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A striking contrast of deep maroon, white and honey yellow dominates this site. The woven design on the Duty Free Philippines logo is characteristic of the country’s culture and immediately establishes A Sense of Place to the otherwise generic-looking design |
Website of the week: Duty Free Philippines
State-owned Duty Free Philippines is an agency of the Department of Tourism and has been in existence since 1987. The retailer has eight outlets throughout the Philippines.
Style
A striking contrast of deep maroon, white and honey yellow dominates this site. The woven design on the Duty Free Philippines logo is characteristic of the country’s culture and immediately establishes A Sense of Place to the otherwise generic-looking design.
The layout and design hark back to the web designs of a few years ago but nevertheless maintain a pleasant quality. Images are used occasionally.
Content and usability
The website’s pitch ‘The best things in life are duty free’ is written across the top of the homepage and deserves praise not just for its snappy punning but also for its animated approach. Along with the Duty Free Philippines logo, the USP stays put throughout.
The main menu of the homepage claims the first of many segments on the left-hand side. It features Home, About us, Shopping privileges, Stores, Premier Club, Balikbayan Plus, Location map, Terms of use, Contact us, Products catalogue, New products, Specials and Bidding publications.
Shopping privileges delivers exactly what it says – useful information on what travellers are entitled to, restrictions, allowances and accepted currencies.
Stores lists all available outlets plus opening hours and contact details.
Premier Club details information on Duty Free Philippines’s loyalty card scheme.
Balikbayan Plus comprises a specific programme designed for Balikbayans (Filipinos returning to the country after a period of absence of over one year, Filipino overseas workers or those who have been naturalised in a foreign country).
Products catalogue offers 12 product categories, of which nine are accompanied by low quality thumbnail pictures. Liquor (61 items), Tobacco (48 items), Fragrances (41 items), Wines (9 items), Chocolates (59 items), Electronics (32 items), Groceries (103 items), Snacks (4 items), Watches (91 items), Fashion (0 items), Home and Office (3 items) and Cosmetics (1 items).
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To celebrate the launch of our new Travel Retail Web-Wide Index, each week we put the spotlight on one of the growing array of dedicated travel retail websites or web sections. Click here or on the image to read the index. |
Selecting a category opens up a monochromatic table of all items with their prices in US dollars. Not all products are accompanied by images, and in the case of some it is not hard to see why; for instance, the thumbnail photographs used to illustrate Watches are distorted in order to fit the small space. Clicking on the picture enlarges it to its original size, length and quality.
An advanced search facility greatly improves your hunt for a particular product by means of a fine-tuned word engine. Type in Christian Dior, for example, and a list of appropriate products is automatically summoned.
The main menu lingers on every page, which is useful, and so navigation is hassle-free. Back on the homepage sits an inventive reader poll at the bottom right-hand side corner inquiring: “˜What would you like to see in our website?’ Options include Products, Prices, Events, Promos and Others. Users may vote and view the current results in the form of a graph. The most recent poll shows Products are the most popular request.
What we like:
A Sense of place – the Balikbayan Plus programme
Reader poll
Product pricing
Easy navigation
What we think needs improving/adding:
Product images should be showcased with more care
More interactive shopping-related features, such as promotions and special offers
Add new products to New Products
Fix broken links to Specials and Bidding publications
Visit Duty Free Philippines.
COMING SOON: The Moodie Report Travel Retail Worldwide Web Awards.
Sponsored by P&G Prestige Products
Which websites offer the best service to consumers? Which are most user-friendly? Which are the most stylish? And which, crucially, offer the greatest incentive to shop?
Every year we will judge, through a combination of industry polling, consumer opinion and specialist judges, who is doing most to wow travellers on the web. International and regional awards.
The main award – Travel Retail Website of the Year – will be unveiled at this year’s ‘Oscars’ of the industry: the Frontier Awards in Cannes. More details coming soon.
MORE WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the week: Vienna Airport Shopping – 26/04/06
Website of the week: Hellenic Duty Free Shops – 19/04/06
