Royal Airport & Hospitality Distributors

As a manufacturer, there are new products you want to introduce into the retail market, and you find the airport retail industry quite suitable for these products.

Your product is market-ready, but how do you ensure that your product is suitable for airport gift shops?

Conducting research to determine if your product will sell is the first step that must be taken before introducing your product to stores. You need to ensure that there is a market for your product and if consumers will be interested in the product you wish to offer.

This process may involve fully understanding the consumer need your product will satisfy. This will help you determine the nature of consumers your product is likely to attract and if these categories of buyers belong to those who have access to airports. If they don’t have access to airports, you are looking at the wrong place.

You may also need to inquire if the airport setting provides an opportunity for your product brand to grow and expand. You must ensure you have access to marketing opportunities available in the airport location.

Here are 3 important tips that will help you determine if your product is a good fit for airport gift shops:

Market research: Before introducing a new product into a particular market, it is important to carry out sufficient market research. This will let you gain sufficient insight into the interested market.

This process may be time-consuming, but is very important in achieving a successful business because:

• It helps in understanding various trends shaping the market and how these trends influence the purchase of the product you wish to offer. This will let you plan how to adjust to these trends and use them in your favor.

 

• It helps to understand your competition by looking into their marketing strategies. It is advisable to avoid markets with too much competition because, without a solid strategy and unique selling point, possibilities of growth might be hindered.

Carry out product testing: Performing product testing is another important step that must not be ignored. This process helps to determine whether buyers are interested in your product. Product testing can be carried out by introducing samples of your product into selected stores to see how it is received by customers and the category of buyers that are more interested in your product.

This helps in determining your targeted audience and analyzing the growth capacity and possibilities available for your brand.

Consumer feedback: The main goal of every business is ensuring that customers’ needs are met, and customers are satisfied. It’s important to know what the customers think of your product.

These customers determine whether or not your products will sell. Understand how they think, know their demands. Ask customers questions about your product that will help your business grow. Obtain as much feedback as you can.

The retail industry has become a very competitive business with the growing number of retail stores popping up. In the United States, many major airports have about 50-90 retail shops within small locations and for most, the numbers are growing. These stores fill their store shelves with a different assortment of products in a bid to give customers a variety to choose from. All these shops are seeking to attract more customers and improve product sales.

You need to have the right selection of products that will satisfy customers’ demands and are that are likely to attract their attention. This is the only way to ensure sales and maintaining customer loyalty.

Buyer shopping habits have evolved over the years, consumers have become more open to trying new brands and many of these new brands have been well embraced and are currently leading the market.

When a customer who is interested in making purchase walks into a shop and goes to scan through the shelves, there are certain product qualities that grab their attention:

Simple Design: When shopping buyers want to make quick decisions about the products they wish to purchase. They look for products with simple designs that look easy to use and packaged properly to enable easy transportation.

Avoid using multiple colors and illustrations in your product design as this may confuse the consumers. Consumers want something simple, yet beautiful. Messages should be expressed and printed clearly on product packages.

Connection with the product: When creating a product design or package use imagery that buyers can relate and connect with. If a shopper, who’s interested in trying a new product walks to the store shelf, he or she is more likely to go for the product that has a familiar feel.

Easy to Use: It is important to enlighten your buyers on how to use your product. Most buyers may purchase appealing product from stores, but unfamiliar with the usage. Instruction on how your product works must be clearly provided and simply displayed. Avoid using complicated words for your brands, shoppers want easy-to-use products.

Uniqueness: When similar products are added to a market with reputable competitors, shoppers are more likely to go for already existing products that they trust and are used to.

However, if a new product is introduced with better identification and a promise of satisfaction, in terms of better product packaging and convenience, consumers may be convinced to try them out.

Manufacturers, who know this, invest in product designs that attract shoppers.

As a retailer interested in expanding your business channel, opening an airport store has become an attractive opportunity to reach more customers. However, there are challenges and obstacles you need to be ready for. Running a shop in an airport environment is often different from running a regular convenience store.

