Stephen Hillam, Managing Director of Pi Insight, revealed key characteristics of the Indian shopper.

India’s fast-rising travelling consumer base, growing appetite for premium experiences and distinctive duty free shopping behaviours came under the spotlight during the TFWA Market Watch India workshop at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference.

Held on the penultimate day of the Singapore event, the session explored how India’s ascent is already reshaping travel retail, aviation capacity and global brand strategy.

Moderated by TFWA Member Services Manager Nicole Daniells, the workshop featured insights from Stephen Hillam, Managing Director of Pi Insight, and Mudit Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer of Cococart Ventures Limited. Together, they painted a picture of a young, digitally fluent, increasingly global and experience-led Indian traveller: value-conscious, but highly receptive to premiumisation, exclusivity, gifting, brand storytelling and staff engagement.

A differentiated Indian duty free shopper

Opening the consumer insight portion of the session, Hillam drew on Pi Insight’s 2026 Global Shopper database, comprising 14,000 duty free shopper interviews across 14 key nationalities and categories including alcohol, beauty, confectionery, tobacco, fashion and accessories, and watches and jewellery.

The findings showed that Indian duty free shoppers differ meaningfully from the wider APAC shopper base. According to Pi Insight, 58% are male, 59% are aged 40 or under, 72% travel for leisure, 70% take one to two trips per year and just 13% travel alone.

Category interests also reveal a distinct pattern. Indian shoppers show strong engagement with alcohol, fashion, beauty and confectionery, while tobacco under-indexes compared with the APAC average. Pi Insight placed Indian shopper interest at 33% for alcohol, 31% for fashion, 30% for beauty, 27% for confectionery and 7% for tobacco.

The sessions was moderated by TFWA Member Services Manager Nicole Daniells.

Hillam also highlighted that Indian shoppers are not simply replicating broader regional behaviours. Instead, they are bringing specific expectations to the duty free channel, particularly around differentiation, gifting, experimentation, service and sustainability.

Exclusivity, gifting and experimentation

One of the strongest themes to emerge was the importance of duty free exclusives. Pi Insight found that 94% of Indian duty free shoppers consider duty free exclusives an important element of the shopping experience, compared with an 80% APAC average. In addition, 85% said they would be more likely to buy a duty free exclusive item than a standard product, versus 71% across APAC.

This desire for differentiation sits alongside a strong gifting culture. While self-purchase remains the leading purchase mission, with 53% buying for themselves, 31% purchase for others and 16% buy to share. Key gifting motivations include bringing back a gift from travels, birthdays and anniversaries, saying thank you, reconnecting with someone and marking special occasions.

Experimentation is another defining characteristic. Pi Insight reported that 69% of Indian duty free shoppers purchase a non-regular brand, compared with a 60% APAC average. This openness is particularly pronounced across fashion, confectionery, alcohol and beauty, where non-regular brand purchasing stood at 77%, 71%, 70% and 69%, respectively.

For travel retailers and brands, the implication is clear: Indian shoppers are receptive to discovery, but that discovery must be made meaningful through exclusivity, relevance and strong product storytelling.

Hillam spoke about the importance of sustainability to the Indian shopper.

Staff interaction and sustainability

Despite the growing importance of digital discovery, the workshop underlined the continued power of human interaction in-store. Pi Insight data showed that 68% of Indian shoppers interact with staff in duty free stores, significantly above the 49% APAC average. Of those who interact with staff, 70% are positively influenced, compared with 59% across APAC.

The most common reasons for staff engagement include help locating a product, checking a price, advice on a new product and advice on a specific item. This points to a shopper who is informed and digitally aware, but still values reassurance, guidance and personalised service at the point of purchase.

Sustainability is also becoming a stronger conversion factor. Pi Insight found that 77% of Indian shoppers consider sustainability important when shopping in duty free, compared with 64% across APAC. When choosing between two items, 92% said they would be positively influenced if one had stronger sustainability credentials.

Hillam concluded that differentiation, gifting, experimentation, staff engagement and sustainability are among the key levers that can unlock the Indian shopper opportunity.

