In January 2025, there were 21.49 million international air traffic passenger arrivals and departures, representing a 10% increase from the 2024 statistics. This highlights the increasing pressure on airports to offer efficient services, such as airport retail shops.
To meet the emerging expectations, airports must embrace smart shelves in their stores to deliver a seamless shopping experience to passengers in transit.
Smart shelves, equipped with autonomous checkout systems, have generated massive buzz in the retail sector and are a must-have for airport shopping.
If you’re wondering how, let’s know more here!
1. Faster Experience
At the airport, nobody wants to stay at any store for long for fear of missing their flight or any important announcement.
In traditional retail stores, they have to wait long hours, especially for their goods, as the cashier checks out every last individual manually.
After the pandemic, nobody wants to enter a shop with an excessive crowd. They would rather wait until the crowd reduces and then enter. Even if one enters a crowded shop, browsing the store, finding goods, or spotting the right aisle can still be challenging.
Autonomous checkout systems in airport retail stores, integrated with AI, smart shelves and highly efficient sensors, let everyone walk into the store with an access card, pick up their items, and leave immediately.
The system can sense every last thing passengers pick up and leave with. Once they leave, they’re charged directly to their respective account or e-wallet.
It is completely cashless and contactless, saving customers from frustratingly long queues to pay for their items. Thus, there is no more annoyance due to slow queues and stagnant crowds.
2. Round-the-Clock Accessibility
A major issue in the travel sector is the availability of stores at odd hours. When no store is open, incoming and outgoing flights can have the worst schedules.
An open store is a must for passengers, especially during layovers, whether they need a scrumptious meal, a warm cup of coffee, or a charger for their dead devices.
Since the needs of passengers late at night aren’t always met, airport retail stores hardly keep their stores open at night. They don’t want to invest in extra staffing for these odd shifts only to get no revenue.
This makes it difficult for passengers who are really in need. They must wait until stores open or until their next destination to find necessities.
Thanks to stores with smart shelves and autonomous checkout, they can say goodbye to such wait times for good. If stores embrace smart shelves, they can completely eliminate the need for cashiers, and airport retail stores can keep their stores open 24/7.
Thus, the store becomes the most popular among flyers, attracting sales during odd hours and cutting overhead costs.
3. Real-Time Inventory Tracking
If a store doesn’t have a system to manage its inventories, then it can get an autonomous retail system, equipped with built-in inventory and order management systems – that can keep a track of the inventory and assist in timely restocking.
This integration lets airport retail stores track sales in real time. They can place orders immediately if any item is low in stock. Employees can restock the shelves before passengers arrive if they are about to completely sell out from the shelves.
The solution ensures that no passenger returns empty-handed or waits for the store staff to bring their other goods from the back inventory, turning every visit into a sales opportunity!
4. Personalization Options
Through the inventory tracking feature, airport retail stores can also identify which goods sell the most and which items passengers hardly reach for.
They can place bulk orders for popular items and even place them in the front aisles so passengers don’t have to loiter around until they find the right items.
On the other hand, they can reduce the order of the less popular items while offering special discounts on the existing stocks to clear inventory faster.
Such personalization can reduce the time they spend inside the store waiting to find the necessary items.
5. No Human Errors
In traditional systems, mis-scanning, incorrect pricing, and issues with payment systems can also lead to delays and disputes. These can cause major issues among customers, impacting the store’s reputation and profitability.
However, with autonomous checkout and smart shelves, retail stores can eliminate the cashier position and instead deploy workers in other areas like hygiene, restocking, and customer support, eliminating human errors for good!
Conclusion
Smart shelves with autonomous checkout technology enhance airport retail and offer a unique experience. Blending convenience, speed, and satisfaction, the system can boost store profitability and make stores unforgettable. So, airport retail businesses must embrace this technology to keep up with the opportunities of the modern age and reap the benefits.