
Website of the week scoring system explained:
Content: How wide is the range of items on offer? Are there good quality photos and product descriptions?
Pricing: Are product prices listed? For all products?
Navigation: How easy is the site to use?
Style/Design: How does the site look?
Supplementary information: On allowances, currencies, after-sales service, useful tips and so on.
Overall incentive to shop: This includes tone, promotions, offers, competitions and, importantly, pre-order.
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