Airport sales of beauty products have shot past the C$90m mark ($78m) in the 10 months to October to reach $90.7m, a growth rate of  +19.2%. In total, sales across all product categories reached C$269.1m ($232.6m), a rise of +17.8%.

 

The strong performance from beauty – based on data provided by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and analysed by the Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA) – gives the category a 33.7% share of the market followed by wines/spirits with 20.6% which is down on the same period in 2013 due to a growth rate of just +9.9% to generate sales of C$55.5m.

 

Tobacco, the third biggest category, with sales of $36.2m, continued to lose share which now stands at 13.6%.

 

BORDER STILL STRUGGLES

The overall strong airport sales performance once again contrasts with the border business where sales reached C$120.4m down -1.4%. Among the 14 product categories that the CBSA breaks down, only three showed growth: accessories (+10%), electronics (+1.7%), and food (+2.7%). At airports, 11 categories were in growth mode.

 

At the border, the biggest categories are wines/spirits with a 37.2% share, tobacco with 27.6% and beauty with 15.9%. In a reversal of fortunes compared with airports, both tobacco and wines/spirits grew their shares slightly, while beauty saw its slice of the pie shrink.