Remember when duty-free shopping was practically a ritual at airports\u2014a pre-flight detour, maybe even a guilty pleasure? Perfumes, cigarettes, chocolate\u2026 all tax-free and piled temptingly high. But post-pandemic, those bustling shelves have been looking lonelier than ever, and the numbers prove it: despite air travel roaring back, duty-free shopping is struggling like a suitcase on a broken trolley.<\/p>\n
From Boom to Bust: The Duty-Free Freefall<\/p>\n
Just a few years ago, airport duty-free stores were doing a brisk trade. But since the end of the COVID-19 health crisis, sales have plummeted. This sharp downturn is particularly jarring because air traffic itself has rebounded almost to 2019 levels.<\/p>\n
A report from consulting firm Kearney, released during the Tax Free World Association expo, spells it out: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Covid crisis abruptly interrupted a decade of strong and steady growth\u2014about 9% per year\u2014across travel retail.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, while people are back in airports, they\u2019re leaving those telltale shopping bags behind.<\/p>\n
By the Numbers: Global Sales Take a Hit<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk figures. Kearney\u2019s study notes that the average spend per traveler plunged by 29% in 2022 alone, clocking in at $17 per traveler. In 2024, this average has slipped further to $15\u2014well below the $24 travelers splurged in 2019. Looking at the wider picture, global duty-free sales reached $74.1 billion last year, which is a painful 13% drop compared to the pre-pandemic high.<\/p>\n
Why Shoppers Are Shunning Duty-Free<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no single reason for this retail nosedive\u2014it\u2019s a cocktail of price sensitivity, changing habits, and digital distractions. For starters, Kearney found that 64% of passengers are dissatisfied, either with prices (50%) or the products on offer. Price is a real sticking point lately, and not just because that celebrity fragrance is out of your budget: <\/p>\n
General inflation has dented everyone\u2019s spending power.
\nAirfare inflation means many travelers have already tightened their belts before stepping into the terminal shops.<\/p>\n
People are having to make choices. And as for time? More and more travelers\u2014especially younger ones\u2014are using their waiting time at airports to bury themselves in their screens rather than trawl the aisles.<\/p>\n
New Generations Want a New Experience<\/p>\n
Millennials and Gen Z (that\u2019s generations Y and Z for the jargon fans out there) are becoming a bigger slice of the traveling public, and their expectations for shopping are, let\u2019s just say, not stuck in the previous century. The Kearney study highlights:<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 77% of these generations, the shopping experience itself is more important than the price when it comes to making a duty-free purchase. If the sector wants to recapture traveler interest\u2014and make airports attractive as shopping destinations\u2014they\u2019ll have to rethink the standard playbook.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what do travelers actually want? Kearney\u2019s authors recommend:<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of attractive prices and special deals, travelers are looking for a broad product range, personalized interactions, a tailored shopping experience, and top-quality service.\u201d<\/p>\n
The data from Kearney\u2019s survey is revealing:<\/p>\n
37% of respondents would buy more in airports if exclusive products were available.
\n17% would spend more if they could have goods delivered.<\/p>\n
Overall, 32% name the shopping experience itself as a key purchase driver, and a whopping 69% say waiting time at the airport could be prime shopping time\u2014if used the right way. Window-shopping just got a digital upgrade!<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Next for Airport Retail?<\/p>\n
Kearney\u2019s crystal ball? The future hinges on teamwork\u2014airports, brands, retailers, airlines, and digital players need to pool their data and work together if duty-free is to regain its lost sparkle, especially in Europe. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a genuine rethinking of how things work, and some collective soul-searching, will allow travel retail\u2014especially European travel retail\u2014to find new relevance for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kearney\u2019s study surveyed 3,500 customers across 10 countries, alongside interviews with over 40 senior executives from global airports, airlines, travel retailers, and brands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remember when duty-free shopping was practically a ritual at airports\u2014a pre-flight detour, maybe even a guilty pleasure? Perfumes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-246502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}