INTERNATIONAL. Welcome to this special edition of our Category Insight Series, this time dedicated to the fast-moving tobacco and reduced-risk products (RRP) sector in travel retail.
In these pages we get the views of a leading category-championing travel retailer, gain insights into how brand owners view the business – across cigars, cigarettes and reduced-risk categories – and report on some recent consumer research.
For Lagardère Travel Retail, tobacco & RRP plays an important role in driving customers into the stores, according to Director Merchant Tobacco & Specialties Jennifer Bleriot.
“It serves as a cornerstone of our retail strategy,” she says, adding that crucially, this part of the business “facilitates cross-selling opportunities with other product categories”.
While cigarette volume sales broadly don’t match historic levels, they remain important in value terms and, as noted, a key element in ensuring elevated average spend.
Cigars are “flourishing” she adds, with strong appeal to enthusiasts, despite limits on Cuban cigar availability.
Like other retailers, Lagardère Travel Retail is extending its focus on New Generation Products, in which innovation has become a powerful driver.
“These products, including heated tobacco, e-cigarettes, and snus, cater to evolving customer preferences, ensuring that we stay relevant and in sync with emerging consumer trends,” says Bleriot. “We have witnessed a remarkable surge in this category, with double-digit growth mainly centred around heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, reflecting the evolving choices of consumers.”
We reflect the changing nature of the market elsewhere in this report, as the major traditional brand houses lead adult consumers to switch to new category products, with the travel channel playing a vital role in communications. See our round-up of supplier opinion for more.
We carry an interview with BAT about its strategy around New Category goods, and we speak to Oettinger Davidoff about its shopper insights and views on the treatment of cigars in the channel.
Finally, we feature highlights of a major consumer survey from PI Insight, which studied the habits and behaviours of multiple travelling nationalities and their propensity to engage with and shop in the tobacco and related sectors.
