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The new store offers the Nuance Group the ideal way to celebrate 50 years of operating at Zürich Airport |
SWITZERLAND. The Nuance Group yesterday officially inaugurated its second Arrivals duty free store at Zürich Airport, which has added around 1,200sq m of retail space at the country’s busiest gateway.
As previously reported, the walk-through shop is one of Europe’s biggest Arrivals duty free stores. It is located just before the baggage hall of Terminal 1.
Local media and The Moodie Report representing the travel retail sector mingled with Zürich Airport and Nuance executives yesterday at the opening ceremony. It was also attended by Hans Kaufmann, a member of the Swiss parliament who played a big role in driving the legislation which permitted Arrivals shopping in Switzerland from June.
Zürich Airport CEO Thomas Kern told The Moodie Report: “This store adds activity and convenience for our passengers and it adds a lot to Switzerland.
“[It means] around 60 employees, which is a real plus and probably around €60 million in revenues, with one third going to Zürich Airport which in turn gives taxes [to the government]. So it adds a lot in different areas.
“We are more attractive than we were before, we’re more competitive than we were before and that’s what it’s all about. It’s a competitive business.”
Asked about the upscale nature of the store, Kern replied: “If you look at Zürich Airport, that’s how we want to have it. It fits perfectly with the premium idea of Switzerland, of Swiss our hub carrier, and of Zürich Airport.
“So this is a symbiosis – we have to make sure we have an even quality throughout the whole process, which starts with the parking lot and ends in the airplane or (for arriving passengers) starts in the airplane and ends in the parking lot.
Zürich Airport Senior Vice President Commercial Marketing & Real Estate Patrick Graf said: “This is a very important milestone and day in the history of Zürich Airport. We have been working and lobbying many, many years in Swiss politics on this topic and now finally today it’s the official opening.
“It’s a huge opportunity and a huge advantage for Switzerland. We’re very happy that we can offer our passengers not only duty free on departures but also on arrivals.
“It is a fantastic store. There was a very long and intensive co-operation together with The Nuance Group. We have challenged each other over the last couple of months to reach this level of quality.”
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The sign says it all: As soon as passengers enter the hall they are confronted by strong communication messages |
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Fresh chocolate from Lindt is one of the highlights of the store |
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Magnum force: This giant bottle indicates the wine department, a partnership with powerful specialist retailer Mövenpick |
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The sight lines across such a big store are excellent, making shopping for time-sensitive arriving travellers easy |
Graf said the company had started a huge marketing campaign early in the year to promote the new service to travellers. “We used all types of media, including the Internet and newspapers, using all kinds of advertising panels within Switzerland. And we came to a good agreement with our national carrier Swiss. It was also important, because there is a lot of impulse buying involved, to have a clear communications concept here at the airport.”
The Nuance Group CEO Europe Andrea Belardini told The Moodie Report: “We are extremely pleased because we finally have the opportunity to offer Arrival duty free, which is a very good convenience proposition for travellers.
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Nuance’s Andrea Belardini paid tribute to the spirit of partnership the company enjoys with Zürich Airport |
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Celebrating a landmark in Swiss travel retail (Left to right): Nuance Managing Director Europe Andrea Belardini; Hans Kaufmann, a politician who played a major in the Arrivals shopping breakthrough; and Zürich Airport CEO Thomas Kern |
“You can’t miss it. We capture 100% of arriving passengers. We worked hard to make sure that the flow was smooth because there are still a lot of people who don’t want to buy. So we wanted to make sure the shopper had enough space to interact with the products – hence this utilisation of space, the wide spaces between gondolas and so on.
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Make mine a Camel: Tobacco is the key category at Zürich Airport’s Arrivals stores |
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The Zürich Arrivals offer features a walk-in humidor featuring an outstanding range of cigars |
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Count lines of confectionery and a ‘Grab and Go’ offer underline the convenience appeal of Arrivals shopping |
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Travellers exit the store via a wide frontage straight into the baggage hall |
“As you can see, we cared a lot about making the visibility of the different categories very effective,” Belardini said, noting that the decision-making time was very short in the case of arriving passengers.
Belardini said the opening was a suitable way to mark a half-century partnership with the airport. “We took off exactly 50 years ago in 1961 here in Zürich,” he said. “One of the good things about working in Zürich was we developed a sense of partnership that has lasted many years. Many of the things that you see today came about through strong interaction with airport management and as we all know Zürich airport management is quite strongly focused on retail and commercial development – so it’s a good story.”
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Nuance has majored on fragrances, underlined by this attractive ‘Top 10’ display (above and below) |
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Belardini also paid tribute to London-based company The Design Solution, which drove the design and layout of the store, and Design House which had developed the communications campaign.
We’ll bring you our impressions of the new store plus video footage in this week’s edition of The Moodie Report e-Zine, out later today.
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Giant size Nutella 50g jars have unexpectedly become the biggest-selling SKU on arrival |
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A compact, neat sunglasses wall unit closes out the shop just before the baggage hall |
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Wines and spirits are a major drawcard, with wine (below) being sold on a duty paid basis |
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Passengers exiting the store prepare to make their way to baggage reclaim |
More pictures to follow.
