Duty Free Shoppers Remain Open to Influence

As we get fully underway with the analysis of the new Global Shopper Database, one of the clearest themes emerging is how purchase planning continues to soften within the Duty Free industry, with just 40% of shoppers now actively planning their purchase before entering the store.

And this brings us back to one of the most important dynamics in Travel Retail, just how open to influence today’s Duty Free shopper is when inside the retail environment.

At one end of the spectrum, we have the fully impulsive shoppers, travellers who enter the store with no predefined purchase intention at all. These shoppers are highly receptive to the classic impulse triggers that continue to drive conversion in airport Duty Free retail, including price, promotions, exclusivity, visibility, retail theatre and differentiation.

However, the more interesting finding is that even shoppers who do plan remain highly open to influence.

In fact, currently only 26% of shoppers that plan their purchase, plan to an exact item level. For everyone else planning to buy, there is still considerable flexibility in the final purchase decision, with the current planning spectrum including:

➡️ Planning to an Exact Item Level (26% of planned buyers) – The shopper knows the precise product they intend to buy before entering the store

➡️ Planning to a Brand Level (28% of planned buyers) – The shopper has decided on a specific brand, but not necessarily the exact product or format

➡️ Planning to a Range of Brands Level (12% of planned buyers) – The shopper has a shortlist of brands in mind and intends to make the final decision in store

➡️ Planning to a Spend Level (8% of planned buyers) – The shopper knows roughly how much they want to spend, but not exactly what they will purchase

➡️ Planning to a Category Level (15% of planned buyers) – The shopper intends to buy within a category such as alcohol, beauty or confectionery, but has not selected a final product

➡️ Planning to an Overall Duty Free Purchase Level (11% of planned buyers) – The shopper intends to buy something in Duty Free, but without a fixed category or brand in mind

This highlights one of the biggest misconceptions within the industry, the idea that shoppers are either “planned” or “impulse”. In reality, planning exists on a spectrum, and understanding the level at which a traveller is planning is critical to understanding how open they still are to influence inside the store.

A shopper may have already mentally committed to spending money, but the final brand, product, format, price tier and overall basket are often still highly fluid.

This is exactly why activations, exclusives, staff engagement, promotions and retail theatre remain so important. Their role is not simply to drive completely unplanned purchases, but to also shape, redirect and expand purchasing missions that already existed.