Dufry taps Ombori for a stress-free duty free shopping experience

It can be a stressful shopping experience but duty free chain Dufry took on the challenge of creating a way for customers to shop without the fear of missing a boarding call by installing voice- and touch-controlled kiosks co-developed by digital experience leader, Ombori, and Microsoft.

The solution is called the Guided Selling Store Assistant and it gives customers better flight information than even staff can.

The kiosks, located at Dufry duty-free outlets at Madrid Airport, have turned the tables on the duty free shopping experience by not only helping customers find products but also avoiding the panicked race to the departure gate five minutes before gates close.

The Ombori display, which is powered by Microsoft’s Azure cloud, allows shoppers to scan their boarding pass from a smartphone to find information about their flight and gate number, and also provides a weather forecast for their destination.

A major benefit to customers is that they don’t need to duck out of the store to check the flight schedule board. For Dufry, it reduces the chances of customers abandoning a purchase. It also tells the shopper how long they have to shop before departure — alleviating the anxiety of missing a flight and enabling a relaxed shopping experience.

It then reminds the customer that they can keep purchased items at the store to pick up on their return.

The Azure-powered chatbot guides customers through the purchasing process. Shoppers tap an on-screen button for the product category they’re interested in, such as skincare or fragrance, and the chatbot asks the shopper whether they’d like to use the AI-powered shopping advisor to pick the perfect product.

Customers can choose to use the assistant and are then presented with a range of categories. For fragrances at Dufry, customers can choose floral, oriental, woody, and fresh. Other categories Dufry uses are gifts for men, women and kids, gin, and whisky. For shoppers interested in whisky, the chat bot also asks what characteristics of the drink they like and guides them to the ideal choice.

After finding the desired item, shoppers are then given the choice to buy it online from their smartphone by scanning a QR code on the display, which takes them to the online checkout.

Customers can also make an immediate purchase in-store, using the Ombori Wayfinder — an in-store mapping service that helps customers locate products.

The Ombori-Microsoft solution exemplifies how the cloud and retail display technology can boost sales by putting customers at ease, simply by providing timely travel information where they are. It’s a win-win solution that helps store sales and duty-free shoppers to manage times between the store and the departure gate.