Speaker Biograghy: Mark is the founder and CEO of Grab, the leading e-commerce platform for airport businesses. The Grab app provides mobile ordering at over 25 airports in the United States and Europe, with a very large pipeline of growth in 2018. Prior to founding Grab, Mark spent 20 years in the airline industry in a variety of roles at Northwest, Continental and United Airlines, eventually serving as the SVP of Marketing for both Continental and United Airlines. Mark has extensive experience in e-commerce, loyalty programmes, travel distribution, network planning and product development for the travel industry.


Day 2 - 21 March
Session: Commercial Development, Retail & Concessions

16:15 - 16:45 - It is time for airports to leverage the mobile revolution
Synopsis: Mobile commerce has proved to be essential for success in today's F&B and retail landscape. Mobile commerce is preferred by customers and drives increases in revenue and productivity. The airport concession industry has lagged behind the overall marketplace in developing efficient and effective mobile commerce for travellers. The reason for this lag is the nature of the industry, characterised by fragmentation and a peripatetic customer base. The solution is an aggregated platform with global coverage and a B2B distribution strategy leveraging the power of airline customer engagement, airport digital assets and other popular apps and sites.

Audience will learn:

• Digital commerce will drive non-aeronautical revenues higher
• Digital commerce will improve the passenger experience
• An aggregated platform is critical to customer engagement and transactions – we are all in this together
• A B2B distribution strategy is critical to customer reach
• An aggregated platform brings the power of big data to the industry

Day 2 - 21 March
Session: Commercial Development, Retail & Concessions

16:45 - 17:15 - Panel Discussion: Building an airport digital ecosystem – airports, airlines and suppliers working together to drive commercial performance and optimise the customer experience
Synopsis: What is the commercial case for developing digital services in aviation? With airports, airlines, brands, aggregators and others all aiming to communicate directly with travellers, how can different stakeholders work together to create shared value through the use of mobile technology in airports? And what’s the payoff? Our panellists will share their own experiences, highlighting how their strategies have impacted the way passengers use an airport, and how commercial revenues have benefitted as a result.

Audience will learn:

• The link between digital initiatives and commercial revenues
• Case studies of successful mobile innovations
• What hasn’t worked
• Different digital behaviours from different customer groups
• Data sharing between airport stakeholders