Overview
In July 2021, Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) took over TSA’s Lost & Found responsibilities to streamline travelers’ experience when losing an item on property.
Consolidating the Lost & Found inventory under SAV’s management allows the airport to take control of their travelers’ lost item experience and eliminate the hassle of duplicating efforts by submitting lost item reports with the airport and TSA. To increase their chances of recovering a lost item, travelers often contact all the businesses they visited, as they may not recall the specific location where the item was lost.
Operationally, absorbing TSA’s inventory meant a 186% increase in Lost & Found inventory under management for SAV’s Customer Experience team. The jump in inventory resulted in significantly more calls, emails, in-person inquiries, time spent on matching items, and processing returns, stress-testing SAV’s Customer Experience department’s resources.
“Following the Boomerang demo, we were blown away… it had everything that we didn’t know we needed,” said Lee Ann Norris, Customer Experience Manager at SAV.
Solution
In January 2023, SAV turned to Boomerang, the leading Lost & Found platform, to digitally transform their operation and enhance their travelers’ Lost & Found experience. As an organization, SAV takes great pride in delivering a first-class customer experience.
In Q1 2023, SAV experienced significant gains across operational efficiency and department effectiveness.
Increased Lost Item Claims
Prior to the Boomerang partnership, all lost item inquiries were routed to a support number and email. Now, lost item claims are being driven digitally through Boomerang. SAV’s digital claims have increased by 85.15% from January through March.
The SAV team has done a phenomenal job at increasing awareness about submitting claims with Boomerang if a traveler loses an item at the airport. Efforts have included press, social media posts, instructions on their airport Jumbotron, and 1-sheet handouts at the Information Desk. These combined efforts have played a significant role in the continued increase in month-over-month claim submissions, shown below.
Digitized Inventory Management
The SAV team now has a digitized process when handling found items, allowing for strong internal data integrity in the Lost & Found department. SAV’s found inventory has grown by 79.85% in the first quarter of 2023. Having the data online in the Boomerang portal allows for real-time reporting, user accountability, automated matching, and so much more.
Enhanced Communication
Before Boomerang, SAV manually powered all emails to customers, informing them of their lost item claims status, coordinating pick-up, and processing a shipping return. Now, emails are powered by Boomerang’s software to boost communication at the Lost & Found touchpoint while decreasing the email workload by 50% for the Customer Experience team at SAV. In Q1 2023, Boomerang sent over 11 thousand emails to travelers.
High Return Rates
SAV’s return rates are increasing each month, ending March with a claim-to-return rate just shy of 60%. This is an industry-leading return rate, and the data is showing the SAV team continues to improve its return rate month over month.
Simplified Shipping Experience
As a popular tourist destination, many travelers passing through SAV do not live locally, so they need the item to be shipped back to them when their item is found. Throughout Q1 2023, 25.8% of returns were shipped, powered through the Boomerang platform. The SAV team has reported a 40% reduction in time spent on shipping tasks.
With Boomerang’s strong shipping rates, over 50% of customers chose the fastest shipping option to recover their item.
