INTERNATIONAL. Asia Pacific presented the strongest international traffic growth across all regions of +12% year-on-year in Q4 2017, according to Duty Free World Council’s (DFWC) quarterly KPI Monitor. Overall, traffic increased +8% to 733 million passengers in the last three months of 2017 compared to Q4 2016.
The data-set, produced by Swiss research and consultancy agency m1nd-set, now integrates an air traffic benchmark from International Air Transport Association (IATA). The new element showed year-on-year growth across regions in Q4 2017 encompassing inbound, outbound and intra-regional traffic.
European traffic saw a +8% increase to 321 million passengers, compared to Q4 2016. Middle East saw sluggish growth of +2%, behind North America (+7%), Latin America (+6%) and Africa (+6%).
Moderate satisfaction levels
The KPI monitor found that overall satisfaction levels among global shoppers increased moderately in Q4 2017 compared to the previous quarter. The +1% overall increase was driven by Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Both North and South America saw satisfaction levels remain stagnant in the same period.
The key satisfaction drivers in the KPI Monitor among global shoppers saw consistent growth over the past few quarters. These included duty free shopping as an important “part of the travel experience” expressed by 46% of shoppers and “a great place to purchase gifts” cited by 41% of travellers.
Other drivers were “a great place to buy new brands” mentioned by 30% of travellers and an environment for “exclusive and unique products” expressed by 29%. The percentage of shoppers purchasing for gifting rose +3% on the previous quarter due to seasonal factors.
Price comparison
The latest quarterly DFWC KPI Monitor included another new element – a segment analysis of shoppers who compare prices. The monitor found that on average 54% of travellers compare prices with downtown stores (22%), other airport stores (20%) and online retailers (12%).
The “Millennial travellers” age segment had the highest price comparison rate – 69% of Millennials said they compared prices versus 50% of middle-aged travellers and 37% of senior travellers.
Across all age groups, the “inspiration seekers” segment compared prices the most. Over seven out of ten shoppers in this segment compared prices. The “conventional deal seekers” and “rational stock-up shoppers” segments saw over six out of ten shoppers comparing prices.
The segments that compared prices the least were “authentic product seekers” (42%), “local touch gift buyers” (43%) and “intensive brand image shoppers” (49%).
The report was compiled from over 4000 interviews with international travellers at global airports during Q4 2017. Fieldwork and analysis took place in December.
