With turnover of € 60.1 million in the last financial year, the company’s path of success once again leads upwards – even the pandemic cannot slow it down. Digitization accelerated projects in many areas, and new technologies boosted demand. This is reflected in a pleasing increase in sales of 15.4%.
Forever on the cutting edge and working hand-in-hand with customers, Axess AG succeeds in swiftly developing innovations and bringing them to market. “Our success speaks for the company’s strategy,” says Oliver Suter, CSO and member of the Board. “The fact that a company can call itself successful in a global economic crisis makes us proud; even more so because it was achieved without having to claim state benefits and without putting a single employee on short-time work,” says Suter.
The trend towards digitization led to numerous projects in the leisure and trade fair areas. Requirements for a limited number of visitors and the necessity to register guests called for new solutions. “The success of the past year showcases how adaptable the company is, as well as making the right decisions in times of crisis,” explains Christian Windhager, CEO and member of the Board. This is confirmed by € 60.1 million in sales, 13,000 installations in 53 countries, and over 360 employees.
The upgrading of ski areas with self-service checkouts and online ticketing solutions led to worldwide growth last year. The Axess WEBSHOP or TICKET FRAME 600 paired with the Axess PICK UP BOX 600 create a new, independent checkout station for guests. Other e-commerce products are already being developed and are enriching the current financial year. Further development of Bluetooth technology turns a smartphone into a ticket, and is becoming increasingly in demand.
The high demand for Covid certificate controls also had a positive effect on business in the ski resort sector. The Scandinavian countries saw growth of 36.6%. The German-speaking region (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) was able to nearly maintain sales, while France, Spain and Italy saw a decline in turnover due to the Covid-related closures. China tripled its sales, Japan realized smaller projects despite cautious investments, and the CEE region shined thanks to business with existing customers and new projects such one as in Krasnaya Polyana. The first projects were implemented in Australia/New Zealand after the establishment of its branch. The ski business in the American market went through the roof: over 40 projects were implemented and sales increased by 54.8%.
In the stadium sector, an unbelievable number of new projects in the USA were made reality. Despite hardware delivery bottlenecks, 25 projects were installed, including for example, the stadiums of the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, New York Yankees and many other prominent stadiums. In Finland, the newly-built Nokia Arena opened its gates with Axess systems, and Axess also equipped the German Bundesliga’s FC Freiburg stadium.
The European trade fair sector has also developed and grown, thanks to software products that enable the flow of visitors to be regulated. Online registration and online ticket sales are among the “must haves” for the future. The unique selling point of Axess systems is that everything is controlled from a single data center. Numerous exhibition centers including the GHM, Fish International, Elmia in Sweden, the Messe Dornbirn exhibition center and the Messezentrum Salzburg exhibition center used the break caused by Covid-19 to invest and upgrade their venues with better technology.
The third major area of growth was the leisure sector. From general access to a park, to allowing visitor access to a single attraction – digitization has made a huge contribution to growth here. Axess systems are in use at venues such as the Salzburg Cathedral, Legoland on Lake Garda and the beaches of Lake Attersee. Due to intensive work in this sector, sales are expected to increase even more, especially in the coming year. New developments will also come into play, although facial recognition technology in the field of access control, a “standard” on the Chinese market, cannot be enforced in Europe due to strict data protection regulations. On Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, this technology, which is integrated into the Axess access systems, can even be used to “pay with your face.”
“In the past year, our product portfolio was consistently expanded to include additional digital solutions, and we tested new technologies,” explains Daniel Wakounig, CTO and member of the Board, whose expertise in e-commerce will enable many new products and solutions in the future. After all, Axess’ motto is still the same in the new financial year: The only way is up!
