According to the latest Duty Free World Council’s (DFWC’s) quarterly KPI Monitor, produced by Swiss research and consultancy agency m1nd-set, the channel is viewed by many global travellers as a showcase for new and unique products.

The latest report (Q1 2018), which monitors global passengers’ satisfaction with the duty free offer across various criteria, highlights the channel’s ‘strength and uniqueness’ for promoting new and different products.

It also reveals that Asia Pacific leads the way among all global regions in the overall satisfaction index.

The region scored 67% in Q1 2018, (in line with the previous quarter), which is 4% above the global average. The Middle East was the only region to increase its score with a 1% higher rating than Q4 2017. The global average slipped 1% to 63% brought down by declining scores in both Europe and South America.

The monitor again integrates the air traffic benchmark, with traffic data from IATA. The year-on-year growth index for Q1 2018 versus Q1 2017, puts Asia Pacific once again in lead position in terms of growth at 9%, which is slower than in the previous quarter, when the region recorded 12% year on year growth.

The largest region for international traffic, Europe, has the second highest growth rate alongside Africa with 8%, in line with the global average. Both North and Latin American traffic grew by 7% in Q1 while the Middle East showed the least dynamic growth with only 2% growth.

The KPI Monitor demonstrates that the key satisfaction driver among travellers’ perception of duty free is as “a place to try and buy new products”. Expressed by 32% of shoppers, up 2% on the previous quarter this has improved consistently over the past few quarters.

The only other satisfaction driver to increase in Q1 over the previous quarter is the differentiation criteria; duty free as a place to have a “truly different experience” has also seen an increase in the percentage of shoppers who agree for the past two quarters.

All other satisfaction drivers either stagnated or declined in Q1 this year, including the perception that duty free prices are cheaper, which has fallen to below 25% of passengers agreeing with this perception. This is a cause for concern, as value for money is the number one aspect for passenger satisfaction with the duty free shopping experience.

Despite this, the price advantage and value for money in duty free are the top two reasons for purchasing in duty free shops. The notion of unique or different products and convenience are equal third most common reasons for purchasing, according to the report.

Another feature of this latest KPI Monitor from DFWC is the non-shopper analysis which highlights the main reasons cited by international travellers for not purchasing from the duty free shops during their last trip.

The lack of motivating promotions and high prices are the number one and number two reasons given for not purchasing, emphasizing the importance of the value perception. The third reason is the lack of new and interesting products which again highlights the importance of differentiation and uniqueness in the product mix.

KPI Monitor from DFWC:

The data which features in this report was compiled from over 4000 face-to-face interviews with travellers at airports across all major world regions during Q1 2018 with the fieldwork and analysis undertaken in March.