NORDIC REGION. A focus on improving the consumer experience, the role of technology, brands’ attitudes to travel retail and the future of flight were among the key topics at the annual Nordic Travel Retail Seminar, which took place on Tuesday.
The event was organised by the Nordic Travel Retail Group, hosted on board Tallink Group’s Silja Serenade and moderated by The Moodie Report.
This year’s event was among the strongest of recent years, led off by a powerful keynote presentation from former Nokia senior executive Anssi Vanjoki. He underlined just how dramatically new technology and the Internet have changed consumer behaviour. He noted that businesses now need a sixth sense – the “˜virtual sense’ – to navigate the world and embrace consumers in the digital age.
He said the “˜virtualisation’ would change travel retail and the industry’s relationships with consumers. “It is all about moving from generating transactions to creating relationships,” he noted.
“A transaction can begin a relationship but too often we forget the customer as soon as the transaction is complete. He noted that the huge amount of information that people make available about themselves – through social media – provides a wealth of data for retailers to use to target travellers.
“The technology is there; you just need to harness it,” he said.
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Nordic Travel Retail Group Chairman John Baumgartner delivers the welcome address |
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Former Nokia senior executive Anssi Vanjoki underlines how new technology and the Internet have changed consumer behaviour, nothing that businesses now need a sixth sense – the ‘virtual sense’ |
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World Duty Free Group Business Relations and External Affairs Director Sarah Branquinho gives an insight into how World Duty Free is engaging the consumer today, touching on themes including newness, exclusivity and entertainment |
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Estée Lauder Vice President and General Manager Travel Retail EMEA Jean-Charles Séité notes how travel retail is now a core channel for the major beauty houses, something that was not always the case |
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Tallink Group’s Silja Serenade played host to this year’s event |
World Duty Free Group Business Relations and External Affairs Director Sarah Branquinho delivered an insight into how one of the world’s leading travel retailers is engaging the consumer today, with key themes including newness, exclusivity and entertainment. The way in which the company is targeting particular consumer groups and using targeted, highly detailed promotions to drive average transaction values was a highlight.
The brands’ perspective was brought by Estée Lauder Vice President and General Manager Travel Retail EMEA Jean-Charles Séité and TFWA President Erik-Juul Mortensen. Séité noted how the conversation with the customer had changed over the years, but the strong fundamentals of the best brands had not. Importantly, he noted, travel retail is now a core channel for the major beauty houses, something that was not always the case.
Juul-Mortensen argued that brands remain the cornerstone of the industry’s success but said much more could be done to tap into their potential. He also said that some brands might in future question travel retail’s role as a channel, if retailers continued to maintain their pressure on margins.
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Erik Juul-Mortensen highlighted the pivotal role of brands in the industry |
Color Line Group Commercial Director Thomas Gudbjerg spoke of how management was changing the culture at the ferry company. “People used to see themselves as sailors, but now they have to be businesspeople,” he noted of the crew. “In a very traditional industry we need to change.”
He also noted how Color Line was trying to be more dynamic in its retailing by day, week and season, and examining what categories (he cited fashion) would take more market share in the future as passengers’ tastes evolve.
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Cultural change was the theme of Thomas Gudbjerg’s presentation |
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Bjorn Ulfberg’s session on capturing the consumer in the digital age was among the event’s highlights |
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Professor Frode Steen spoke about the future of the airline industry in the Nordic region |
Inflight Service CEO Björn Ulfberg delivered an excellent presentation on the changing face of the industry from an analog to digital age. Digitising the experience will open up vast opportunities for the business, he said, with virtual products and services set to create a new retail agenda for airlines, but other channels too.
The day ended with an at times provocative contribution from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration Professor Frode Steen. He examined the shape of the Nordic aviation industry today, and argued that legacy carriers have a big opportunity to take some of the ground from LCCS through being more flexible in their route development and using a wider variety of aircraft.
The event concluded on Tuesday night with a fine dinner courtesy of Tallink Group, as the ship sailed towards Stockholm from Helsinki overnight.
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The Nordic event attracted close to 100 delegates; among the international visitors were Barry Global Innovation’s Barry Geoghegan (left) and Butlers Chocolates’ Niall Fanning, pictured at the Helsinki cruise ferry port |
