Self-ServiceConcessions

Revenue sources range fromsimple to sophisticated

Self-service functionality within small footprints has quickly become standard at North American airports wishing to increase both customer service and revenue.

A wide range of increasingly attractive fixtures have limitless revenue potential given that these monetary transactions never literally change hands. Methods of sale vary from the honor code to state-of-the-art robotic stores.

Simple

The Paradies Shops has traditionally vended newspapers in front of their retail locations, and has now expanded this service into a branded, ‘H20 & A Paper To Go!’ campaign.

“We have started incorporating fixtures where you can get the local newspaper and a bottle of water for $1,” explained The Paradies Shops President and CEO Gregg Paradies of the fast and convenient honor policy concept. “It is customer friendly and so simple. We’re trusting our customers to put their dollar in the receptacle where the fixture is loaded with the newspapers and the water.”

Paradies has rolled out the concept to rave reviews at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Long Beach Airport.

“It is a bargain and from a speed of service standpoint, it is fabulous,” Paradies said. “A lot of times when a passenger is at their gate, they might see that a store is busy and doesn’t want to stop for the time it takes to grab a newspaper and water. Time is everything, so if we can make things move faster, we can provide better service and build greater revenue.”

Smart, Schmart

Epicenter Innovations is springboarding into the airport industry with its Schmart Plug and ‘LectraFLY product family. The patented safe plug product works in tandem with a controller to supply pay-per-use, self-contained power to paying customers.

“We’re attempting to get people off the carpet and away from the columns they are hugging,” explained Epicenter Innovations Managing Partner Steve Bodner, who claims to be guilty of this power-seeking behavior himself. “All we ask is that you put $1 in, and for 20 minutes you can charge your cell phone or get your laptop going.”

Bodner’s, business partner, Steve Honingford, said the individual outlets may be custom-made to fit the individual needs of airports. Sample units feature the Schmart Plug Controller managing outlets conveniently accessible within the framework of passenger seating units.

“The beauty of this is that it is a very small footprint. One unit can accommodate 99 chairs easily,” Honingford said. “The product is very scalable and can be hidden or made to stand out.”

Honingford said the power source seen on the surface is not your average outlet.

“There are computer chips and controllers within it that allow for not only the safety element we’ve been striving for, but also the remote management,” Honingford explained. “First and foremost, we have a controller that manages the outlet to make sure the handshake transaction takes place properly. The chip allows positive, proactive communication and manages the wattage, or current, going through the plug.”

In other words, a passenger can’t melt the outlet by plugging in a big appliance.

“The product allows airports to be comfortable as they can manage what takes place.”

First Class Seats, traditionally known for its automated massage chairs, has also jumped into the power outlet fray.

“We have expanded and enhanced our massage chair concept into what we call the RELAX/WORK STATION,” said First Class Seats President Mark Eberhardt of the product that now offers electrical outlet access as well as headphones to listen to one of 24 relaxation songs alongside the traditional chair unit. “We developed this product to get people off of the floor in their attempt to sleep, and off the floor when they want to charge their cell phone or laptop and want to find some type of comfortable workspace. This new RELAX/WORK STATION allows them to do just that.”

Unlike sleep pods, which require separate room and inline space, the RELAX/WORK STATION need a minimal 3’ x 6’ to fit nicely within a concourse or terminal and a vending device accepts $1, $5, $10 and credit cards for all of the amenities it offers.

With patents pending, the prototype unit was tested in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport’s (DFW) C Concourse to extremely positive customer acceptance. Eberhardt said First Class Seats will soon have 15 locations throughout DFW, several of which will be RELAX/WORK STATION.

“The beauty behind the RELAX/WORK STATION is that they are custom built, so they blend with the airport landscape in the terminal and the concourse area,” Eberhardt said. “The airport does not need to integrate any new space, and they can integrate the station anywhere throughout the airport.”

Sophisticated

A survivor of the dot-com debacle, Zoom Systems has always held the goal to be the worldwide leader of automated retail.

“To do this, we needed to do something that was truly unique,” said Mark Mullins, executive vice president of Zoom Systems, a new channel of retail defined by small format robotic stores placed in high-traffic locations. “We had real dynamic and robust software that could do everything we wanted it to do and we scouted out a hardware to go along with our software. We found a partner to create the robotic delivery system, and we started launching the units in 2005.”

Today Zoom Systems has 200 of such units in the field, 36 of which will be in U.S. airports by year’s end. San Francisco International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Indianapolis International Airport, and Reno/Tahoe International Airport are up and running, and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport are soon to follow.

“The goal all along has been to provide iconic brand products that you want, need or forgot in these incredibly convenient locations 24/7,” Mullins said, noting product lines to include Apple, Sony, Motorola and the Neutrogena and Proactiv Solution skincare lines. “We can convert a 28-square-foot space that has no revenue-generating capability and turn it into the highest revenue per square foot in the retail industry in a very short order.

“Our concept is move it in, plug it up, turn it on and off you go. We can virtually be up and running and generating revenue within two hours in a typical location.”

A typical success story footprint for a Zoom System is a former phone booth space.

“Many airports are taking them out as they do not generate revenue anymore,” Mullins said. “We can go into the same phone alcove space and generate anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 per month.”

Mullins said the product offerings are always market priced or less and simple to purchase.

“When a customer walks up to a machine, he can drill down and get as much information on the product as he needs – as if he would on the web – or within three touches, he can be at a buy decision,” Mullins explained. “When he hits buy, he can use a debit or a credit card which makes the transaction very secure and less cumbersome than cash.

“We have truly unleashed this impulse opportunity to get something that consumers need, want or forgot at a time that is convenient to them,” Mullins said. “Of course, we get a tremendous spike around the holidays.”

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