Pi Insight European duty free shopper research reveals major shifts in buying mentality

INTERNATIONAL. A survey by Pi Insight involving 7,000 quantitative interviews with European duty free shoppers has found that travellers have a more direct and mission-led shopping mentality than the more passive shopping style observed in pre-pandemic 2019.

The first in Pi Insight’s new ‘Recovery Series’ research reports shows that key duty free store visiting driver indicators have all risen, including ‘to treat myself’ (+14%), ‘look for a gift’ (+9%), ‘look for good prices’ (+7%), ‘look for promos’ (+7%) and ‘look for souvenirs’ (+6%). See table below for percentage movements compared to 2019.

The survey results clearly show a move towards a more mission-led shopping mentality in European duty free (click to enlarge)

The survey also reveals that despite a more purposeful shopping mentality, purchase planning has decreased, with impulse purchasing now accounting for 61% of duty free items bought. The equivalent figure was 50% in 2019.

In addition, of those that do plan, planning to a brand level has also decreased to about half of shoppers (51%) as opposed to 81% in 2019.

Planned purchases by category among European duty free shoppers have mainly fallen significantly, including Alcohol (42% vs. 60% in 2019), Beauty (37% vs. 53% in 2019), Tobacco (52% vs. 61% in 2019) and Luxury (36% vs. 44% in 2019). The exception is Confectionery (32% vs. 31% in 2019).

The key numbers from the survey on the subject of European duty free purchase planning (click to enlarge)

Pi Insight noted that these elements of the survey illustrate an increased openness to influence instore and a clear potential for brands to influence the purchase decision process when shoppers are deciding what to buy.

A key trend towards non-regular brand purchasing has also emerged within the European region from the survey, with just 42% purchasing a regular brand vs. 63% in 2019.

An increase in non-regular brand purchasing is also apparent across each of the core duty free categories, according to the research. Pi Insight observed that this illustrates a clear trend towards experimentation and shoppers wanting to purchase outside their regular product portfolio which has the potential to become stale during the pandemic. See table below for category breakdown.

Non-regular brand purchasing is on the rise in the core categories  of European duty free (click to enlarge)

Nationalities sampled as part of the study included British, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. All were aged above 21 years and travelled between May and October this year.

The new Pi Insight Recovery Series includes upcoming category-specific reports including the Alcohol, Beauty, Confectionery, Tobacco & Luxury categories. We will bring the results to you on The Moodie Davitt Report website in due course.

For further information on the Recovery Series, please contact Stephen Hillam at stephen@pi-insight.com or visit the Pi Insight website here.

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