Elevate Retail Experiences in Airports with 3D Spatial Intelligence

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the typical ratio of non-purchasing to purchasing travelers in airport duty-free?

  In travel retail, roughly three travelers browse for every one who makes a purchase, a 3:1 non-purchasing to purchasing ratio. That gap is structurally different from high-street retail, where conversion rates are typically higher and dwell is self-selected. Understanding which store zones attract browsers versus buyers, and what behavioral sequences precede a purchase, is the core analytics problem that spatially-aware retail platforms are designed to address. Outsight's Motional Digital Twin captures anonymous 3D movement data across airport concourses and retail zones, giving operators the ability to correlate dwell patterns, flow paths, and zone engagement with actual purchase behavior, without collecting any biometric or identity data.

• How does anonymous LiDAR tracking work inside a duty-free store?

  LiDAR sensors mounted in the store ceiling emit laser pulses and measure the 3D position and motion of every person in the space. Each shopper is assigned a temporary anonymous ID the moment they enter and tracked continuously through the store: which shelves they approach, how long they pause, whether they pick up or put back a product, and how long they wait at checkout. This is the foundational principle behind Outsight's approach to Spatial Intelligence, where LiDAR captures shape and motion rather than images, meaning faces, ethnicity, and personal appearance are never recorded. The result satisfies GDPR and similar regulations by design, not as an afterthought, making it a practical fit for high-footfall airport retail environments where privacy compliance is non-negotiable.

• Can the same LiDAR sensors that track terminal passenger flow also cover airside retail?

  Yes, provided the sensor network extends into the retail zone. A continuous shared 3D point cloud covers both the terminal concourse and the individual stores within it, so a shopper tracked from the gate holdroom into a duty-free zone carries the same anonymous ID throughout. Outsight's infrastructure-based approach makes this practical: LiDAR sensors are mounted in the ceiling rather than attached to any moving entity, meaning the same physical hardware serves terminal flow monitoring and airside retail coverage within a single deployment. The SHIFT platform then correlates pre-store dwell behavior with in-store conversion across that uninterrupted feed, a behavioral chain that collapses when separate systems are stitched together after the fact.

• How does LiDAR-based store analytics compare to camera-based retail analytics?

  Camera-based retail analytics infers position and dwell from 2D image frames, which degrades in dense crowds due to occlusions and requires post-processing to strip faces or biometric signals for privacy compliance. LiDAR measures 3D position and motion natively, assigns each shopper a unique ID with centimeter-level precision, and never records image data. Accuracy in high-density store entrances and queue areas is higher because depth measurements are not affected by overlapping bodies the way 2D pixel analysis is. Outsight's approach takes this further by processing LiDAR point clouds through its SHIFT platform with a sub-50ms pipeline, producing anonymous occupancy and flow data by definition, since LiDAR captures shape and motion rather than faces or biometric signals, making privacy compliance structural rather than a post-processing step.

• What product placement decisions can airport retailers make with spatial flow data?

  Spatial flow data maps which areas of a store attract the most foot traffic, how long shoppers dwell at each fixture, and which product interactions do not convert to purchase. Outsight's SHIFT platform generates this data from infrastructure-mounted LiDAR sensors, producing anonymous 3D tracking of shopper movement without capturing faces or biometric identifiers. Retailers use these insights to relocate high-margin products to high-traffic zones, identify fixtures that generate browsing but not sales, and redesign store layouts to reduce the distance between high-attraction and high-conversion areas. Staffing decisions, such as where to position sales associates during peak boarding waves, are also grounded in measured zone density rather than intuition.

• Does traveler type (transit, origin, destination) affect airport retail behavior, and can LiDAR measure it?

  Traveler type correlates strongly with dwell time and purchase propensity: origin-destination passengers with longer pre-boarding windows tend to browse more extensively than tight-connection transit passengers. LiDAR-based platforms can segment these behavioral patterns by time-in-store, movement speed, and interaction sequence. Outsight's Motional Digital Twin applies exactly this logic at infrastructure scale, fusing real-time 3D movement data with flight schedule inputs such as departure times and gate proximity to infer traveler category without collecting any personal identifier. Because LiDAR captures shape and motion rather than faces or biometric data, the segmentation is anonymous by definition. The result is a behavioral segmentation grounded in actual movement rather than survey estimates, giving airport retailers a reliable basis for staffing, assortment, and layout decisions.

• Who is E23 and what does its partnership bring to airport retail?

  E23 is a provider of retail technology solutions, led by CEO Alessandro Lo Piano. In February 2025, E23 and Outsight announced a strategic partnership to transform airport retail operations using Spatial Intelligence based on 3D LiDAR. Outsight's software platform works with E23's retail solutions to track passenger movements anonymously and in real time inside duty-free stores, lounges and commercial areas. The combined offer gives airport operators and retailers a shared, data-driven view of how travellers move, browse and buy.