India’s structural tailwinds

Providing the brand and operator perspective, Srivastava positioned India as one of the world’s largest under-penetrated premium consumption opportunities.

He pointed to powerful demographic tailwinds, including a projected expansion of India’s middle class from 432 million in 2024 to 715 million by 2031, and to 1.02 billion by 2047. India’s median age stands at 29.8 years, with more than 600 million people under 25 and 68.4% of the population of working age.

Srivastava also highlighted the scale of India’s emerging travelling population. India currently has around 125 million passport holders, representing 8.1% of the country’s 1.44 billion population, with 45,000 passports issued daily. This is projected to rise to 185 million passport holders by 2035.

Mudit Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer of Cococart Ventures Limited, positioned India as one of the world’s largest under-penetrated premium consumption opportunities.

Outbound travel is also becoming more geographically diverse. According to Srivastava, 63% of India’s outbound international travellers now come from non-metro cities, while Tier 2 and Tier 3 city outbound travel searches grew by 25% and 67%, respectively, in 2024.

India is now ranked third globally by air passengers after the US and China, with fleet expansion expected to multiply passenger-hours at airport retail touchpoints.

Pricing dynamics and channel differentiation

Srivastava also addressed how tariff changes and free trade agreements could reshape pricing power and competitive dynamics, particularly in confectionery. He noted that tariff elimination pathways linked to trade agreements with markets including Switzerland, the UK, the EU, the US and New Zealand could narrow the gap between domestic retail and travel retail pricing over time.

For chocolate and confectionery, current tariffs of 33% are expected to phase down to 0% by 2032 for Switzerland and by 2030 for the UK. The strategic implication, he suggested, is that as domestic and travel retail price points converge, brands will need to sharpen their focus on exclusivity, experience and channel-specific differentiation.

Drawing on Ospree Duty Free analytics from April 2025 to April 2026, Srivastava highlighted differences between arrivals and departures shopping behaviour. According to the data, the arrival basket is 4.8 times larger than the departure basket. Male shoppers account for 76% of arrival transactions, while female shoppers represent 37% of departure transactions and spend more than men in departures.

Sector-wise, Southeast Asia stood out as a value driver, accounting for 28% of passenger share but 40% of sales share. The Middle East, by contrast, represented 46% of passenger share but 32% of sales share.

In confectionery, younger consumers are a critical audience: Gen Z and Millennials account for 70% of overall confectionery buyers, while Millennials deliver a 34% higher average transaction value than Gen Z.

Srivastava discussed Cocoart’s own strategy, which spans retail and café formats, quick commerce and e-commerce and corporate gifting.

From transaction to experience

Srivastava argued that the future of Indian airport retail lies in shifting from transaction-led formats to experience-led environments. He outlined a vision for “experience zones” in departures, including Indian artisan chocolate, interactive children’s engagement areas, personalisation stations, integrated gelato and café concepts, and premium gifting formats.

Cococart’s own evolution reflects this direction. The company has expanded from its first store in 2020 to 101 stores in 2026, with a target of 300 locations by 2030. Its strategy spans retail and café formats, quick commerce and e-commerce, corporate gifting, and a premium brand portfolio including Lindt, Hershey’s, Toblerone, Venchi and Neuhaus.

Airport locations account for 73% of Cococart’s channel mix, compared with 27% for non-airport locations such as malls and high street stores. Retail accounts for 77% of sales, while café formats currently represent 23%, with further integration expected to shift the mix over time.

Implications for travel retail

The Market Watch India workshop reinforced that India’s travel retail opportunity is no longer theoretical. A younger and more geographically diverse traveller base is entering the channel, supported by rising incomes, growing passport penetration, aviation expansion and increasing exposure to global brands.

However, both speakers made clear that success will require more than simply placing international brands in front of Indian travellers. For stakeholders across duty free and travel retail, the opportunity lies in building propositions that combine value with aspiration, convenience with experience and global brand appeal with culturally relevant gifting and discovery.

As India’s travelling consumer continues to evolve, the workshop suggested that brands and retailers able to deliver exclusivity, staff-led service, sustainability credentials, premium storytelling and omnichannel convenience will be best placed to capture one of the industry’s most dynamic growth markets.

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