Offering a full boutique experience, especially with a consultation, is no easy task in travel retail. It’s question of consumer engagement, notes Augé.

“It can be a challenge. Many people are at the airport for one, two hours or more, but they still feel rushed. The question is how to engage the consumer and offer an experience without wasting time. It works well at Paris Charles de Gaulle S4 [a pop-up store opened there last December -Ed] but the selling ceremony has to be adapted. First, when a consumer enters a boutique in the local market they want to do a short tour, to browse, but in travel retail they come directly to your counter, and decide there and then whether it is engaging or not. What also happens is that the customers at first say they have five to ten minutes but then they stay a lot longer. It’s about how we adapt.”

Another challenge for many brands is the cost of entry to travel retail. Augé says that the business is profitable and one in which continued investment will be made.

“The big retailers have issues with their concessions, which have become more expensive, and their return on investment comes over a shorter period, so that needs managing. We understand this. What we want is to allow the brand to have great visibility. In some local markets the brand is not always visible in the way we want, but in most airports you get the very latest version of the brand and that brings a lot to the consumer. Sure, the retailer wants to show their own DNA but the brands build the business. It involves a lot of investment on both sides but let’s try to manage that as best we can in partnership.”

The Guerlain management team is swift to highlight the brand’s partnerships and relationships, from the farmers who source raw materials to the glass makers for bottles to retailers, both offline and online. What does partnership mean in the context of the international retail business, we ask?

Augé says: “For retailers and distributors, first we want to be seen as a solid, honest, elegant brand, which keeps and develops good relationships with its customers. We want to be a safe partner, and to enjoy sustained growth with loyal, close customers.”

That should enable the growth trajectory until now to continue, he concludes.

“We are aiming for double-digit growth every year. It’s not easy but we are on track. We hit that target last year, we are achieving it this year and our plan for next year’s budget is to repeat our double-digit growth.”