Airport retail demand forecasting works better with an early read on whether passengers are about to stay longer than the board suggests. That is the input DwellTime is designed to provide.
Airport retail demand forecasting means deciding, before a shift, how much stock to hold and how many people to put on the floor. DwellTime.aero is designed to add one input those decisions lack: an early read on whether passengers will spend longer in the terminal than the departure board implies. A captive population changes what it buys the moment it stops moving.
A delay changes what the people inside do next.
Nothing moves until the wait becomes credible.
Water, sandwiches, wrapped snacks. Anything needing no decision.
Machines and hands cap throughput, not milk in the fridge.
The queue shows an hour too late. Delays push closing times.
Three scores, answering different parts of the shift.
Scoped to a business type, so a cafe reading answers your question.
Longer stays produce the second and third purchase.
Strain on the operation. Cancellations can remove airside footfall instead.
Confidence says how far to trust a score. The risk window says when.
Illustrative examples, not instructions.
Passengers may stay airside longer than scheduled.
Check grab-and-go and water levels early.
Wait-driven purchases may reach the counter.
Open the second till, split the queue.
Flights may cancel, so footfall falls.
Hold the stock order and cover landside.
The inputs disagree about the drivers.
Treat it as a watch item.
Last departures may run late, closing later.
Ask the closing team about availability early.
Illustrative scenario
Mid-afternoon, a unit manager sees dwell-time pressure reach HIGH for the next one to three hours.
The pastry case is refilled early, a second person moves to hot drinks, and the closing supervisor is warned.
If it arrives, the unit is ready. If not, the cost was one rearranged hour.
Nobody here sits at a desk. Alerts reach a pocket; the dashboard covers the morning ahead.
Disruption does not automatically mean more demand, and nothing here is live yet. Tell us more on the pilot page.
DwellTime is in early development. Tell us about your airport and your business, and help shape the first pilot.
