London’s Heathrow airport could be thought of as a mall with an airport attached wrote The Economist in an article that looked at how shops had adapted to selling at the airport:

• All restaurants have dishes for which the wait is guaranteed to be less than 15 minutes for travelers trying to catch a tight connection.
• Clothing retailers put grab and go items such as ties close to the entrance.
• “Heathrow Ambassadors” can take you from one terminal to another if you’re unable to find the items of your desire in your own terminal.
• Standard shops are located in the areas where economy class passengers embark and disembark. High end brands are located near the First and Business class passengers.
• Shoppers are legally required to produce their boarding pass when purchasing something. This provides shops with a wealth of data that allows them to identify which types of travelers like to purchase which items.
• Japanese passengers, for example, like expensive wine. Middle Eastern and Russian customers like sparkly jewelry.

Read how the shops are performing, how Heathrow has climbed the international airport standings, why retailers have to compete with other distractions, why shoppers are afraid of being caught naked, and more over here.

Source: The Economist