Mumbai is the only airport in which Ospree operates to get to 52% departure sales with a dedicated strategic focus on departure.

In India, where duty free is largely an arrival dependent business, Ospree Duty Free has become the first duty free store to achieve an equal contribution of sales from both departing and arriving passengers at Mumbai International Airport (BOM).

Traditionally, duty-free sales in India have been heavily skewed towards arriving passengers.

Ospree Duty Free (Ospree) noted it had identified an opportunity in the form of its “Project Departures” to boost it share in departure stores from 25% to 52% versus the previous fiscal year.

The business at Ospree was predominantly driven by arrivals, accounting for 75% of its sales, despite the significant challenges already extant in India; its departure security and immigration checks are notoriously time-consuming and gruelling, causing travellers to endure long queues and extensive wait.

Ospree’s objective was to engage these travellers, providing them with memorable and enjoyable experiences, while encouraging them to shop.

This led to the creation of the “Speedbreakers” campaign, designed to both halt and sell to travellers through strategically placed experiential activities.

Strategic initiatives

To tackle the issue of reduced dwell time and rushed travellers, Ospree crafted an environment within its departure stores which intended to blend entertainment, relaxation, and shopping incentives.

These Speedbreakers allowed staff to engage with and drive sales from travellers and included: a Don Julio 1942 live DJ and drinks sampling, becoming the first airport retailer in Asia to do so; an interactive circus-themed animation including entertainment, spin the wheel giveaways and unique photobooths; and a meet & greet with Bollywood celebrities.

Further, Ospree launched a series of live performances from musicians and caricature artists to manicurists and magicians.

Water wait

Ospree said it recognised the importance of hydration, especially after long waits at security and immigration, and initiated a water distribution activity at the entrance of its store for all departing passengers.

It also introduced several concept stores to continually drive growth.

Ospree launched The Bharat Story, a sense-of-palce store offering luxury Indian destination goods, which drove 104% growth in the category, and a handful of other concepts across luggage, duty free and e-commerce pre-order.

Vue de Luxe, a luxury sunglasses store grew the overall category for Ospree by 33%, while Meridiem, its specialized watch emporium, drove 25% growth.

As a result, Ospree saw a notable increase in departure sales, which grew at 3x the pax growth.

The campaign also marked an improvement of 33% in sales at its departure store, with a 6%-9% rise in store penetration in FY23 compared to FY22.

Comparing year-on-year growth, Ospree achieved 44% sales growth against a 23% increase in passengers and said its achievement of equal sales contribution from departing and arriving passengers is a testament to its forward-thinking strategies and customer-centric approach.

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