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The online style is crisp, clean and classy, giving off an air of luxury thanks to its hazy blue, matt-gold and white colour scheme, pleasing fonts and effortless alignments |
Website of the week: Gulf Air Duty Free
Owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman, the award-winning carrier Gulf Air serves over 50 destinations worldwide. Gulf Air’s duty free business is operated by Aer Rianta International-Middle East.
Style
Gulf Air‘s “˜In the Air’ duty free site is an inviting one. The online style is crisp, clean and classy, giving an air of luxury thanks to its hazy blue, matt-gold and white colour scheme, pleasing fonts and effortless alignments.
Visuals are used in moderation yet the website avoids being static and stark since the images are well positioned throughout. Thumbnails are used to illustrate all products and can be enlarged to give generously sized, high-resolution pictures.
Content and usability
The homepage features a short introductory note, list of product categories, and interactive promotions and deals. The inflight duty free shopping product categories include Ladies perfumes (25 items), Gents perfumes (14 items), Cosmetics (13 items), Toys (16 items), Gulf Air Exclusives (2 items), Gifts (53 items) and Spirits (5 items). This list is also available on the right-hand side with thumbnail pictures and it stays put throughout the site.
Products are showcased with prices in US Dollars and enlargeable thumbnail pictures of reasonable quality. Items are listed alphabetically.
Gifts encompasses an extensive and eclectic host of products, ranging from jewellery and watches to flight socks and blood pressure gauges. The category comes across as a little chaotic though as you have to trawl through a list of over 50 items from Pierre Cardin pendants to cappuccino makers. The website could side-step this jumble by simply organising items into electronics, handbags and accessories, watches, jewellery, and travel essentials.
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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. |
Gulf Air Duty Free has also grouped into the above category high-value Bahraini jewellery. A simple way to introduce A Sense of Place to the offer and the website would be to market Bahraini jewellery as destination merchandise.
Another avenue for development is a pre-order system.
The website offers promotions such as rewards for onboard purchases – spending over a certain amount entitles members to earn frequent flyer miles. Moreover, all customers who spend over US$100 win a lucky draw voucher for the weekly draw. The current prize is a Hot Diamonds pendant and earring set.
Navigation is straightforward, as the site has only nine pages and sign-posting is simple. There is an absence of a homepage icon but the word “Duty Free” plays the role of homepage button.
Our verdict
A sharp and clean site that draws the reader into an interesting range. Better segmentation would help but this is certainly among the best airline duty free sites we have visited.
Visit Gulf Air Duty Free.
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.
Results to be announced in May 2006. More details coming soon.
MORE WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the week: Dublin Airport Authority – 29/03/06
Website of the week: EgyptAir Tax Free Shops – 21/03/06
Website of the week: Duty Free Stores New Zealand – 15/03/06
