APA Issue 2, 2021
REDEFINING AIRPORT RETAIL A pioneering new e-commerce initiative aims to make airport shopping at Malaysia’s airports and at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Turkey easier and more convenient.
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alaysia Airports is one of the world’s largest airport operators in terms of passenger numbers, handling more than 141.2 million across its network of 39 Malaysian airports and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) in Turkey in 2019. Indeed, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) handled 62.3 million passengers on its own in 2019 and Malaysia’s next biggest gateways – Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Kuching and Langkawi – all recorded all-time high traffic figures that year as did SAW, which welcomed 35.4 million passengers. Such significant numbers means that Malaysia Airports can never rest on its laurels and constantly strives to find ways of doing things better to be more operationally efficient and enhance the airport experience of passengers, in line with the commitment to “hosting joyful connections” for those passing through its airports. The current COVID-19 enforced downturn in traffic has done little to change this philosophy. In fact, it has made Malaysia Airports even more determined to adapt the way it operates to meet changing customer demands, and this now extends to expanding its retail offerings beyond the traditional airport environment.
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In line with this aspiration, the company launched shopMYairports, the first travel-retail e-commerce platform in Malaysia and shop@saw, the e-commerce platform of Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen. shopMYairports and shop@saw are part of Malaysia Airports’ company-wide digitalisation initiative to embrace digital transformation. As part of this initiative, the company strives to redefine the airport retail experience by providing a unique avenue for customers to purchase travel-exclusive and duty-absorbed products from the comfort of their homes. At the same time, both platforms align retail plans with current and future e-commerce trends as well as establishing Malaysia Airports’ reputation as a retail hub for the next generation of tech-savvy customers. According to eMarketer, purchasing behaviours have shifted online, with global retail e-commerce sales growing by 27.6% in 2020. In Malaysia, GlobalData analytics predicts that the growth of the e-commerce market is on a steady rise with a projected reach of RM51.6 billion ($12.6 billion) by 2024. On top of that, mind-set research suggests that 82% of Asia-Pacific travellers will change their shopping habits