Before starting an airport shop, it’s important to be knowledgeable about the airport environment and various standards required to be met by shops in the area. Many airports in the United States design their minimum standards to meet with the Federal Aviation Administration. This is to ensure that all businesses in the airport location receive fair and equal treatment.

Performing research and making inquiries about the market and competitors are important steps to begin with.

Here are some important information you need to know before opening a shop in an airport location:

Ownership: Most major airports in the United States are operated and funded by the government. Therefore, retail stores in these airport locations must conform to certain standards, security regulations, and certain requirements. Stores are made available to retailers through lease.

Location: The location of an airport gift shop is very important in attracting customers. Ensure that your retail shop is located in a visible area where customers can easily access it. Many retail shops are typically located near the airport terminal which is usually very busy with travelers or around airport checkpoints.

These areas are flooded with travelers, who are may be interested in purchasing your product. Therefore, before setting up your gift shop, location is, indeed, key!

Be prepared: Airport stores are owned by the U.S. government and are provided to retail traders on lease upon agreement and signing of a contract. However, there are other stakeholders such as, large corporations involved in the running of these retail spaces.

Most times the U.S government leases large spaces in the airport locations to these corporations who in turn sub-lease these spaces to retail traders. In an occurrence when a stakeholder is faced with a challenge in the course of its lease, this may require retail traders to relocate from their initial space.

Knowledge of Appropriate Procedures: Airport location has strict security procedures retail store owners must strictly adhere to in the course of product supply and sales. Any retailer interested in running an airport shop must be well acquainted with security regulations governing the airport setting and how they affect product purchase and sales.

Business structure: The airport environment offers lots of opportunities for growth. Businesses structure their operations and strategies to effectively harness these opportunities. Introducing new products that meet consumer demands and are likely to do well in the airport setting are steps important in achieving success.

Airports have become desirable shopping locations for many travelers, and this has greatly affected the number of retail stores in airport locations. For this reason, manufacturers have become interested in putting their products on the shelves of retail stores. Thus, new brands of gift items are continually being introduced into their shelves.

As a manufacturer wishing to sell products to airport stores, it’s important to ensure that, even at other locations in the country, your products cater for consumers’ needs.

Also, ensure that your product is suitable for the category of travelers that have access to airport. Retail stores are interested in products that will get off their shelves quickly, and your product may not make it onto the shelves if it’s not trendy.

Below is a list of important information any manufacturer interested in selling products to airport show should know:

Supply Channel

Selling a product to an airport retail store follows the same process as selling to conventional retail stores in the country, You first need to contact the airport store retail buyer. That is the product supplier or distributors in charge of buying products to these retail stores. They provide the right variety of products that are likely to sell to these retailers.

Obtaining a license

You may also be required to obtain a license, sometimes this depends on the nature of the product you are offering these retail stores. Airport are government-owned and ensuring utmost security in airport locations is important. This license application contains the nature of your business, the type of item you wish to sell to stores, your experience in the market among other information.

Thus, selling your product to retail stores may require you to go through the proper channels to obtain a license. This gives you the permission to store and sell your products to airport retail stores.

Offer Unique Products

Many retail stores are interested in offering new and unique gift items to travelers. They look for products that stand out and attract travelers to patronize their stores for unique offerings.

What’s more, there are certain perfumes, jewelry, and even snack products that are exclusive to certain airport retail stores and can’t be found in other stores.

This is a way of attracting new customers and keeping old ones. Therefore, as a manufacturer wanting to sell products to airport stores, you should offer unique and exceptional packages from what these stores are used to.

Product pricing

Products sold at the airport have reduced tax on them. The level of tax reduction, however, depends on the location of the airport.

Product pricing is therefore carried out by lowering the tax, and pricing products at reasonable and cost-effective charges.

