A study released by Swiss research company m1nd-set, which focuses on global passenger and shopper behaviour in airports, has revealed key differences across the major world regions.

The study, which m1nd-set compiled via its Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) platform from interviews with 75,000 passengers worldwide, examined the major differences in shopper’s purchase planning behaviour from region to region. It also examines the reasons to purchase.

Using traffic data from the B1S, sourced from IATA, the report highlights the performance of travel retail in each region. This is achieved by analysing the share of duty free-entitled passengers per region against overall sales of airport duty free shops.

Sales share in Europe (31%) compared to the region’s share of international passengers (46%) is not encouraging, when compared to the share of duty-free entitled passengers, (travellers flying to destinations outside Europe — 26%). But the results are more positive, with sales surpassing passenger numbers by 5%.

ASIA PACIFIC REGION

Using the same benchmark, m1nd-set reveals sales in the Asia-Pacific outperform passenger share by 8%. In the Middle East and Africa, the passenger share outweighs the sales share by 15% to 11%.

In the Americas, the gap is significant with the passenger share 10% higher than the region’s share of sales at 26% versus 16%.

The report also reveals that while around eight out of 10 shoppers generally plan their airport duty free purchases to some extent, 85% of international travellers in Asia Pacific tend to generally plan their airport shop purchases, significantly more than travellers in other regions.

Travellers from the Middle East and Africa are the least likely to plan their duty free shopping. This tendency is further demonstrated looking at when travellers decide to purchase. The study indicates 35% of travellers in Asia Pacific decide to purchase from duty free shops at home, before heading to the airport.

PURCHASE DRIVERS

Only 27% of travellers from the Americas decide while they’re still at home, 29% in the Middle East and Africa and 32% in Europe. The report also focuses on the main differences in passengers’ purchase drivers, revealing above average scores for all purchase drivers for travellers from the Middle East and Africa.

M1nd-set owner and CEO Peter Mohn commented: “Given that the differences in the shopping behaviour with regards to planning behaviour and motivations to purchase are often quite subtle, it is vital to understand the shopper mind-set for each nationality and customer segment within each market and culture to increase the conversion rates in duty free shops.”

He added: “The key to increasing conversion is about personalising the customer experience so each individual feels special, understood and catered for. It’s vital to understand the difference between cultures and the purchasing drivers from one culture to the next to convert consumers and keep shoppers loyal.

“This differentiation in the approach to the customer must begin at the customer’s home, where the decision to purchase takes place for almost half of all shoppers globally.”