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“Investment into research to find out more about shopper behaviour and segmentation is essential to best handle the complexity of a multinational target group coming together at the “˜melting pot’ of the duty free outlet“ |
Simone Horn Trade Marketing & Category Development Manager Imperial Tobacco |
Imperial Tobacco will present its Category Management Approach to the travel retail industry at the TFWA Asia Pacific exhibition in Singapore next month (stand number: D37).
Demand for international travel continues to grow globally, with passenger numbers in 2014 expected to increase by over +5% year-on-year, the tobacco company noted. Europe is seen as a strong driver in travel, it added, while South Americans are “becoming more and more relevant”. The BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China continue to attract high levels of attention, just recently followed by MINT – Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.
The traveling Chinese remain “on top of the agenda”, not just because of their increasing numbers and also their “premium oriented shopper behaviour and interest in international brands”, the company said.
According to Imperial, there is still a lot of untapped potential in the industry to increase footfall and maximise shopping basket size.
Imperial Tobacco Trade Marketing & Category Development Manager Simone Horn explained: “Investment into research to find out more about shopper behaviour and segmentation is essential to best handle the complexity of a multinational target group coming together at the “˜melting pot’ of the duty free outlet.
“As a retailer you cannot be an expert in each and every category and have an in-depth understanding of both the trends and developments within our shoppers’ home markets and their varying needs in an international environment. Shopper behavior in duty free is very different from ritual habits at home and often a confusing environment for travellers. They are confronted with different languages, different currencies, unknown products and selling units as well as import allowances they might not be aware of.
“The days when saying “˜people will buy anyhow due to the savings in duty free’ are over; the “˜global’ transparency of offers and pricing and increased competition between airports and retailers require more than just putting products on shelf. There is no doubt that the tobacco category faces external challenges like legislative issues, but is an important footfall and spending driver and should therefore not be seen as “˜to be milked only’,” said Horn.
She continued: “How important in reality the category still is and how tobacco affects the overall shopping basket size can be seen in Ireland, where after implementation of a tobacco display ban, overall sales dropped by more than -30% in all categories. The picture in Australia is similar; allowances for tobacco products were significantly reduced which led to a double-digit plunge in overall spend.”
These challenges will be addressed by the Imperial Tobacco Duty Free Category Management approach, based on in-depth research and analysis. It aims to help retailers to understand the different needs of travellers, the roles the different categories play, the importance of shop layout and shopper navigation, as well as how to create an optimal portfolio based on individual outlets and how to best merchandise the category.
For more information, contact: Simone Horn, Imperial Tobacco Global Duty Free, tel: +49 (0) 40 8220 2913 or e-mail: simone.horn@de.imptob.com