Airport gift shops are patronized by different categories of travelers seeking to get gifts for loved ones, mostly during the holidays. These shops are filled with travelers dashing in and out, buying variety of gifts and souvenirs.

Airport gift shops are, in fact, great shopping locations to purchase portable, unique, and beautiful gift items that can easily fit into the luggage as you’re on the go.

Although, airport stores do not stock as many products as supermarkets and malls, these stores stock different selections of gifts. It has been noticed that certain gift items are more popular among travelers than others, and over the years these items have been in high demand and are seen flying off shelves.

Some best-selling gift items in retail shops are:

T-shirts: These are some of the most popular souvenirs purchased by travelers. These shirts may have printed on them beautiful logos such as the name of the city and some historical inscription. They are usually cheap to purchase and easy to transport. They come in different sizes and colors; thus, travelers are sure to find one that suits their taste. Gift stores may also offer hats or face caps to match.

Perfumes: Flying off the shelves of many airport retail stores are different brands of perfumes and fragrances, from exotic fragrance to locally made perfumes with beautiful natural scents. These perfumes are perfect gifts for both men and women and have become one of the best sellers in airport gift shops.

Toys: Toys are kids all-time favorite. They come in various sizes, attractive colors, and beautiful shapes that are irresistible. There are also locally made toys that come in very distinct and unique shapes. Many are portable when properly packaged and easy to travel with.

Local Arts: Locally made art items offered by many gift stores are bought by travelers as souvenirs to remember the rich culture of whatever place was visited. These locally made items have become increasingly popular among travelers who purchase these items for home decorations. These locally made art items are usually very affordable and come in convenient sizes that are easy to pack.

Jewelry:  If you’re looking to purchase some expensive exotic jewelry, then an airport gift shop is not the place to be. However, if you’re craving something less flashy and expensive, more unique; something beautiful and simple, then stopping by an airport gift store might be a great choice.

Travelers purchase lots of locally made bracelets, necklaces, rings, and other beautiful jewelry items from these gift stores.

Confections and candy: Airport gift stores are known to offer a variety of delicious  snack food and items that cannot be found anywhere else. They offer great taste in locally produced candies that kids are sure to love. These confections and candies have experienced great sales.

Hospital gift shops are different from regular stores. These gift shops might differ in ownership. While many retail shops are owned by individuals or people who are out to make a profit, hospital gift shops are owned by hospitals.

In a hospital setting, the decision on who to purchase product lies with the manager. A manager is a person who supervises the daily operations of an organization, or in this instance, a gift shop. Most of these managers are social, and they tend to make consumers feel comfortable and alive around the store. When not occupied, managers help the shoppers make well-suited selections from an array of choices on the shelf.

Asides helping the consumer feel at home, managers supervise volunteer workers, as well as members of staff in the shops.

A hospital gift shop manager also helps to organize the display of products in the shops. A manager ensures, that the arrangement of seasonal items in the stores is changed as needed. Products that sell during winter are considerably different from goods that are sold during summer, spring, or autumn. Usually, there is an established marketing plan for sales service suited for hospital gift shops daily

Hospital gift shops work with a sales group, and the manager is expected to design a working schedule to be followed. Such designs or guides, allows the sales group to deliver appropriate gift items for appropriate events such as conferences, workshops etc. The manager also directs the work flowchart and movement of information between the sales group and the gift shop.

Also included in the manager’s duties is the supervision of cashiering and receipting of items that have been sold. The office of the manager is the most crucial in the store, and as such has the most experience in book balancing. The manager also makes sure that daily reports are rendered when due, producing a monthly inventory of merchandise and items. The creation of a buyer persona is also the responsibility of the manager, which is aimed at providing items best suited for customers.

The final and most important responsibility of the manager of a hospital retail shop is to act in the capacity of a buyer. The manager is saddled with the responsibility of meeting with vendors and company sales representatives to select gift items based on the buyer persona created, and also to decide the need for the availability of seasonal items.

