Dubai Duty Free posts sales of US$19.1 million during 37th anniversary celebrations : Moodie Davitt Report

UAE. Dubai Duty Free posted an impressive AED69.99 million (US$19.175 million) in sales over a busy three-day promotion to mark its 37^th anniversary, which concluded last night (20 December). Due to the sharp downturn in travel caused by COVID-19, the figure is well down on last year’s US$57.39 million, but represents a positive end of year performance for the world’s leading airport retailer at a single location.

As reported, the company launched a special -25% discount on a wide range of merchandise over the period from 18 to 20 December.

The Dubai Duty Free executive team led by Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin and COO Ramesh Cidambi at the ceremonial cutting of the 37th anniversary cake at DXB Concourse C. Also pictured are Executive Vice President – Corporate Services Salah Tahlak (centre left), Senior Vice President – Marketing Sinead El Sibai (third from left), Senior Vice President – Finance Bernard Creed (third from right), Senior Vice President – HR Mona Al Ali (second from left), Senior Vice President – Retail Support Michael Schmidt (second from right), Vice President – Purchasing Sharon Beecham (far left) and Vice President – Loss Prevention and Corporate Security Zayed Al Shebli (far right).

Perfumes was the highest selling category with sales of AED17.613 million (US$4.825 million) followed by liquor at AED8.624 million (US$2.363 million). Sales of cosmetics reached AED8.179 million (US$2.241 million) while sales of watches hit AED7.891 million (US$2.162 million).

Ticket sales for the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise promotions combined reached a hugely impressive AED7.373 million (US$2.020 million) over the three-day period, making it the fifth most popular ‘category’.

**The Dubai Duty Free executive team walk Concourse C as the anniversary celebrations (safely) swing into gear**

Executive Vice Chairman & CEO Colm McLoughlin said: “We are happy to see such a positive result during our annual anniversary sale both in store and online. This is very much a ‘thank you’ to our customers and while there have been less travellers than usual at Dubai International, it was great to see them respond to this special offer.

“I would like to thank everyone for marking this special occasion with us and a special thanks to our staff, who did a great job in serving the passengers and online customers alike,” he added.

Dubai Duty Free recorded 104,698 sales transactions in its stores over the period while online sales doubled. The ‘Click & Collect’ service, which offers travellers the chance to order goods in advance of their flight, generating over AED6.944 million (US$1.9 million) in the 72-hour period. A total of 6,331 pre-orders were received in advance of travel, with the most popular categories including perfumes & cosmetics, liquor, watches and technology.

**Customer spend proved resilient against the backdrop of the pandemic, with healthy in-store and online sales**

Dubai Duty Free’s Home Delivery Service, which was launched in June this year and is available for UAE residents, recorded AED3.964 million (US$1.086 million) in sales with a total of 2,398 orders made. 12,917 units were sold to Home Delivery customers with the best-selling categories including perfumes & cosmetics, fashion, food and watches.

The Dubai Duty Free Anniversary offer was first introduced when the airport retailer marked its 20^th year in 2003 and continues to be popular during what is traditionally a busy travel period.

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