Lagardère Travel Retail Switzerland has launched what it says is the world’s first automated, fully digital, duty-free retail machine in partnership with Inflyter at Geneva Airport. duty free retail machine geneve

The partners said that the custom-designed digital outlet will “generate incremental revenue and transform a high-traffic airport zone into a self-service commercial space.”

This represents a key milestone in the new era of physical customer experiences, where the blend of physical and digital assets has created a new and complementary customer journey far beyond click and collect. This travel retail innovation starts with mobile commerce and ends with a physical asset integrating customer-facing technologies.

It is a custom-designed digital vending machine offering travellers a fully digital duty-free shopping experience 24 hours a day, not just when the airport store is open. It helps with satellite distribution across all areas of their airport, converting high-traffic airport zones into self-service revenue-generating spaces where physical stores would not be commercially viable.

Travellers flying into Geneva Airport can order, pay for, and collect duty-free items in under 60 seconds, offering them a fast and convenient way to shop and providing travellers with a fully digital and contactless purchase experience should they prefer to shop this way.

The automated retail solution allows travellers to buy directly from an interactive touch-screen menu of bestselling duty-free products. Travel and age verification checks are made using an integrated scanner for boarding passports and identity cards, and once payment is made, the relevant compartment doors automatically open and the customer can retrieve their items, and the associated customs documentation and receipts are issued.

The vending unit has been positioned in the arrivals lounge outside the Aelia Duty-Free store in Geneva Airport to complement the opening hours of the shop and maximize the opportunity of final impulse purchases at this final shopping touchpoint in the passenger journey.

In addition to the large touchscreen on the front of the automated retail unit, there are two large side screens providing the ability to showcase the bestselling products and digital media opportunities for brands to further extend their visibility, reach, and deliver fully integrated, marketing campaigns across all available channels in the airport and in-store.

Extending the reach and success of digital shopping experiences duty free retail machine geneve

The launch of this innovative, custom-designed digital vending machine marks an extension and new milestone in the company’s partnership with French company Inflyter to improve travelers’ digital duty free shopping experiences. The relationship has already enabled travelers to and from Geneva Airport to shop duty free using the Inflyter app and collect in-store at the airport. More recently Lagardère Travel Retail Switzerland has further enhanced the service to give their customers more choice and convenience by allowing them to have their duty-free purchases delivered at their boarding gate.

Commenting on this announcement, Pascal Le Droff, CEO at Lagardère Travel Retail Switzerland, said: “This new digital installation sees us launch our first fully automated, self-service sales channel which will optimize our operational costs while generating incremental revenue from what would be a non-viable commercial space at the airport. With international passenger numbers starting to pick up, we want to be at the forefront of digital transformation and actively explore how we can offer innovation that better services our existing duty-free shoppers and reach new ones.”

Wassim Saadé, Founder and CEO of Inflyter, stated: “It’s exciting to collaborate with a partner who shares our vision of wanting to offer new and convenient digital duty-free shopping experiences that travelers expect and can see how digital innovation will generate incremental revenue and uncover latent commercial opportunities that have yet to be realized. We are excited about how we can further support Lagardère Travel Retail Switzerland to grow their digital duty free revenues.”

Pierre Germain, Commercial Director at Geneva Airport, added: “We are extremely pleased to fully support the digital duty-free initiatives being led by Lagardère Travel Retail Switzerland and Inflyter, as they continue to introduce brand new, world-leading shopping and service experiences to our passengers. This innovative, fully digital, automated retail unit gives our arriving passengers another choice as to how, where, and when they shop and allows us to assist our retail partners in securing new sales channels and revenue opportunities for their business.” duty free retail machine geneve

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