At present, there is a vast number of airport gift shops, too numerous to count. Airports are continually being designed to accommodate not just the transportation needs of their customers but also to provide whatever they may require in the course of their travels.

Many airport gift shops are being created and already existing ones are being modified to improve customer shopping experience because when it comes to shopping in these gift shops, travelers work with time. They need to be able to access what they require in a timely manner.

Although most airport retail shops are government-owned, many privately owned airports retail stores have developed in many parts of the country.

Paradies Lagardère is one of the biggest airport retailers in the United States. It was established in 1960 in the city of Georgia. Paradies Lagardère currently has 1035 retail stores in 103 airports in the United States. This number is only a fraction of the actual amount of retail stores in airports in the United States. Many major airports in the country have about 90 retail shops in their location offering products and services to travelers.

Here’s a list of some airport gift shops that provide high quality and interesting gift items to travelers in the USA:

Airport gift shop: Airport gift shop provides retail services to airports in Fargo. This airport gift retail store offers a variety of souvenirs and clothing items to travelers. Airport gift shop focuses on stocking locally made souvenirs such as handmade clothing items like beautifully embroidered Towels and other unique items made in Fargo. They also offer locally made candy and snack foods.

Life is good shops: Life is Good Shops are part of the larger Life is Good brand which has been in operations for 25 years. These privately-owned retail shops offer a wide range of items to their customers and have established loyalty among their customer during their 25 years of service. The retail shops have really grown over the years and continue to expand by offering high quality and unique items to customers particularly in Orlando, Florida.

Hudson Group: Predominantly in the North America, Hudson is one of the largest airport retailers. The group owns about 1000 retail locations not just in airports but in some hotels and tourist locations. This group has been in operations for 30 years, with its first store opened in La Guardia airport and has grown greatly with retail locations distributed in 37 states in the United States.

Peak News and Gifts: This retailer focuses on offering travelers with souvenirs, toys, travel luggage fashion accessories such as sunglasses, snacks, magazines, books, and newspapers. They offer their services to the airport in Denver, Colorado.

Houston! Souvenir Store Gate A7: Located in Houston, Texas, this airport retailer offers a variety of souvenirs made in Houston. They offer decorations, food wares, fashion accessories at reasonable prices.

Success in trading is achieved when customers find your product satisfying. This will lead to increased demand, more sales, and larger profits. Getting products to the right stores through the right channel plays a great role in this process.

But obtaining the right distribution channels for product delivery is not enough. As a manufacturer, it is important to ensure that your product is easy to sell and convenient to utilize.

The retail industry has become extremely competitive, there are thousands of products and brands on store shelves, and every day new products are being introduced. Thus, there’s the need to make your product enticing and stand out. Your product presentation and appearance must communicate a solution to the required need of the consumer.

Here are some of the qualities consumers look for in a product, and how to incorporate them to make your products standout:

Simple Designs: When developing product design, the watchword is simplicity. Keep your product design simple. Customers should get a sense of what your product is about easily, printed messages on the package must be clear and easy to do read.

Relevance: Your product design must communicate the purpose of your product. Consumers must be able to relate with your product. This is one of the ways of attracting the right category of customers. The product design and the product itself must be connected.

Most times, manufacturers end up creating a product design package that completely contradicts the product in a bid to develop something attractive. This must be avoided so you don’t confuse the customers.

Convenience: Convenience in product packaging simply means it must be of the right size, color, shape. Colors are tools used to inspire feelings in people. These are the major instrument used in making sure that your product is enticing, choosing the right color for your product package goes a long way in ensuring your product stands out on shelves. Avoid using dull colors.

Product packaging should also consider the size. Consumers want products that are easy to transport and move.

Adequate Information: Information about how the product works and how it can be maintained must be provided clearly on the product package. Be honest and positive while conveying this information.

Uniqueness: Explore new ideas in developing your product. Come up with new ways to distinct your product, incorporate new designs in your product design and packaging. Avoid imitating existing brands; this is one way of keeping products uniquely different from the competitive brands.

