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Superb choice is offered across all seven of the site’s product categories |
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Product photos are high quality, but often frustratingly half-hidden |
Website of the Week: Frankfurt Airport Duty Free & Travel Value
Located in the middle of the economic powerhouse that is the Rhine-Main metropolitan area, Frankfurt Airport describes itself as “more than an airport: it’s a vibrantly pulsating city!”
Operated by Fraport AG, the airport handles over 50 million passengers each year and is home to 17 Duty Free and Travel Value shops.
Style
The mix of orange and blue shades won’t be to everyone’s aesthetic taste, though unfussy fonts and a white background ensure that good quality product images are the focus of attention. It’s just a pity that the site’s design makes it necessary to use the right-hand scroll bar in order to view the full photo. Why hide what you’re selling?
Content and usability
Two clicks from a prominent duty free box on the Frankfurt Airport home page and you’re up and running, into the ‘Experience’ section which, along with ‘Travel’ and ‘Business’, makes up one third of the site’s content.
Immediately, the user is met with a banner headed “Duty free? NO problem!”, and there are further travel retail words of encouragement underneath: “Despite New EU Regulations: Duty Free Liquids Still Allowed on Board”. Irrespective of the new regulations which came into effect on 6 November, travellers are told that it’s business as usual beyond the security checkpoints.
So far, so good, then.
“Duty free and Travel Value purchases can be carried problem-free on board, provided they are sealed in a transparent bag by the shop staff, along with the sales slip bearing the same date as the day of travel.
“Passengers carrying such duty free items can make flight transfers within the EU without any problems, if the bag remains closed and sealed throughout all flight legs.” Then, for special rules on duty free purchases for flights to the United States, passengers are asked to consult their airline or ask in the shop where they make their purchase.
It’s useful, up-to-date advice.
Left-hand links divide the available products into seven categories: perfumes (which includes cosmetics as well as fragrances); sweets, coffee, tea; tobacco; spirits; wine; accessories; toys. And there are links, too, to information about the Miles & More award card, the month’s special offers, plus new products, of which there are currently six, all perfumes.
If the English is sometimes messy – “Keep your finger on the pulse of the times. This page brings you closest to the latest new products. The trendiest perfumes and cosmetics are already waiting for you here — and not just today! We present new specials every month. So keep in touch — you’ll be glad you did!” – there are no question marks over the quantity and quality of the products being offered.
For November, there are 11 men’s and women’s fragrances at significant reductions – such as Paco Rabanne XS Pour Homme eau de toilette (100ml), at €36.50 from €46.50, and L’Oréal’s Age Perfect Programme Day-Night-Eyes, cut from €30.50 to €23.50.
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An impressive 24 women’s fragrance brands are listed on the site |
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The toys section makes sure that younger travellers are not overlooked |
There are also savings of between €3 and €8.50 per bottle on seven types of spirits, plus special offers on confectionery and wine.
Away from the promotions, each category is split for easy navigation (there’s also a search facility), commonly first by sub-category, then by brand. It’s simple and effective, but not every such site does it.
And there is quite simply an abundance of products to browse: twenty-four women’s perfume brands, from Agent Provocateur to Yves Saint Laurent, with usually at least half a dozen bottles – and often 20-plus – from each. Men are equally well catered for.
Tobacco is helpfully divided by origin, with cigarettes from Germany, Britain, the US, France and Scandinavia, as well as an international selection. Add pipe tobacco, roll-your-own, cigarillos and cigars and there are over 200 products to choose from.
It’s a similar story elsewhere on the site: twenty-two sub-categories of spirits; wines from 11 different countries; 50 brands of accessories (though here there is a notable shortfall of accompanying photos). The breadth of choice is staggering.
Want Port? The options range from Sandeman Fine Ruby (€9.20) to Offley 30yo (€52.00). Got the urge to buy Italian red? A bottle of Castiglioni Chianti will cost you €6.90, a 2000 Ornellaia €108.
There are toys galore, too. Just one glimpse of the Playmobil farm (€7.70) may have misty-eyed parents of a certain age putting their hands in their pockets, though whether the offspring would get anywhere near it is another matter.
One gripe, however, is that descriptions are basic. Too basic. ‘Mandarina Duck Hera Business Schwarz, 20x2x8cm, one piece’ may not mean much to some web users, especially when unaccompanied by a picture, and is unlikely to tempt such folk to part with €206.
More consumer-friendly is a Wish List, which enables users to email a shopping list to, for example, travellers coming to visit them. A simple pre-order service also exists, allowing passengers to order online and pay/collect later at one of the airport’s Duty Free & Travel Value Shops.
What we like:
The number of products
Products divided into sub-categories for simple navigation
The size and quality of photos
Pre-order service
What we think needs improving/adding:
More detailed product descriptions
A design which doesn’t necessitate scrolling in order to see the entire image of a single product
More photos in the accessories section
Visit Frankfurt Airport Duty Free & Travel Value.
MORE WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the Week: Cadbury Schweppes ITR – 15/11/06
Website of the Week: South African Airways
