It seems that in almost every airport I'm in, there are luggage stores behind security. How often do people get to the airport carrying handfuls of clothes and needing something to put them in? I realize that there are limited cases in which they could be useful, but why are they so prolific and how do they remain profitable?
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19They sell clothes too so you can fill your brand new bag…– RelaxedCommented Jun 27, 2014 at 23:10
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7It's for people who don't realize what a good ideas it is to check their kids in a suitcase until they've already arrived at the airport. Most of the last minute checked bags you see at the end of the jetway aren't full of clothes, you know.– Jason CCommented Jun 28, 2014 at 4:10
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3Because not every traveller is as cheap and resistant to buying any over-priced product that airports sell. Having more money than most does not seem to correlate with sensible buying decisions.– Russell McMahonCommented Jun 28, 2014 at 7:14
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1Supply and demand. People want to buy luggage in airports. The question should be "Why do people buy luggage in airports?"– hippietrailCommented Jun 29, 2014 at 7:26
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Customer officers have a long track record breaking locks of luggage. you could buy new luggage after this.– Quora FeansCommented Jun 29, 2014 at 19:17
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6 Answers
Even though the people who walk past are unlikely to be want to buy a suitcase right now, they are still the target demographic. How many other locations are there in a city where you can open a store where 100% of the people that walk past are people that travel by air, and thus the type of people that will be in the market for your products?
How many non-airport locations around an area like the San Francisco Bay Area would you need to open a store in order to pretty much guarantee that every person who flies internationally at least once a year walks in front of your store? A dozen? A few dozen? How about if you do it in an airport? Perhaps 2? (eg, SFO has 2 international terminals).
Some of the luggage shops you find in airports are for a particular brand. eg, there is a Tumi store in Newark airport. Even if that store was to never actually sell a single piece of luggage, they are building their brand and allowing people to see and try their product range before going home and ordering the same pieces from their website or from another store - all of which works in their favor.
The remainder of the stores generally sell high-end luggage which they would likely be able to ship to a home location if someone purchased something and was unable to take it with them or collect on their return trip.
At the end of the day, don't think of these as luggage stores, just think of them as high-end retail, marketing to a demographic that frequents airports (high wealth/travelers).
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I am not convinced by your introductory paragraph. The point of the question is that in airport suitcase stores, nearly 100% of the people that walk past are people that already have a suitcase, who have already checked in that suitcase and are thus in no position to even repack their stuff and throw away the old one. The rare exception may be people who bring suitcases through security as handluggage (unfortunately, some airports still allow this) and replace those, or indeed (as suggested in the comments) buy so much stuff that they need another bag or suitcase. Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 10:58
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In all, the non-airport locations (preferrably close to housing areas) seem like the much better spot for finding a maximum number of people who will be in the market for suitcases than the security area of an airport. Compare it to offering an (additional!) full meal to restaurant guests after they have ordered. Yes, you'll find 100% of people who are willing to eat in a restaurant, but at the same time, hardly any of them are then and there in need of any meal because they are already about to get one. Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 10:59
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4You would think so. However long research into marketing and psychology, ultinmately backed by "how much gets sold" shows that advertising, even if not close to the decision or purchase, is still effective. This is how brand advertising works. As long as you know and recognize the brand the next time you are in the market, then the purpose is achieved. Given that the audience that walks by travels by plane, it is a great subset to advertise to in this way. "Today's advertising, Tomorrow's customers." Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 14:06
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4Also think "Goodyear Blimp". The idea isn't that you buy tires on the way home from the ball game... but most families at the ball game will likely be buying tires in the next year or two. Hmmm, which brand to buy, what seems safe and familiar and has good memories... Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 14:10
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1(Just to avoid any confusion, the "Doc" that left the previous comment is NOT the same user as the "Doc" that answered the question, or left the earlier comment above)– DocCommented Jun 29, 2014 at 6:01
Setting aside the people who suddenly need more or different suitcases, an airport is one of the few places where you feel dissatisfied with the suitcases you have. While they're sitting in your closet, they're fine. You've used them for years and they work. But for the hour or two after you've packed them, lugged them from the car into the airport, and checked them, you know everything you hate about them: they're too big, they don't hold enough, they're too heavy, you don't like the wheels, the handle is too short, the color is old fashioned or the same as everyone else's, you name it. And you're surrounded by other people's suitcases to feel jealous of.
