Introduction: Wellbeing house Rituals and leading travel retailer Dufry have partnered to open five new standalone airport stores in Spain over recent months. The openings mark a milestone in Rituals’ European expansion and Dufry’s drive to bolster its wellbeing offer.
In this interview, The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Director Hannah Tan-Gillies chats with Dufry Head of Beauty EMEA Romina Gabarro, Dufry Global Director for Beauty Antonin Carreau and Rituals Founder & CEO Raymond Cloosterman about the partnership and their shared mission to expand the wellbeing category in travel retail.
“Rituals has been on a mission to support the wellbeing of our consumers since our founding over 20 years ago,” says Rituals Founder & CEO Raymond Cloosterman. “Dufry is a very strategic partner for us to not only progress this mission, but to escalate its reach in a very important channel.
“We have aligned on an overarching goal to expand the wellbeing category in travel retail – a category that is ripe to leverage. Together we are opening five stand-alone stores across Spain– Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante and two in Palma.
“We are taking Rituals to the next level as the leading wellbeing beauty brand. This means not just opening more stores, but also unlocking new markets, engaging in exciting and tactical new partnerships, and building an even more robust community around our brand.”
Echoing the sentiment Dufry Head of Beauty EMEA Romina Gabarro says: “This was a strong global partnership deployed a few years ago with the ambition to promote affordable wellness and beauty in our main stores or through standalone stores. We are very proud and excited to open Rituals stores in partnership with the brand and further enhance the customer’s experience.
The first of the five stores opened at Madrid Barajas Airport Terminal 4 last September. Designed in Rituals’ signature retail concept, the Madrid location offers travellers the brand’s extensive home and body range.
Subsequent openings took place in October at Barcelona El Prat Airport and Alicante Airport in Spain. These were followed by two more unveilings at the Departure Lounge and C Gates of Palma de Mallorca Airport in November.
The partners held an official launch event on 24 January at Barcelona El Prat Airport where the biggest Rituals store is located. The location offers the brand’s bed and bath range and its new home collection.
The Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca Departure Lounge stores feature Rituals’ regular travel retail concept, while the Alicante and Palma de Mallorca C Gates offers include Rituals’ boutique store concept. The latter carries a focus on the brand’s best-selling lines.
All five boutiques were designed around Rituals’ ‘The Art of Soulful Living’ philosophy, aimed to inspire passengers to slow down and take a moment of wellbeing during their time at the airport.
“Creating moments to slow down while on the go, making the shopping experience more mindful and enriching for travellers and bringing affordable luxury to travellers worldwide is how Rituals is responding to the need for greater wellbeing and is the fundamental expression behind our stores,” Cloosterman explains.
“The Art of Soulful Living is about seeking that ultimate wellbeing that is found in the balance of body, mind and soul, and we want to bring this ethos to travellers all over the world.”
The stores offer The Ritual of Sakura, The Ritual of Jing, The Ritual of Ayurveda, The Ritual of Mehr and The Ritual of Hammam lines. The Homme and Sport collections, as well as the Conscious skincare collection are also available. Travel retail-exclusive pouches are available for five collections, including products in sizes and formats that were designed for self-care while travelling.
Cloosterman adds, “Digital screens in the stores bring ‘The Art of Soulful Living’ to life with captivating visuals and are strategically positioned throughout the spaces to immerse customers in our story. We are also launching a brand new concept – car perfumes – with a life-size Piaggio in-store in Barcelona to demonstrate this unique and original experience. Travellers can also sample all of our products at the water island – a sensory experience enhanced by the joy of new discoveries.”
As Dufry doubles down on its focus on wellness, Rituals as a leading wellbeing brand has an important role to play. “The introduction of the Rituals stores addresses four big needs,” Carreau comments. “Firstly, there is the growing customer interest in and demand for wellness/wellbeing related products and offers. Consumers generally have become much more interested in focusing on self-care.
“Secondly, Rituals is a sought-after brand, which is available at an attractive mid-price point in skincare and this, is what our growing number of European passengers are looking for,” Carreau adds. “Thirdly – Rituals is a great brand in terms of its gifting potential. There are some exciting travel retail-exclusive products and lovely gift sets, all of which are already being very well received by our customers.
“Finally – there is the strong element of personal service and consultation that is offered with the Rituals brand. Customers can benefit from the expert advice given by knowledgeable staff and receive a truly experiential shopping experience within the Rituals store spaces,” he adds.
The pandemic has made health, self-care and wellbeing top of mind for consumers around the world. According to Dufry, its investment in the category reflects the growing consumer demand for transparent, sustainable and holistic wellbeing products and its own belief in the potential of the wellbeing category.
“Our customers are showing growing interest in products which have a well-being or health related benefit and this is a very much a key trend within the beauty category,” Carreau explains. “As the leading global retailer, Dufry is committed to promoting sustainability and wellbeing within the travel retail sector and we are therefore introducing more product lines with a wellbeing focus, as well as products that are more environmentally aware.
“In addition, the affordability of brands such as Rituals are an important factor, as European passengers in particular are looking for these more attractive price points.”
Cloosterman adds: “With people travelling again and following a period of increasing concern over wellbeing – both physical and mental — we are noticing a greater need for wellness among consumers, which has benefitted the Rituals product offering, and partners like Dufry who understand the great potential of the category.
“Self-care, mental health and emotional wellbeing, all pillars of the wellness category, have become more and more important to consumers. Travelling is one of the ways consumers take care of themselves and de-stress, and wellness products in travel retail support this type of travel philosophy.
Offering a final word on how Trinity partnerships can and should evolve to bolster wider channel recovery, Gabbaro says: “One of the most important factors during the crisis period was the way in which all partners across the industry – the Trinity of landlords, retailers and brand partners – supported each other and worked in even closer collaboration than ever before.” ✈
Footnote: For a recent interview with Raymond Cloosterman as part of our Trinity Conversations series, click here.
Note: The Moodie Davitt Report has launched an e-newsletter, Wellbeing Curated, in association with Rituals. It offers a curated selection of stories focused on the key wellbeing category in travel retail and beyond.
To subscribe free of charge please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com headed ‘Curated Wellbeing’. All stories are permanently archived on this website. If you would like to be added to its mailing list (or to those for any other Moodie Davitt titles), please click here.
