Duty Free

In airports worldwide, a retail transformation is underway. This "phygital" revolution blends digital convenience with physical shopping, addressing the unique needs of travelers. As this change unfolds, it's important to examine how phygital strategies are reshaping airport retail and their impact on travelers and retailers. The Airport Retail Environment Airport retail operates under specific conditions: […]

According to researchers at Brunel University, when it comes to shopping we revert to evolutionary roles – men are the hunters, women are the gatherers.  Women like searching and finding the best values – they enjoy the process of shopping. Men, on the other hand, like the thrill of the kill and the outcome of […]

Research undertaken this year at the University of Toronto suggests that people’s moods impact literally on what they’re able to see.  Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study indicated that people in a good mood took in more information when they look at something, whereas those in a bad mood are more likely to […]

I spend a lot of time in airports & visit a lot of different airports. I know a fair bit about what goes on behind the scenes in them, particularly with airport development, and the amount of money which goes into designing signage. Which is perhaps why I’m left scratching my head at some airport […]

7.4 million tonnes of chocolate were consumed globally in 2008, which Rabobank estimates had a retail value of around AUD127 billion. This has been growing as a category for a number of years and in the GEC has continued to prove robust – after all what’s better when you’re feeling down than a chocolate bar. […]

Going on Sale is generally not an option with Travel Retail. Specials sure but not having a sale. Landlords will rarely let you do it because it downgrades the entire look of the airport or precinct. That however doesn’t mean the principle of Sales can’t be applied or don’t apply. See previous post on the […]

With the new Barcelona Airport T1 due to open in matter of days, I thought it worthwhile taking a look at what it will contain. Firstly to put some context on this, the terminal is designed to cater to 25 million passengers. To begin with, Star Alliance flights will move to the terminal, One World […]

People are eagerly awaiting the new Barcelona Airport T1 in another week or two and the retailers are busily getting ready. The commercial space at T1 is 28,612m2 of which 9,812m2 is to be occupied by a Business centre, VIP lounges and other customer services. This leaves 18,796m2 in retail & F&B, with almost 2/3rds […]

A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research dealt with how consumers become better at self-regulating purchases the more they’ve been exposed to similar options before. It was proposed as a way of enabling people to resist the temptation of over-spending or over-eating. What the study indicated was the more people are exposed to […]

After a major renovation of Terminal B and rave passenger reviews, Logan Airport’s master concessionaire BAA Boston has reported a 52% increase in spend per pax. Spend per passenger (PSR) rose from US$7.42 at the start of the project to US$11.25 by the end of 2008. The project resulted in 20 new stores including a […]

Changi are moving from soft launch to full blown promotion with their “You Shop, We Absorb GST” promotion landside in T3. Basically the promotion makes Changi Landside GST free. Not as good as duty free perhaps but still a good saving for visitors to the airport unable to enjoy the benefits of going airside. CAAS […]

Aside from the extraordinary range of F&B, T5 also distinguishes itself with an innovative retail mix consisting of: Blue Sky Traders  — Newsstand, sundries, “Read & Return” books and Press Express, a grab-and-go newspaper dispenser. Borders — Full-size bookstore offering 7,000 titles as well as CDs and DVDs. Brighton — Creative accessories you can mix […]

Changi already has Duty Free carts (operated by DFS) but spotted for the T3 launch was this cart by Nuance to promote the L L.A.M.B. fragrance brand From Moodie Report

Auckland opened its new arrivals duty free store on 31st March. Previously Nuance and DFS both operated arrivals duty free stores in Auckland but in a somewhat controversial move, the airport chose to centralise the offering into a single walk-through store. The concern in some people’s minds was that two stores encouraged more price competition […]

In March, World Duty Free will open its new Connoisseur Bar in Heathrow’s T5.  The new concept will allow passengers to sample and explores a range of cognacs and malts.  The bar is located within one of the Duty Free stores and will feature a team of trained experts offering one-to-one tasting sessions tailored to […]

Moet Hennessy have introduced a concept for its luxury brands at T2 Taipei International on the departures concourse. Its a promotion running till 29 Feb. With Hennessy for example, a teaser video is played after which consumers can select from three cocktails by pressing a button. When clicked, it launches an educational cocktail video while […]

Dubai Duty Free announced a 24% increase in sales for 2007, reaching just over AU1billion.Whilst this seems good, it has to be viewed within the context of around an 18% increase in passenger numbers and an estimated 8% inflation effect for the year. Core duty free categories (fragrances, liquor, gold, electronics, tobacco products) accounted for […]

Beijing’s new addition to its airport infrastructure, Terminal 3, has passed all its inspections and is now ready for operation.  However it isn’t expected to start trial operation until Feb 29. This additional terminal increases Beijing’s airport pax capacity from a theoretical 35 million (though last year its throughput was 48.6 million) to somewhere between […]