Airport retail gets virtual at OR Tambo
A millimetre-accurate map now allows OR Tambo International Airport visitors to navigate around retailers in the domestic and international terminals, using their phones or virtual reality technology at virtual.saairports.com. The 18,000 square metre scan delivers a high-definition rendering of the airport's retail spaces, creating what the company refers to as Africa's first virtual commerce environment.
Developed by Contact Media and Communications, in collaboration with Wonderland Collective and Kwenda Marketing, the virtual commerce environment is an accurate representation of the space, giving visitors a first-person perspective of the airport’s array of more than 140 retail stores and services.
Visual tags in the scan highlight key information about the visitor experience, including travel times to gates and direct links to retail websites – including ACSA’s own Duty Free e-commerce portal.
“With the way content consumption is changing around the world and with rapid advancements in technology, it was very exciting to work with a client such as Airports Company South Africa, who were so clear in what they wanted with this virtual tour,“ says Sean Press, CEO of Contact Media and Communications.
A convenient shopping experience
It is envisioned that in the future, airport visitors will be able to shop items from Duty Free before going to the airport, and have their items delivered to their gates before boarding, making the shopping experience more efficient and stress-free.
“Many of the retailers and services at OR Tambo International Airport – including the banks, pharmacies and post office – operate from 06:00 to 22:00, 365 days a year. The addition of this virtual tour, with the opportunity to include enhanced information via the visual tags and offering links to our websites is going to make travelling and shopping experience even more convenient for the millions of passengers who travel through the airport, each year,” says Shethal Badal, commercial marketing specialist at Airports Company South Africa.
