Media, luxury and education
Travel retail
Shops in airports, on aircraft and at borders, often selling duty free.
Last reviewedWhat does Travel retail mean?
Travel retail covers sales to travellers at airports, border crossings, on cruise ships and on board aircraft, often duty free (without some import duties and taxes). It is a major channel for beauty, fragrance, spirits, tobacco and luxury goods. Operators such as Avolta (formerly Dufry) and Dubai Duty Free win concessions from airports and pay them a share of sales. Example: an airport shop with 50 million of sales paying a 30 percent concession fee gives the airport 15 million. Sales depend on passenger numbers, where travellers come from and currency moves, so the channel can collapse fast, as it did in 2020.
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Related terms
- Directly operated store (DOS)A store the brand owns and runs itself, rather than selling through another retailer.
- Constant currency growthGrowth measured as if exchange rates had not changed, to show the real business trend.
- Wholesale (fashion and luxury)Selling goods to other retailers, such as department stores, which resell them.
- SVOD and AVODStreaming paid for by subscription (SVOD) versus paid for by advertising (AVOD).
- Fill rate (advertising)The share of available ad slots that are actually sold and shown.
- Content amortizationSpreading the cost of films and shows as an expense over the years they are expected to earn.
- ARPPU (average revenue per paying user)Revenue divided by only the users who pay, not all users.
- Payer conversionThe share of users who pay for something in a period.