And now you have an hour to kill and nothing to do except pay too much for coffee or use up some of your reading material, and here's a store full of glorious suitcases. Maybe they have one that you were ogling somebody else use just moments ago. You can lift them, open and close them, work the handles, and compare in your head to the hated suitcase you just checked in. Maybe you'll buy on the spot and have them shipped home to await your return. More likely you'll take notes and order them online when you get back. If the store is part of a chain, they don't care which you do, this location can be more of a showroom than an actual selling things store. Of course, if you're carrying multiple carryon bags that you don't like, you might actually buy a replacement on the spot and swap things out and throw the old ones away. But the chain can make a ton of money if you never buy a full size suitcase there, as long as you buy one eventually. Heck, even if you don't go it, if you walked by and saw the name and saw that the suitcases didn't appear to be crap, they may have a financial case for that being worth it.
answered Jun 28, 2014 at 13:45
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Your second paragraph was exactly what I was thinking of! Just the fact that you have a few hours to kill helps them make a lot of dough. No. of I've entered a suitcase store in a market = 0, No. of times I've entered one in the airport = Uncountable Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 16:02
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I bought a backpack in such a store once. I was travelling for one side of earth to the opposite and for some reason decided that taking a few plastic bags with me to the cabin would be a good idea. I quickly changed my mind and they got a sale. Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 9:29
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That's an interesting idea. I have indeed frequently felt dissatisfied with my suitcases while at airports for many years and often had a lot of idling time, though I would never have had the idea to check out a suitcase store in an airport and would always walk past them as airport stores (or in general, stores with little alternative to go to) probably try to rip off customers. Just having a look and finding the same suitcase elsewhere for a more reasonable price sounds like a worthwhile suggestion, though. Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 13:30
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Single-letter typo, too small for me to correct: "even if you don't go it" should be "... go in". (Please feel free to flag this comment as obsolete once corrected.)– TRiGCommented Feb 12, 2022 at 22:33
Suitcases may fail in transit. That's a built-in market for replacements.
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You're unlikely to know this before you get to the baggage claim though, by which time it's too late for duty-free shopping. Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 16:09
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1@jpatokal Yeah, but you'd need to buy one on the way home. Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 17:10
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1... and many folks care less about duty-free than "I need something that isn't going to fall apart again on the return trip... oh, look, that would do the job."– keshlamCommented Jun 28, 2014 at 19:17
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1@starsplusplus I don't follow you. Suppose my suitcase gets trashed by the baggage handlers on my outbound flight. While I'm sitting in the departure lounge waiting for my outbound, I don't know my bag's been trashed (or it's not even been trashed yet). By the time I'm sitting in the departure lounge for my return flight, it's too late because I've already checked my luggage, either in the trashed suitcase or in one I bought somewhere other than the airport. Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 9:59
Not sure this fully explains it but the shopping area has certainly become an important revenue stream for many airports. I know several airports that have been redesigned to force passengers to pass in front of as many shops as possible, with S-shaped corridors and no short-cuts. Consequently, they sell a lot of things that most people don't need right there (and people buy them!). They are designed as a shopping location, not as a way to provide necessities so whether passengers already have a suitcase is not particularly relevant.
My local airport even advertises a service by which they keep what you bought until you return. As a matter of fact, I happen to know that they do sell a lot of bags so that in itself explains why these shops are profitable. Presumably, it works because airports are places where many affluent travelers have to wait or at least walk through every day.
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I think this barely answers the question. The question is not why there are any stores in the airport or within the security area, the question is why suitcases are sold within the security area. Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 11:11
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As for keeping what you bought until you return, doesn't that mean you have to stay in the security area after arrival (which is hardly possible in most airports I have seen; you are immediately guided through a triple door to leave the security area after unboarding), or do they bring it to some other place in the non-security area where you can pick up your belongings? Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 11:13
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@O.R.Mapper What I am saying is that some airports have become shopping centers that sell everything (and not merely stuff travelers are likely to need at the very moment they are waiting for their flight), which does answer the question (they sell suitcases because that's one of the products you would expect in a department store, you don't need any more reason than that).– RelaxedCommented Jun 28, 2014 at 11:52
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Regarding the layout, I guess it varies, I know a few airports where you are not guided through anything but have to go through the airside departure lounge/waiting area/shopping center to reach the border control/luggage claim area (e.g. Schiphol, which is the one I had in mind when writing the answer). In Geneva arriving passengers are not only walking past the shops, you literally have to go through the aisles of a duty-free shop, which I guess is also another consequence of the trend I am highlighting.– RelaxedCommented Jun 28, 2014 at 11:53
It's straightforward ... people have an old, rubbishy, carry-on or roll-on case...
They stop at the samsonite shop, they buy a fancy new cabron-fiber one...
they transfer their stuff to the new one and throw out the old one, or, just take both.
If you watch the shops in question, you'll see this happening all the time.
Also very commonly (I've done this, actually a number of times) someone will have no roll-on with them; you might be carrying say a couple of paperbacks, a shopping bag, and a laptop or something - so you go right ahead and buy a new cabron-fiber roll-on.
Note that the shops you describe only sell carry on styles. If they sold hold-luggage, then just as you say it would be illogical!
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I think it is simply becuase there have been instances of people who had their luggages broken in transit from home to airport or between transfers. Why else?
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1It can't be that. If your luggage was broken in transit to the airport, allowing you to buy new luggage only after you've checked in the broken luggage doesn't help. And if your bag gets broken by the baggage handlers, you don't know about that while you're sitting in the departure lounge. Commented Jun 30, 2014 at 10:03
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