ASIA PACIFIC/INTERNATIONAL. The COVID-19 outbreak is impacting duty free shopping behaviour, spend and browsing likelihood on a category level, with this being particularly the case with luxury items.
And in broader terms, three quarters of Asia Pacific travellers with pre-planned trips have had their travel disrupted as a result of the outbreak, while willingness to travel is also declining.
Those are some of the key findings of a new report from Pi Insight on the impact of the outbreak on traveller confidence and duty free shopping behaviour.
Pi Insight conducted more than 1,000 quantitative interviews between 20 and 24 February, administered via nationality representative online panels. All respondents had travelled internationally within the last 12 months and consider duty free shopping to be one of their regular activities when doing so.
The focus of the study is on the Asia Pacific region, although interviews were also collected among British and American travellers to provide a Western perspective, Pi Insight said.
Some 85% of respondents said their duty free shopping behaviour would be impacted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, Pi Insight reported. Of these, 69% will avoid crowded areas of the store, while 41% would not buy if they had to queue at the till-point. Some 39% said they would spend less time instore, and 35% would be less likely to pick up items when browsing.
Of those shoppers who usually browse the fashion offering, 46% said they were less likely to do so as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. That figure is 40% among regular beauty browsers, 38% in jewellery and confectionery, 36% in tobacco, and 34% in alcohol.
Some 21% of regular browsers say they are ‘significantly’ less likely to make a purchase and a further 45% are ‘slightly’ less likely to make a purchase.
Travel disruption
Many of those surveyed had not even made it to the airport or duty free store. Some 77% of those with travel plans since the outbreak have had their plans impacted as a result. Of those impacted, 58% have had a trip either cancelled or postponed, while 27% have travelled or will travel to an alternative location than originally intended.
The study also found that 41% consider the outbreak to have had a ‘significant’ impact on their willingness to travel. A further 42% have had their willingness to travel ‘slightly’ impacted.
In the near term, travellers will adapt travel behaviours, Pi Insight noted, with 55% avoiding certain locations and 50% looking to reduce travel generally.
The outbreak is also impacting general airport behaviours. Overall airport dwell time will be reduced for over a third of travellers, with 36% arriving at the airport closer to their flight time than usual. A significant impact on likelihood to use certain services is also apparent, particularly in terms of food & beverage services, but also duty free shopping, according to Pi Insight.
The vast majority of respondents (91%) said they would change their in-airport behaviour as a result of COVID-19, with 73% avoiding crowded or busy areas, 66% taking additional health precautions, and 43% avoiding using public facilities such as toilets, wherever possible.
Those who usually have a meal in an airport restaurant are now 52% less likely to do so, with those who regularly have a drink in a bar or café 50% less likely to do so. Some 31% are less likely to buy takeaway food.
Regular airport lounge users are now 46% less likely to visit such areas, while those who usually shop in duty free are 43% less likely to do so.
Western nationalities are not yet being impacted to the same extent in terms of airport and duty free behaviour compared to Asia Pacific nationalities, although the gap is likely to decrease as the outbreak spreads, Pi insight said.
The Pi Insight study, called ‘The Impact of Coronavirus on International Traveller and Duty Free Shopping Behaviour’, is available for free to the industry. Please contact either Pi Insight Managing Director Stephen Hillam at stephen@pi-insight.com or Insight Director Helen Wilkinson at helen@pi-insight.com.
