The "Reserve & Collect" model conquers Italian airports
Shopping at the airport is changing its face. Today, passengers no longer have to wait until they arrive at the terminal to buy a perfume, a piece of clothing or a typical product: thanks to the new digital pre-order and pick-up services at the airport, the shopping experience starts from home.
The most popular model is that of "Reserve & Collect": you choose products online, book them for free and pick them up at the airport before departure, paying at the time of collection. A simple, fast system that is increasingly appreciated by business and leisure travellers, who want to optimise their time and take advantage of exclusive offers.
Behind this transformation there are three large international concessionaires that also operate in Italy and offer the "Reserve & Collect" service for some airports:
- Avolta (Shop Duty Free), active in the airports of Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate, Milan Bergamo, Florence, Pisa and Genoa;
- Lagardère Travel Retail (Aelia Duty Free), present in Fiumicino, Venice and Naples;
Heinemann (Heinemann Clic and Collect), partner of Bologna airport.
All have digitized their services, with online catalogs, dedicated discounts and pick-up points integrated into the passenger journey.
The airports managed by SEA (Malpensa and Linate) and ADR (Fiumicino) represent the spearheads of Italian digital retail.
Milano Malpensa Boutique is active at Milan Malpensa, a real multi-brand e-boutique that allows you to choose online fashion items, perfumes and accessories and pay for them directly at the airport, with discounts reserved for Travellers.
At Rome Fiumicino, Aeroporti di Roma offers the Shop&Fly service and a dedicated personal shopper who assists passengers in booking and collecting products at the terminal. A service that combines the convenience of digital with the charm of personalized purchases.
The Italian airports of Bologna, Naples, Venice, Pisa, Florence and Milan Bergamo also now offer a pre-order and pick-up service at the airport. The passenger can browse the online catalogue, reserve the products and find them ready in the duty free shop, showing the boarding pass. In many cases, online booking entitles you to discounts of 10 to 20% on duty-free prices.
In Bologna, Heinemann introduced its Click & Collect service for the first time in Italy, in line with the standards of the main European hubs.
In Naples and Venice, Lagardère Travel Retail (Aelia Duty Free) has launched online platforms with discounts dedicated to passengers who buy in advance.
The airports of Bergamo, Pisa, Florence and Genoa are connected to the World Duty Free Reserve & Collect portals, where perfumes, cosmetics, liqueurs and accessories can be booked online with payment on collection.
For travellers, these services mean convenience, time savings and dedicated offers. For airports, they represent a strategic lever to improve the passenger experience and increase non-aeronautical revenues, which are increasingly important for the economic sustainability of the airport system. The transition to digital also makes it possible to collect anonymous data on travellers' preferences, personalise promotions and make the commercial offer more dynamic.
The result is a "phygital" experience: physical and digital together, designed for those who want to travel without sacrificing the quality and comfort of shopping made in Italy.
The "Reserve & Collect" model not only improves passenger service, but opens up new perspectives for Italian brands, which can thus also be discovered and purchased by international travellers in transit.
