Travel retail exclusives special report


Taking the Trinity approach

The onus is on brands to create travel retail exclusives, but is there enough collaboration between stakeholders to maximise the positives of these products?

Collaboration between all industry stakeholders on travel retail exclusives is not just desirable but necessary. That’s the message from Gebr Heinemann Chief Commercial Officer Kay Spanger.

Calling for an approach to retailing exclusive products that includes all sides of the Trinity, he says: “We should consider how travel retail exclusives enhance variety and differentiation, and thus also the Sense of Place and signature for each airport.”

Sandrine Tesnière, Head of Marketing Media and Digital Travel Retail at Japanese medical cosmetics brand Dr. Ci:Labo, outlines how she sees the process from a brand perspective.

Unlocking the potential: Dr. Ci:Labo sees an opportunity in its Labo Labo line to develop travel retail exclusives

“First and foremost, it is down to brands to come up with an attractive product offer that will appeal to travellers. It is also their responsibility to clearly communicate to shoppers that these offers are unique to the channel,” she says.

“Once brands create a strong travel retail-exclusive product offer then there is a great opportunity for airports and retailers to jointly promote the travel retail channel and the benefits of shopping there. Travel retail exclusives are of course a major plus and should be promoted to travellers in a way that shows how travel retail is not only a cost-saving or convenience channel.”

Airports, retailers and brand stand to gain from a collaborative approach, but what examples do we see of that when retailing exclusives in the channel today?

The introduction of dedicated areas for travel retail exclusives is cited by Neil Ebbutt, Travel Retail Director at cosmetics and wellness brand Rituals, as “a definite step in the right direction”. But more needs to be done to highlight these areas, he says.

That sentiment is echoed by Nelly Sannwald, Travel Retail Global Account Manager at confectionery company Leonidas. “We see that operators are very keen to see more travel retail exclusives coming into the channel,” she says. “However, currently they are not sufficiently highlighted in store.”

Peter Zehnder, Global Duty Free Division Head at fellow confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli, adds: “It might be helpful if airports could incentivise novelties and allocate free space to duty free operators to launch seasonal or other travel-exclusive products.”

Shiseido Travel Retail Vice President of Marketing & Innovation Elisabeth Jouguelet says the success of travel retail exclusives for the beauty brand is “very much dependent on a collaborative relationship with retailers and airports”.

Elisabeth Jouguelet: “There needs to be a concerted effort to spotlight these exclusive offerings not just instore but also online”

She adds that Shiseido’s success in this field is demonstrated by the retailer-exclusive products it has developed with Lotte Duty Free to celebrate the retailer’s 40th anniversary this year.

Ultimately, all sides of the Trinity need to play their part in communicating travel retail exclusives.

“Lack of awareness among consumers about the value and exclusivity of the products can present a barrier to purchase, and given the frequency of new launches in beauty, it is therefore crucial to communicate in a clearer way the great value of our offers to our customers,” Jouguelet says.

“This is where retailers and airports can play a part in helping to build awareness – there needs to be a concerted effort to spotlight these exclusive offerings not just instore but also online, and we are working very closely with our partners to bolster our digital activations and online shop-in-shops.”

Inflight perspective

UK-based brand representative Nuwave Channel Partners works across the travel retail channel, but specialises in products for inflight. Discussing collaboration with airline stakeholders, CEO Hoj Parmar (pictured right) says: “We work very closely with our larger airline customers and distributors when proposing product ranges. We are in constant communication with our key partners looking at ways to customise our product ranges with the demographic of the airline. We have in the past offered products that are also exclusive to specific airlines for a period of time before opening it up to others.”

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The Moodie Davitt eZine

Issue 277 | 24 February 2020

The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 20 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd).


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