CANADA. Duty free sales at Canada’s airports hit C$14.8 million (US$11.4 million) in January, up by +10.35% on January 2008. After a tough year’s trading in 2008 there was relief for the land border duty free business, which posted a +2.39% rise in January sales, to C$7.3 million (US$5.6 million). The figures were reported by the Frontier Duty Free Association, from statistics compiled by the Canadian Border Services Agency.
Airport sales
At 29% of sales, Perfumes, Cosmetics & Skincare was the biggest category at airports, and rose by +11.8% in the month. Tobacco (27% of sales) posted an increase of +11.9% while Liquor, the third largest category (22% of sales), rose by +11.5%.
The biggest gains were posted in Beer (up by +67%), Office & Travel Supplies (+41%) and Jewellery, Watches & Clocks (+19%).
Land border sales
Liquor, the biggest category on the land borders with a 39% share, posted an increase of +9.9% in the channel during January. Tobacco (31% of sales) posted a drop of -8.1%, while Perfumes, Cosmetics & Skincare (13.6% of sales) rose by +4.5%.
Regional Sales Figures
The Prairie Region: in January 2009 saw sales of C$595,734.79 (US$461,023), down -3% compared to January 2008. The Pacific Region: had C$1.2 million (US$0.92 million) in sales, up by +18%, while Ontario had C$4.1 million (US$3.1 million), down by -0.67%. The Atlantic/Quebec Region saw sales slip -1.3% to C$1.3 million (US$1 million).
In 2008 as a whole, airport duty free sales grew by +9.24%, while land border sales fell -7.24%.
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