FRANCE/UK. The Moodie Davitt Report travelled to the Port of Calais yesterday, as the first travel retail media invited to see Danish shipping and logistics company DFDS’s recently-opened 1,000sq m duty free store. We bring you images of a bright new shopping experience that has helped drive a seven-fold increase in spend per passenger post-Brexit and the related introduction of new duty free allowances.
DFDS runs cross-Channel services from Dover to Calais and Dunkirk and was awarded the contract to run the shop by the port operator, Port of Calais, last year. The store is located in the port’s new terminal.
The Calais venture – which is adjacent to the freight and passenger lanes, making it convenient to shop for bulky items – is one of two new shore-based duty free shopping experiences that DFDS is now operating in France. The other is a 700sq m facility which opened in Dunkirk last October.
DFDS offers a broad duty free product range including a collection of electronics brands, a partnership with Lego and a wide variety of premium alcohol, tobacco, confectionery, cosmetics and fragrance brands.
The Calais shop has been buoyed by the return of duty free allowances for UK travellers transiting between the UK and France. As a result of Brexit, from 1 January 2021 changes to regulations and allowances mean travellers visiting the store or travelling on cross-Channel ferries do not have to pay tax on a variety of products.
They can now save -50% on UK high street prices for some categories, including alcohol. A -20% discount is available on perfumes, cosmetics and electronics up to the permitted personal allowances of £390. Each member of a group or family aged over 18 is entitled to this personal allowance.
Passengers travelling to Britain can bring back three crates of beer, two cases of still wine and one case of sparkling wine, or four litres of spirits without paying duties.
The Moodie Davitt Report and the BBC were given a tour of the new store by DFDS Shore Side Manager Tracey Keane-Charlut, who told us business is booming after the lifting of travel restrictions from the UK. She reports that revenues at the store have risen by more than +70% week-on-week in each of the two most recent weeks.
Currently the product offer at Calais is dominated by wines & spirits brands on its ground floor. However, by the school holidays of the European summer, a second floor will open with an extended beauty offer including ample space for activations by global beauty brands.
Keane-Charlut is working alongside supply partner Gebr. Heinemann to bring major brands across a variety of categories to the store and is also working directly with new brands for listings at both the Calais and Dunkirk shops.
Business should be soon boosted by DFDS’s most expensive ever advertising campaign for its cross-Channel routes. In the coming weeks, every home in the Southeast of England will receive a magazine promoting cross-Channel travel on DFDS ships including its flagship, Cote d’Opale (see our report here), and the location and offers of the duty free stores in Calais and Dunkirk. This will be supplemented by a radio advertising campaign in the Southeast region.
A cross-category website is also being piloted by DFDS through which products from an initial 250 brands will be available for customers to pay for online and collect at the Calais and Dunkirk stores. Keane-Charlut said she expects the digital initiative to exponentially boost business.
Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report at the Port of Dover ahead of our trip to Calais, DFDS Capacity and Commercial Performance Director Chris Parker gave his reaction to recent events involving competitor P&O Ferries, which recently made 800 staff redundant and suspended its cross-Channel services.
“Short term, it has been something of a shock to the seafaring community in Kent,” he said. “I don’t think anybody expected such a reaction; this has become a much bigger story than just a reorganisation out of Dover, it’s become a national and international story.
“My personal reaction to it was surprise in terms of how it was done [by P&O]. From a DFDS perspective it’s brought us a lot of new customers and some reasonably positive attention. But it’s given us logistical issues in terms of being able to deal with that extra traffic, not helped by two of our six ships [serving the cross-Channel route] being out of action due to technical reasons at one stage.
“In the end we only have a fixed amount of space we can use and that we can offer to other operators. So I think in the short term we’ve taken the rough with the smooth and hopefully we will come out of this with a little bit of an improved reputation, certainly more brand awareness and hopefully some long term new customers.”
Parker said DFDS now has great momentum for duty free sales both onboard and in its port stores. “Our investments are starting to pay off, despite the setbacks we’ve had from the COVID-19 travel restrictions. Comparing spend per passenger from pre-Brexit duty paid to the new duty free spending, about seven times the amount is being spent per head.”
He added that DFDS has a big job, starting with the advertising campaign, to educate existing and potential passengers on the enhanced duty free allowances.
Asked if we are at the start of a golden age of maritime UK duty free, Parker replied: “Yes, is the short answer. I think it will be different to what we saw in and before 1999; there is a broader range of opportunities. There’s things that all the family can benefit from, as opposed to what traditional duty free offered. The future is exciting.”
