Delhi Duty Free Services (DDFS) recorded a new monthly sales high in December after netting INR 159.6 crore/US$19.2 million.

Month-on-month, the result is an increase of almost INR 10 crore above November’s record of INR 149.7 crore.

Speaking to TRBusiness in an exclusive interview, Ashish Chopra, Chief Executive Officer, Delhi Duty Free Services, said: “It is the highest sales [amount] ever in the history of DDFS. I’m looking forward to bettering that in the month of January.

“I attribute everything to our fantastic team, otherwise it would not have been possible. It’s the effort of each and every team member and department. December is a key holiday month for Indians and everyone in the world. We went from strength to strength in December.”

Chopra reveals that the travel retailer posted its highest daily sales on record in recent days, surpassing INR 6.1 crore.

Looking ahead to the conclusion of the company’s 2022/2023 financial year (April-March), Chopra ideally expects DDFS to grow its sales by approximately +10% year-on-year (INR 136 crore) to surpass INR 1,550 crore/$187.3 million.

“I would love this growth to continue. Given that passengers are recovering, it will be difficult to hold on to the [higher] spend but as we go forward our endeavour is to keep working on spend and we will see how it materialises.

“Penetration is key to our business and the message is very clear: we continue to work on getting more passengers to shop with us. It is too soon to predict numbers for the next financial year, but ideally high-single digit spend growth. We are cautiously optimistic.”

DDFS manages and operates arrivals and departures concessions at Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3.

Watch out for the full video interview with Ashish Chopra, CEO, Delhi Duty Free in the forthcoming TRBusiness January e-zine.