Our regular feature, brought to you in association with Duty Free Global from Ireland, celebrates memorable scenes, moments, launches and campaigns related to the global aviation and travel retail sphere.
PORTUGAL. Our latest image selection comes from our visit this week to Lisbon and Faro as ARI and partners ANA/Vinci Airports celebrate the official opening of Portugal Duty Free’s stores across the country. See our main story for further comment and highlights of a memorable gala evening in Lisbon.
Here we present pictorial highlights from a tour of Faro Duty Free in the company of Portugal Duty Free Retail Director Sarah Farrelly and the retailer’s Faro Airport Retail Director Filipe Baptista.
Compared to the country’s largest airport, Lisbon, with around 35 million passengers a year, Faro has fewer than 10 million, though numbers are growing even if they remain centred around the busy summer holiday season in Europe.
The split of travellers between Schengen and non-Schengen areas (the latter principally UK and Ireland) also presents a retail challenge. Yet even amid the disruption of refurbishment last year, Faro Airport grew sales and delivered spends among the highest in the ARI network.
The vast non-Schengen store opens – through a relatively narrow entranceway compared to the beautiful, digitally magnified exit at the far end – on the twin powerhouses of tobacco on the left and beauty on the right.
The layout generally allows the shopper to weave in and out of the categories, which encourages multiple purchases.
The design also neatly connects the various categories. There’s a copper background design on liquor, cork to highlight the port wine fixtures and gold trim behind the beauty back wall fixtures to link this category. More widely there are HPP sites aplenty to disrupt, plus rows of ceiling lights that can be altered in colour to match particular occasions.
Hero names Chanel and Dior lead beauty, a category that continues to grow steadily and has overtaken both liquor or confectionery in recent times.
Here, alongside the elegant back walls for the major houses, there is newness galore. Sol de Janeiro carries strong appeal across all demographics, MAC is a recent introduction in prominent space, the retailer is seeing excellent performance from Nuxe, while the restyled Benefit brand is doing well, as is niche fragrance Le Labo, another recent addition.
Within beauty, fragrance leads the way but cosmetics and skincare are growing their share.
An important element boosting fragrances volume is the value offer priced from €20 to €40, with many shoppers who have already selected their purchases adding these to the basket.
To the left of the store, after tobacco comes international spirits, with great visibility afforded to brands at the HPP locations, including Tito’s vodka currently in place with superb and colourful impact.
The highlight of the store is the sensational local products offer, which holds up a mirror to the lifestyle, wine and gastronomic culture of the Algarve. The Sabores de Portugal zone delivers a rolling programme of tastings, while the Port Cellar arch is a special feature as you enter the glorious port selection championed by the retailer, illuminated by the cork on the back walls that spotlight the category.
In a neat touch, the back wall brand displays housing the excellent port selection are fitted with pull-out tables on which tastings can be hosted.
ARI presents local producers with excellent visibility and opportunity for trial, supported by an enthusiastic and engaged staff from the locality.
Fresh food is a welcome addition, led by the well-known pasteis de nata tarts, delivered each day to the store.
A Volkswagen camper van is another lovely stop point that also acts as a photo station for passing visitors, with cues to the surfing lifestyle associated with the region.
Before the tills come confectionery, small toys and electronics sections, with fashion & accessories rounding out the shopper journey, in what used to be separate space, now integrated into the main store.
Sunglasses feature under ARI concept Spectrum, a well-executed design holds it together and strong personalisation from the leading players EssilorLuxottica and Kering Group.
With the new flow all travellers have to pass by the luxury range, encouraging incremental spend. Longchamp is a top performer across all Portugal Duty Free stores, including in Faro, with the brand’s popular pliage bags complemented by strong selling of new ranges. Polo Ralph Lauren is another solid performer with generous space devoted to the brand and its neighbour Boss.
Victoria’s Secret at the end of the journey also provides a further shopping opportunity, with the brand performing well among UK and Irish travellers both here and in Lisbon.
The till points here and in Lisbon are heavily impulse-driven with mini beauty items, liquor and even accessories to encourage further spend.
The journey closes with a memorable view upon exit of the magnificent digital wall that provides memories of the Algarve in glorious technicolour – a fitting end to an immersive visit at this vibrant regional airport. ✈
*Click here for our recent International Women’s Day coverage in association with ARI, and for commentary by Portugal Duty Free Retail Director Sarah Farrelly on the steps needed to create meaningful change in gender equality and leadership.
