Airport retailers look to make every minute count

For many air travellers, shopping for duty-free products from perfume and whisky to luxury goods is a part of their trip overseas, while others may feel bombarded by the retail offering. In fact, says Julián Diaz, chief executive of Switzerland’s Dufry, the world’s largest travel retailer by sales, “only 16% of the passengers going through an airport buy something”. The challenge facing Dufry, which in 2015 acquired World Duty Free for SFr3.8bn, and its main rivals is to increase sales generated from passengers in the time before they embark on flights, as well to profit from shifting traffic flows. Dufry this week reported annual, like-for-like sales growth of 8.9% in the three months to June, its fastest rate since late 2011, to US$3.9b. That was partly the result of strong growth at UK airports, where a weak pound has meant bargain prices for overseas visitors. Another powerful force was the increase in global air travel. There has been a “complete turnaround” during the past six months in the number of travellers from China, Russia and Brazil, says Diaz. The previous 18 months have been “the toughest period of time”, he adds. “Now the situation has normalised tremendously.” he global duty-free industry is expected to grow to about $67b by 2020, from an estimated $45.7b in 2016, according to Dufry. It forecasts that Asia-Pacific will be the fastest-growing market in airport retail sales during the next five years, with sales in 2020 at levels almost double those of 2014. Story goes into more details. <br/>