FOCUS
FOCUS
The rapid growth of digital technology and its impact on the dutyfree and travel retail market, particularly in the APAC region, should not be ignored.
to expand their business operations in emerging economies by adopting various strategies, such as acquisition and contact / agreement.
Juul-Mortensen added that the rapid growth of digital technology and its impact on the duty-free and travel retail market, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, should not be ignored.
“ In China, for example, we are seeing the use of smart digital payment solutions that are making it easier and more convenient for customers to shop with duty-free and travel retailers.
Giving what travellers want
TRAVEL retail offers a great distribution channel for brands and Erik Juul-Mortensen, president of Tax Free World Association( TFWA), believes this has come from a combination of close collaboration between retailers and brands— by developing excellent retail operations and understanding exactly who their customers are and what products and brands they are looking for.
“ Duty-free and travel retail stores provide an excellent opportunity to showcase a wide variety of products and brands adapted to the profile of the travelling consumer. In the Asia- iShopChangi— the airport’ s e-commerce portal— offers passengers the convenience of purchasing online between 30 days and 18 hours before their departure flights, and picking up their buys at any terminal.
“ The use of digital technologies to collect and manage data is also giving forward-thinking retailers opportunities to use this information to communicate directly with travellers and to create tailored experiences for passengers, which is further enhancing the travel experience.
“ The thinking about how technology can be used to deliver an even better retail experience should definitely be a key focus for all Asia-Pacific travel retailers,” he advised.
China has also been cited by Allied Market Research as the major operator in the Asia-Pacific travel retail industry and accounted for around 65 % of the market share in 2016.
Pacific market, for example, we have been working closely with Asia-Pacific Travel Retail Association( APTRA) to gain insight into the shopping behaviour of passengers using, in this case, Hong Kong International Airport.
“ In turn, this helps us to pinpoint which brands and campaigns work well in this specific environment. Brands may compete for market share and retailers for concessions, but our basic interests are fundamentally aligned and we are able to achieve many things when we work together as one industry,” he said. ra
Travel retail in Asia is set to continue progressing in future and Juul-Mortensen is confident it will continue to grow but it will also have to make some adjustments to keep up with the times.“ Based on current trends and an increase of new travel opportunities in the region, I expect the Asia-Pacific market will continue to grow and further strengthen its position as a dominant force in duty-free and travel retail.
“ However, this growth will not come without hard work and our industry will need to adapt quickly to keep pace with the digital revolution and the rise of e-commerce and m-commerce,” he concluded. ra
CAG revealed that retail is an important part of Changi Airport’ s operations, contributing to about half of CAG’ s total revenue.
18 Retail Asia August 2018