With the school holidays on the horizon in many countries worldwide, Swiss travel retail research agency m1nd-set has released a study on the shopping behaviour of international travellers who travel with their children.

The report is compiled through m1nd-set’s Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) from over 6,000 interviews with international travellers from all world regions.

It reveals significant differences in shopper behaviour between travellers journeying through airports with their children and those without.

One of the key findings from the study is the higher footfall, penetration and conversion rates among parents travelling internationally with their children. This is several percentage points higher than among those travelling without children.

According to the report, 48% of travellers with children enter the airport shops compared to 41% of travellers without children. Travellers with children visit more categories (three on average) than those without children (2.7).

HIGHER CONVERSION RATE

A higher percentage of travellers with children also purchase in airport shops (37% vs 28%), giving an overall higher conversion rate of 76% for travellers with children, versus 69% among those without children.

Another major difference identified in the report is the shopping spend levels. Travellers with children spent on average $204 in airport shops on their last trip, significantly more than those without ($160).

Other behavioural aspects where there are marked differences in behaviour between travellers with and without children are engagement with touchpoints.

These include staff interaction, price comparison and purchasing behaviour with promotions and duty free exclusives.

Twelve percent more travellers with children notice touchpoints before shopping in airports than those without children (44% vs 32%), according to the B1S report.

Travellers with children interact with staff more whether they are just browsing or purchasing in the duty free shops. Sixty six percent of shoppers with children interact with staff compared to 59% among those without children.

They compare prices more than those without children also —65% of buyers with children compare prices versus 56% of buyers without children.

International travellers with children tend to purchase for themselves more, while those without children purchase more for gifting than those with children.

INFLUENCE OF OTHERS

The B1S report also reveals that travellers purchase due to others influence more when they are with children than those travelling without. Forty percent of travellers with children purchase because they are influenced by family or friends, compared to 34% of travellers without.

Travellers with children rank all three of the top purchase drivers, which are value/promotions, in-store experience and exclusives, between two and four  percentage points higher than travellers without.

Peter Mohn, m1nd-set Owner and CEO commented: “The research demonstrates that parents travelling with their children tend to plan their airport shopping trips more, engage with staff more and notice communications touchpoints more.

“These passengers are clearly looking for more out of their airport experience and airport shopping experience. Pre-travel marketing, especially in the lead-up to the peak season travel periods, should therefore aim to reach parents with reassuring messages and promises of the attributes they are seeking.

“This means assurances that they will discover unique and entertaining experiences in the airport shops, unique and exclusive products, particularly children’s clothing collections and special offers and promotions aimed, where possible, at products which parents would typically purchase.”