The latest Duty Free World Council (DFWC) KPI Monitor, produced by Swiss research agency m1nd-set has revealed steady growth in some of the key satisfaction drivers for duty free shoppers.

Compiled from over 4,000 interviews with shoppers globally, the Monitor was conducted in June for the second quarter of 2019 and shows the global average has increased by one percentage point from Q1 2019.

Performance in North America declined by one point, while the index shows an increase of one point across all other regions. The exception to this is Asia Pacific where there has been no change since the previous quarter.

CONSISTENT SPEND INCREASE

There has, however, been a consistent increase in the global average compared to the same period in 2018 — Asia Pacific is the only region with an above average score. All other regions post below average scores in the overall satisfaction index.

This is computed by aggregating the satisfaction scores on all aspects of the visits to the duty free shops and weighting these based on their impact on the overall satisfaction level.

The Monitor, which also tracks airport passenger growth with data from m1nd-set’s Business 1ntelligence Service in partnership with IATA, shows passenger traffic has risen across all world regions since Q2 2018. It also reveals a global increase of 5.6% to 882 million passengers. The strongest growth comes from Europe, which has experienced a 6.6% increase on the same period in 2018.

According to European Travel Retail Confederation President Frank O’Connell, the latest KPI Monitor, demonstrates the industry’s need to keep focusing on the key satisfaction drivers and to ensure staff continue engaging with shoppers. O’Connell commented:  “The level of engagement between staff and visitors to the duty free shops has declined by 5% since the previous quarter, according to the DFWC KPI Monitor, which is quite a concern.

“The impact of this decline in engagement is directly visible in the overall satisfaction levels and perception of duty free shops. We see in this quarterly Monitor, for example, that there is only one contributing element to the overall perception of duty free that has seen an increase in the percentage of travellers who agree. This is that duty free is a great place to try new brands. All other criteria has either seen a decline or stagnated.”

He added:  “As we discussed in the last quarterly report, there is a direct correlation between staff engagement and customer satisfaction. It is essential for brands and retailers to ensure sales associates on the shop floor continue to interact and engage more with customers.”

Peter Mohn, Owner and CEO, M1nd-set says we can clearly see from the Monitor that where staff interaction is greater, there is greater influence on the decision to purchase. He said: “This is particularly evident in the Middle East/Africa region and in the beauty and fashion and accessories categories.

“Staff in the electronics category also perform well in influencing the purchase decision. There clearly needs to be more focus on engaging with older travellers as well as with those duty free visitors shopping for alcohol, confectionery, tobacco and souvenirs where engagement levels are markedly lower.”