The retail trade industry is fast-growing. The number of retail stores in the country has increased over the years, and research has shown that, even more growth is expected with time. However, despite this, it would be a gross error to assume that running a retail outlet is an easy task. Retail traders are faced with multiple challenges in the course of their business, such as the need to attract customers and retain customer loyalty, keeping up with customers changing demands and needs, and effective training of employees/workers.

Airport gift store retailers are no exception from this number of challenges. Although, airport stores are faced with some more challenges when compared to regular retail stores. This is in terms of security, renewing product stock, and longer working hours.

These challenges of operating airport gift stores can be reduced to an almost seamless process; thereby, giving retailers the opportunity to make the most out of their businesses.

Here are some tips to effectively run and utilize your airport gift store:

Introduce New Products

Over the years, customer trading habits have changed. Travelers are now more interested in obtaining a better selection of gift items but sometimes may find themselves unsatisfied with the choices available in many gift stores. Although airport stores do not stock as much product as conventional stores, it important to ensure that the products available in your stock consist of the right product variety, properly packaged, and displayed to appeal to travelers.

Improve Customer Experience

Customers will always return to stores that provide them with satisfactory customer services. When travelers shop, it is essential to remember that they work with restricted time. They want to be able to access and obtain gift items of their choice as fast as they can. Therefore, as a store owner, you must promote shopping experience for the consumer to easily access the required items in a timely manner.

Utilization of eCommerce

Since the advent of eCommerce, many aspects of the business have been greatly affected, the retail industry is no exception.

Many retail stores have begun embracing the new opportunities that the digital age offers, and they are using these resources to improve their business.  These resources are very much available to airport gift store retailers. Making online payment and order has been incorporated into many businesses. This saves the customers a lot of time, especially for travelers with little or no time to spare.

Designs and Product Organization

Devising an effective, organized, and attractive way to display products in very important. There’s the need to improve the store design, items must be arranged in such a way that customers can easily access them. There should be enough space to ensure convenient movement.

When it comes to obtaining information on market trends, trending products, market channels and networks, and even product marketing, many retailers do not know where to start or how to go about it. Airport gift store owners are no exception. Providing customer satisfaction begins by providing customers with the right variety of gift items and ensuring a top-notch shopping experience.

Airport retail store trade shows are great events that provide an avenue for airport gift retail store owners, manufacturers of products, and distributors in the industry to display their products, introduce new products and discuss their products. These shows are carried out with the goal of bringing together members of the trading industry.

Despite the fact that these Airport trade shows are more traditional, these events provide a great number of opportunities for those attending them. These opportunities can be in the form of providing network opportunities, great sales opportunities, and aids in product promotion.

Your thoughts are, the world has gone digital and I can access any information I need from the Internet, so why do I need to attend an airport retail stores trade show?

Well… we think you should attend trade shows, here are some major benefits of attending a trade show:

Provision of product marketing opportunity: These trade shows provide a cheap source of marketing products. Many new products are introduced into the market during these trade events. Partaking in these shows is usually not very expensive, thus providing the opportunity for many different brands to take part in it. There is the possibility of product exhibition to a large number of potential business partners and clients, providing an avenue for interaction which many other virtual market processes may not offer.

Possibility of obtaining market leads: One of the major advantages of attending trade events is that it provides the opportunity of generating leads. These events have a large number of people in attendance and building market networks is made easy.  Individuals from different states–and sometimes countries, depending on the nature of the trade show–with links to different market regions can network with one another.

Know your Competitors: Many business brands introduce their new products and services during these shows and make presentations about the production strategies. Any smart trader should be about to seize this opportunity to research potential competitive brands, how their products work, examine their strength, and have a better understanding of what makes some of the top brands.

Information and Education: Trade shows are great events to learn about and obtain information on major market trends in your industry.

Still think an airport retail trade show is a waste of time? We think not.

These events can be a fascinating and very effective facility to grow in the trading industry!