Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has found opportunity in adversity, working with impacted retailers at Brisbane Airport to create BNE Marketplace (www.bne.com.au/marketplace).
Launching to the public on Thursday 16 April, BNE Marketplace is an online airport retail store giving consumers access to sought after products, some at heavily discounted prices.
With airport stores solely reliant on passenger foot traffic, which has fallen 96 per cent since 29 March due to travel restrictions, the BAC team was motivated to find unique ways to support its retail business partners holding millions of dollars of stock.
Martin Ryan, Executive General Manager Consumer, said, “If necessity is the mother of invention, COVID-19 is its father.
“The BAC team has gone from concept to full eCommerce site in just 16 days.
“At launch the site will feature nearly 200 highly sought-after tech items as well as watches and beauty products, with other products being added each week.
“Importantly, this project has kept 25 people in jobs during this challenging time, while supporting the local logistics and freight companies and boosting partner employment through the need for people to ‘pick and pack’ items,” Mr Ryan said.
Lotte Duty Free, BNE’s biggest retail outlet, is the first retailer to offer products online via the new Marketplace, with the goal of more retailers coming online if the project proves successful.
BNE Marketplace will initially operate as an order online and delivery model with local success story Shippit providing logistics support to Australian residences only.
Rob Hango-Zada, Shippit’s Joint-CEO and Co-Founder said, “We are proud to support this initiative and play some role in enabling airport retailers to continue to flourish in a 100 per cent online world.
“We have been blown away by the number of businesses pivoting their operations in uncertain times to not just survive but thrive during this challenging time.
“The BNE Marketplace has turned the world of airport retailing on its head, our mission is to revolutionise how businesses ship anything to anyone anywhere in the world and this presents a great opportunity to collaborate with Brisbane Airport on just that”.
BNE Marketplace launch deals include:
- Apple iPhone 11 Pro 512GB for $2135.00 (saving $214)
- Sennheiser HD 4.30 headphones for $69 (saving $109)
- Apple 16″ MacBook Pro for $3448 (saving $351)
- Samsung s20 Ultra 5G for $1815 (saving $184)
Liquor, perfume, chocolates and other products will be added to the online store in the coming weeks, with a possible ‘click and collect’ service being considered.
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