The store experience
Take a walk through Morpho Travel Experience – at its many airport locations – and what is striking is the level of sampling, theatre, colour and fun around the stores. There is something happening everywhere you look – an artisan explaining how they make their products, a cigar roller plying their trade, a digital screen telling the story of a region and its handicrafts, a QR code with a link to product, tourist information or a CSR initiative, and much more.
We saw this first-hand on our visit to the retail programmes in Morpho’s home market, Costa Rica, at San José Juan Santamaria International Airport and at Liberia International. These are Morpho’s two key airport locations in the country, the latter serving the hugely popular Guanacaste tourism area.
Importantly, the store concepts themselves look and feel different, whether it’s Rumbo, Casa Tica, Emprende or others. Some appeal to travellers’ sense of adventure, others speak to the artisanal heritage of an area, some to rain forest themes, others to food. T-shirts and keyrings have their place in parts of certain stores, but you won’t find them mixed in with fine handicrafts or jewellery.
The company also neatly adapts the local offer into travelised concepts or spaces where it is demanded. In Guanacaste, the popularity of surfing is reflected in some of the apparel while the rise of sports fishing in Costa Rican tourism means this has become a category all its own.
Bringing local products to life at San José Juan Santamaría International Airport
CEO Adriana Echandi says: “The whole offer has evolved. We used to have newspapers and camera rolls. Now we tap into growth sectors like fishing or carry more appeal to kids.”
That fast adaptation to new demand is one reason why a relatively small location such as Liberia International – with fewer than two million passengers a year, mainly from the US – carries such high spends.
In San José, the profile is more mixed, with around 75% visitors and 25% locals flying in and out of Juan Santamaría International, including strong coverage by Copa Airlines to and from regional hub Panama.
Here, as one moves through security, is a retail arena with a difference from most other airports. What a surprise to see destination merchandise rather than duty free as the walk-through environment and the dominant first category as you arrive airside. (Duty free, managed as a charitable endeavour by government, takes a back seat at Costa Rican airports.)
The 1,000sq m of retail developed by Morpho – a further 1,000sq m of F&B sits close by – speaks to the company’s dominant status in its home airport market.
Liberating the offer through Sense of Place at Liberia International
The walk-through is a wonderful evocation and representation of Costa Rica. Rumbo, Whoops!, Mercadito and other brands channel a blend of travel essentials and destination goods, kids’ products, sunglasses and accessories, across price points and talking points.
The main area of the store, branded as Pura Vida, features the highest average ticket of any store in the company, and almost half of the company’s sales at the airport come from this store post-security.
Director of Retail Alberto Perez Ibarra says: “This is driven by the range, the visual animation, the theatre, the tasting of coffee, a photo opportunity with the sloth, a symbol of Costa Rica. We want the traveller to enter the shops de-stressed. We repeat things they have seen in their stay – music, the wildlife, the rain forests, the coffee and so on. This is a memory of their stay.”
Pride of Costa Rica: Coffee and chocolates are to the fore airside in San José
The Pura Vida store carries cues from the natural landscapes of the country, inspired by earth, volcanoes, oceans and other themes in the design. Giant heads – the over-sized character faces used in carnival periods – are also placed around the store and act as familiar echoes to visitors of their stay. Further on you’ll find large handmade sculptures in wood or stone; with these precious artworks the company will ship to your home.
Alongside the range, the role of people in the stores also cannot be under-estimated. Perez says: “We employ actors as hosts who are actors to create a real sense of the country – they do this very nicely and in a way that is different from our salespeople. They explain about the culture, the geography, the national parks, make sure they have a relaxing time, with coffee or chocolate, in that place just after security. That allows guests to orientate themselves and maybe feel inspired to buy something on impulse.”
The striking entrance to the airside departures lounge at Juan Santamaria International
These hosts are complemented by skilled salespeople who walk the store rather than waiting at cash desks.
“The flow between categories is high, and we are always trying new things with our category placements,” says Perez. “We have been at this airport for 22 years and it’s our testing ground and signature location.”
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