Shopping between flights

Indian retail has been trying to find a stable ground between the mindsets favouring organised and unorganised ways of doing business. But airport retailing is where most people and authorities stand united. With Indians pegged to be major contributors to Asia’s 35% share in global duty-free sales at airports, the idea is to get them attracted to international airports here, rather than say, a Changi in Singapore.
Authorities too are picking up the signals. The idea is to get travellers, who aren’t essentially shoppers, to splurge within a ‘controlled environment’. Airport developers like DIAL are not only following the demographic trends to check what travellers want, but are also making sure that their stay at these places becomes longer. On the cards is inclusion of international aspirational brands like Gucci, Armani and Swatch. Then there are restaurants, Internet cafes and spas. The territory, so far held by the duty-free shops run by the India Tourism Development Corporation, now has retailers like Future Group and Shoppers’ Stop. These retailers have already plunged from general retail space to partner with experienced global players like Alpha Retail (UK) and Nuance (Switzerland). The strategy further includes getting the right product mix (the idea is to look beyond duty-free liquor or tobacco and focus more on aspirational brands and elite local goods like Indian teas) and setting up better-designed, larger stores at strategic points (both in the departure and arrival zones).
10/06/07 Jyoti Verma/Financial Express

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Categories: Airports Jun 2007