Drinks giant Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail (PR GTR) has launched UP&UP, a digital learning app designed for employees and frontline staff to expand their knowledge of its brands and product range available in GTR.

UP&UP, a mobile-first platform, features over 65 courses and programmes and is available in seven languages: English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Turkish and Russian.

It offers games and other activities to encourage engagement, and has built-in geo-targeting which enables timely, relevant push notifications. 

Users are encouraged to work through the courses at their own pace. On successful completion, they receive badges and certificates that they can share with others within the app.

UP&UP also includes a continually updated global newsfeed to share time-sensitive Pernod Ricard company information. 

Equipping staff

“Today in travel retail, the airport store touchpoint plays a key role in the traveller journey, with 55% of travellers having interacted with a member of our duty free sales force in Q3 of 2022,” said Virginie Bievre, Head of Retail Training, PR GTR.

“We want to equip frontline staff with the right tools and knowledge, so they can enrich the traveller’s journey with expertise on our products, in turn creating a memorable experience for the consumer every time, regardless of the drinks category or nationality of shopper. 

“We wanted to take learning to the next level, through the development of a social, on-demand and gamified platform. We believe that this app will help to inspire staff to deliver engaging experiences to travellers shopping across wines and spirits.” 

Liya Zhang, Vice President of Marketing, PR GTR added: “We’re really excited to roll out the new, UP&UP training app across our global network. Through this exciting learning tool, we are not only instilling our sales representatives with more in-depth knowledge – helping them to unearth a passion for our brands and products – but also creating a live dialogue with them. 

“We believe this will translate into better interactions with travellers, including more meaningful product recommendations and a superior level of customer service.” 

Earlier this month Pernod Ricard released its half-year results which showed GTR sales had recovered to 80% of pre-pandemic levels.