Changes within the air transport sector have required many European airports to either develop or expand their commercial activities. Strategies have included the expansion of retail space, a broadening of the tenant and merchandise mix and the development of a passenger segmentation strategy. This paper explores the efficacy of this approach by identifying the behaviour of different passenger segments while in an international airport.Using a framework of strategic market segmentation, it identifies how travellers allocate their time having entered 'airside' and details any purchases made. Using observational research and a face to face quantitative survey, 301 passengers were tracked and interviewed.Through a broad based, a priori form of segmentation, significant differences in shopping behaviour are identified. Such findings assist with the development of the airport's commercial strategy and allow a number of observations to be made about the value of market segmentation from both a theoretical and managerial perspective.

No abstract

Details the methods used by European airport authorities to segment their consumer base. It will be argued that macro‐level factors, over which the industry has no control, have compelled airports to expand their commercial activities. As a consequence, airport authorities have been forced to adopt a more marketing‐orientated approach. To fully capitalise on the opportunities afforded to them, a range of segmentation categories have been developed that are specific to an airport environment. It will be argued that authorities act as “gatekeepers” and use this unique form of a priori segmentation to determine the most suitable tenant mix for their airport. Once operating within the airport, the retailers themselves also undertake a further series of segmentation strategies based either on a priori principles or on “micro‐level” techniques.

Airport retailing represents a global industry which is experiencing significant market growth. Accompanying this growth has been an increasingly complex set of retail trading relationships. This article examines how developments in the air transport industry have influenced the structure of retailing at airports. It then attempts to develop a typology of the different trading relationships that can operate within an airport. Four main forms are identified. The article then considers fiture influences upon the industry and the implications this has for the structure of European airport retailing.

No abstract