SWITZERLAND. Leading travel retailer Dufry recently launched its new Haute Parfumerie concept at Zurich Airport. The 80sq m luxury space showcases a range of premium fragrances. The travel retailer was supported in the creation of the concept by leading airport retail design specialist The Design Solution. The company’s Design Director Kevin Patience details the design strategy for the eye-catching new concept.
The new Haute Parfumerie store’s central design takes its inspiration from the simplicity of the traditional glass bell jar, synonymous with the world of fragrance since the 18th century, writes Kevin Patience. It blends this classic leitmotif with a contemporary in-store experience that is strong on phygital interaction with the shopper.
At the heart of the customer experience is the interactive Fragrance Play Table concept, created by Dufry in partnership with Puig, which I think is an entertaining and innovative concept. The table dominates the interior space and is positioned at the front of the store to entice footfall.
This central feature provides an inventive, immersive play zone that blends the classic heritage and exotic variety of perfumery with digital engagement to provide each customer with an engaging, personalised experience.
The table combines an interactive digital screen in front of a parade of classic style glass bell jars that, when lifted, share scents and aromas as part of the multi-sensory experience and this theme feeds into the design of the whole space.
This key design motif, the bell jar, is echoed across the store, including the use of an outline shape to frame each wall bay, framing the stunning visual merchandising space that offers the versatility to be adapted for generic or brand personalisation. Above the Play Table, a golden circle creates a halo effect to help frame the table.
The design aims to blend sales strategies that drive engagement and conversion with powerful aesthetics and a sense of in-store theatre that not only entertains the shopper but provides effective, personalised and entertaining support in helping them to make their product selection.
Overall, the design concept also blends creativity with commercial imperatives, offering a modular solution that includes a careful focus on integrating scaling options that can be tailored to the needs of each location, further enabling customised offerings that help to drive the value proposition.
Dufry’s design vision for their store concept was clearly expressed and I think the remarkably close alignment of the design images with the photos of the finished store demonstrates the shared precision and clarity of the whole project (three of the renders produced by TDS for the project are shown below).
Dufry Global Shop Development Director Thomas McCrave also gave his take on the new concept: “The new Dufry premium fragrances experience at Zurich Airport is designed to reflect the shifting needs of the customer, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z profiles.
“From constantly listening to our customers we are seeing an increasing shift away from simple transactional experiences to an interest in discovering new experiences and experience-based goods, particularly following such a prolonged period of restrictions. In particular, sensory retail experiences are surging in popularity.
“Our new fragrances store meets these needs with an original and engaging personalised experience that we are confident will delight our customers.” 
