Luxury Beauty Brands Make Over Airport Retail
Photo Credit: An interactive digital mirror for shade selection at Estee Lauder. High-end duty-free shopping is big business. Dufry
Skift Take
Duty-free airport retail is an excellent way to reach coveted consumers. But airports also serve as the perfect global showcase for brands to test market products, try out new retail concepts, and build brand awareness among customers from emerging countries.
Let’s face it, airline passengers are a captive audience. They have time to kill, and credit cards in hand. Then there’s the fact that architects are designing international airports so that international travelers can’t avoid the endless slog through duty-free prior to arriving at the gate. Add to that the oft-misguided perception that duty-free offers better-than-street prices, and you have the perfect conditions for commerce.
That's why airport stores can serve as data labs for international luxury brands. “If travel retail isn’t of strategic important to global brands, it should be," said Luke Stockton, an analyst at NPD Travel Retail suggests.
The beauty industry (cosmetics, skincare and fragrance) gets that. It is a dominant player in the travel retail duty-free space. It's estimated that beauty accounts for about one-third of the total duty-free market, and is among the top performers gr
