Travel retail highlights
Broadening the engagement with luxury
Dubai Duty Free is exploring new ways of exposing travellers to its offer as travel remains limited and certain parts of the world’s leading international airport are shut down.
Examples include its Concierge service that allows customers to order goods from a counter and be delivered to them for payment. The retailer’s Click & Collect service allows ordering online 48 hours before travel, with goods to be picked up on departure.
The company has also been active in the key luxury goods channel, with many boutiques closed, as only DXB Concourse B and Terminal 2 are serving flights currently.
The pop-up space offers a platform for eight brands whose locations elsewhere in the airport are closed
As part of its response, Dubai Duty Free recently opened a 245sq m luxury fashion pop-up store in Concourse B, featuring a curated collection of apparel, handbags and accessories.
The brand line-up includes Coach, Michael Kors, MCM, Furla, Escada, Etienne Aigner, Emporio Armani and Ralph Lauren. It’s a valuable initiative in a central and highly visible location, offering a showcase for brands that are represented in parts of DXB that are currently closed. The launch follows the permanent relocation of Gifts from Dubai into two Foodplus shops in Concourse B (East and West).
Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin says: “Every retail space counts now more than ever and this new pop-up shop enables us to feature fashion brands from other concourses. We believe in the fashion sector’s ongoing potential and using this space efficiently provides the brands with a good opportunity as well as providing passengers using Concourse B with the opportunity to shop for their favourite fashion items.”
The extensive floor area devoted to the brands underlines the key role of luxury in elevating the offer and experience
It's an important initiative – fashion & accessories contributed 6% to total company sales in 2019, led by Chanel, Gucci and Hermès but with other brands also contributing strongly across ready to wear, handbags, luggage and other accessories.
Expect more such initiatives from Dubai Duty Free across both physical and online space to help brands engage with customers in the recovery phase – before full-scale opening as the international travel market rebuilds.
*Dubai Duty Free is a Platinum Partner at the Virtual Travel Retail Expo. Click here to register.
Partner's message
The Moodie Davitt eZine Issue 284 | 30 September 2020
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 12 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd).
© All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher.
To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail sinead@moodiedavittreport.com