• When was the E23 airport retail partnership announced, and what was its goal?

  Outsight and E23 announced their strategic partnership on 10 February 2025. The stated goal is to transform airport retail operations with Spatial Intelligence built on 3D LiDAR. The partners start from the observation that optimizing passenger flow, dwell times and customer interactions has become essential for maximizing revenue and improving the shopping experience in airports. Together they target the commercial side of the terminal: duty-free stores, lounges and other retail areas.

• Which areas of an airport does the E23 retail analytics solution cover?

  The Outsight and E23 solution is designed for the commercial zones of an airport terminal. The partnership names duty-free stores, lounges and commercial areas as the spaces where passenger movements are tracked anonymously and in real time. In these zones the system measures foot traffic patterns, store engagement and checkout behaviors. Airport operators and retailers can then use the same data to adjust store layouts, product placement and queue management across the retail footprint.

• What shopper behaviors can LiDAR analytics measure inside an airport duty-free store?

  The Outsight and E23 solution measures foot traffic patterns, store engagement and checkout behaviors inside airport shops. Its analytics include distribution analysis by traveller type covering product touches, pick ups, put backs and sales. These interactions are cross-referenced with consumer-brand interaction sequences. Retailers use these insights to optimize store layouts, product placements and queue management, and to tailor offerings to passenger needs.

• How does the airport retail analytics solution help turn browsers into buyers?

  E23 CEO Alessandro Lo Piano points to a 3:1 ratio of non-purchasing to purchasing travelers as one of travel retail's unique challenges. The combined Outsight and E23 solution turns this challenge into an opportunity by providing actionable insights that bridge the gap between attraction and purchase decisions. Retailers see foot traffic patterns, store engagement, checkout behaviors and product touches, pick ups and put backs by traveller type. With these insights they can optimize layouts and product placements and enhance sales conversion rates in duty-free and commercial areas.

• Can LiDAR analytics help reduce checkout queues in airport shops?

  Yes. The Outsight and E23 solution tracks passenger movements anonymously within duty-free stores, lounges and commercial areas, including foot traffic patterns, store engagement and checkout behaviors. Airport retailers use these insights to optimize store layouts, product placements and queue management. The partners present reduced congestion as one of the core benefits, together with higher sales conversion rates and offers tailored more effectively to passenger needs. Raul Bravo, President Founder of Outsight, describes the approach as a privacy-friendly yet highly accurate way to understand passenger movements.

• What is travel profiling in airport retail analytics?

  Travel profiling in the Outsight and E23 solution means analyzing shopper behavior by traveller type. The dashboard shows distribution analysis by traveller type for product touches, pick ups, put backs and sales. These profiles are cross-referenced with consumer-brand interaction sequences, so a retailer can see how different groups of travellers engage with specific brands. This helps retailers tailor their offerings to the passengers who actually walk through each store.

• Who benefits from airport retail analytics: the airport, the retailer, or the traveller?

  All three benefit, according to the partners. Airport operators and retailers gain insights into foot traffic, store engagement and checkout behaviors, which help enhance sales conversion rates, reduce congestion and tailor offerings to passenger needs more effectively. Raul Bravo, President Founder of Outsight, describes the approach as enabling data-driven decision-making that benefits both retailers and travellers alike. The partnership is framed around improving the shopping experience for travellers in duty-free stores, lounges and commercial areas.

• How does Raul Bravo describe the privacy of LiDAR tracking in the E23 airport retail partnership?

  Raul Bravo, President Founder of Outsight, calls LiDAR-based tracking a privacy-friendly yet highly accurate method of understanding passenger movements. He presents the E23 partnership as a step toward modernizing airport retail experiences. The partners contrast this with traditional analytics that rely on camera-based systems, which pose privacy concerns and offer limited accuracy in dynamic environments. With Outsight's Spatial Intelligence, passenger movements in shops and lounges are tracked anonymously.

• Why do passenger flow and dwell time matter so much for airport retail revenue?

  Outsight and E23 base their partnership on the view that optimizing passenger flow, dwell times and customer interactions is essential for maximizing airport retail revenue and improving shopping experiences. Their solution tracks passenger movements anonymously and in real time within duty-free stores, lounges and commercial areas. The resulting insights into foot traffic patterns, store engagement and checkout behaviors help retailers optimize store layouts, product placements and queue management. This allows airport operators and retailers to enhance sales conversion rates and reduce congestion.

• How can airport retailers increase sales using passenger flow data?

  Airport retail revenue depends on how many passengers pass each shop, how long they have before boarding and how relaxed they are after security. Flow data shows footfall in front of each store, entry and dwell times inside, and how queues upstream cut into shopping time. Combined with point-of-sale data, it lets retailers measure conversion, test layouts and promotions, and staff for real peaks. Outsight's Spatial Intelligence Platform measures these flows anonymously and can link them to POS data to model conversion.