UK. Lagardère Travel Retail today officially opened its 1,670sq m walk-through duty free store at London Luton Airport.
It is the biggest store in the company’s global portfolio and the latest expression of the “next generation” Aelia Duty Free retail concept.
Lagardère has made a conscious attempt to differentiate the shopping experience, primarily through presenting an alternative view of London that is more edgy, urban and industrial.
“Customers are bored of seeing the same duty free stores across the world – but that is not the case here,” said Lagardère Travel Retail Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dag Inge Rasmussen at the opening ceremony, attended by The Moodie Davitt Report.
The store has been developed with an ‘It’s a London thing’ vision in mind. Lagardère worked with design agency Portland to create the layout. Sense of Place is conveyed through several design features, entrance movies and through the range of UK brands on offer.
Lagardère also sees the store as a showcase for the UK market as it seeks more contracts. “It is a very competitive country and it is remarkable to have been chosen to operate the store as there is one dominant player here [in the UK],” Rasmussen said.
The store is already performing well, he noted. “The ramp-up has been consistent with what we expected, as has been the growth in sales and spend per passenger.”
London Luton Airport CEO Nick Barton said that the launch was a “significant first step” in improving the commercial offer and customer service at the airport to match the strong growth in passenger traffic. The airport is expecting to handle 18 million passengers by 2020, up from 12.3 million in 2015.
Lagardère Travel Retail EVP Marketing & Digital Stéphanie Metz-Thevenod said the Aelia Duty Free concept featured four main pillars.
The first is ‘The Art of the Gift’, with the focus on gifting (including self-gifting), described as the “guiding theme” for the company’s new generation of stores.
The second is ‘Facilitation’, with the aim of making the shopping experience seamless and the store easy to navigate. A third principle is ‘Care’, which emphasises the quality of customer service.
Finally, ‘Here and Nowhere else’ forms part of a drive to create “memorable, exclusive and astonishing” experiences at the airport.
These experiences include showcase area La Scène, described as a digital, lighting and sounds platform that is animated each month by a different brand. The Whisky Studio, which was developed in partnership with Diageo, features interactive digital tablets that are designed to help customers learn more about whisky and the different products on offer.
A tasting bar is located in the centre of the store and showcases different brands each month. Tasting sessions are led by drinks experts while cocktail events are also offered.
A ‘Best of London’ area forms the centrepiece of the ‘It’s a London thing’ concept. Here, London brands such as Penhaligons, Molton Brown, The National Gallery, Rimmel and Aromatherapy are featured, while a Mini Cooper is used as a display for different brands.
A digital information point offers a store map, with the aim of clearly defining the categories and brand locations.
Metz-Thevenod said the Luton store had pushed the boundaries of the company’s Aelia Duty Free next generation concept still further “by developing uniqueness in the design, new category experiences such as our tasting bar, and digital features such as the Aelia Duty Free navigation table at the entrance”.
In terms of the brand offering, Lagardère Travel Retail Managing Director, UK & Ireland Amaury Dehen said it was vital to include products that appealed to all types of passenger.
The beauty and liquor areas are the largest, reflecting their importance to sales. However the confectionery category is performing particularly strongly, according to Dehen. “It has been a massive success – almost three digit numbers in terms of growth,” he said. He attributed this to new products being offered and the area’s prominent position within the store. Metz-Thevenod also noted that the category was the “perfect gifting choice” at the airport.
As well as luxury areas, the store also emphasises discounts and promotions, which are changed every month to ensure the offering is kept fresh.
While many product purchases are impulse buys, Lagardère Travel Retail General Manager, London Luton Airport Alison Etienne noted that an increasing number of passengers come to the store already knowing what they want to purchase.
To cater for this change in consumer behaviour, an internet pre-order service has been launched which offers passengers a +10% discount. Both Dehen and Etienne expect this service to increase in popularity as more travellers hear about it through websites and social media.
Dehen said that one of the major challenges presented by the project was to get all players involved to work together. Lagardère also had to adapt to the fact that 100% of passengers come through the shop (due to the walk-through concept), a contrast with many of its other global stores, as well as local differences in staff sales techniques.
The official opening represents the completion of the second phase of the duty free store project, with two additional phases to come. The area at the back of the store will be finalised in the upcoming phases and a new exit will lead out into an extended retail area.
The entire airside commercial offer is being revamped as part of a £120 million investment, according to London Luton Airport Commercial Director Rupert Lawrie. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in autumn 2017.
“We want to be positioned as the ‘right choice’ for London,” he said. “A boutique airport that nevertheless serves 18 million passengers, that is easy to use and fast to navigate.”
