Any airport operators and retailers in any doubt as to the depth of consumer feeling need only read the comments-section of the many news reports that continue to cover the issue. Unfortunately for airport retailers, it does not stop at the checkout...
This tip-of-iceberg boarding pass issue is now causing savvy consumers to bring their normal high street shopping behaviours into the airport. In other words, when mobile phones might have been left off as part of the pre-holiday wind-down process, price-comparison apps are being consulted to reveal price-gaps that are even wider than the ‘same as high street prices’ assurances being issued by airport retailers, as the issue escalates...
More importantly, with plenty of time to spare, airport travellers are able to indulge themselves in texting their feelings to friends. In practice this means applying the tell-a-friend rule: If a brand exceeds my expectations, I tell one friend, if short-changed, I tell ten friends...
Then think plane-loads of passengers continuing to spread the word at destination airports currently unaffected by this uniquely UK issue...
In other words, what was meant to be a shop-window for leading-edge retailers and brands is morphing into an outlet for pent-up frustration by vocal savvy passengers that fall out with the staff and vote with their feet...
Meanwhile, suppliers have to ask whether their brands’ presence in airport shops, and possibly the innocent target of consumer anger, is worth the damage, cost and growing inconvenience of travelling by air...
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