Insight
Deep analysis, frameworks, and practitioner thinking. Improve your accumen in areas of duty free, travel retail, airport commercial
Two Theories of Travel Retail. One Brutal Stress Test. The ELC vs Diageo Reckoning.
For 12 years, Estée Lauder treated travel retail as a strategic channel and Diageo treated it as a tactical opportunity. The last four quarters tested both theories at once — and the answer will reshape how every brand house bets on airports for the next decade.
The Indian Traveller: Rising Spend, Shifting Preferences, New Priorities
Indian outbound travel growing at 15%+ annually. The spending patterns and brand preferences every duty-free operator must understand.
Loyalty Programs in Travel Retail: Why They Are Hard to Build and Worth It
Most airport loyalty programs fail. The few that work generate 2-3x lifetime value. What separates success from expensive failure.
The K-Beauty Disruption: How Korean Brands Rewrote the Airport Beauty Playbook
From Incheon to IGIA — how Korean beauty conquered duty-free worldwide. The strategy and what Western brands can learn.
Walk-Through Store Design: The Strategy That Transformed Airport Duty-Free Revenue
The format change that added 10-15 points of conversion. How walk-through stores work, why they dominate, and what operators still get wrong.
Sustainability in Travel Retail: The Pressure, the Progress, the Priorities
ESG pressure is reaching the duty-free floor. Where the industry stands, what consumers demand, and what operators must do next.
DOOH and Digital Screens in Airports: The Medium, the Metrics, and the ROI
Digital out-of-home advertising promises precision targeting. The reality is more nuanced. What the data shows about what actually work
The Chinese Traveller: The Most Studied Consumer in Travel Retail
No single nationality has shaped global duty-free more than the Chinese traveller. Spending data, category preferences, and the post-pandemic recalibration.
Travel Retail Exclusives in Spirits: Strategy, Value, and Shopper Response
TR exclusives account for 42% of top Scotch SKUs. The strategy behind exclusives, when they create value, and when they backfire.
Headphones and Earbuds: The One Electronics Category That Actually Works in Airports
While most electronics struggle in duty-free, headphones deliver conversion rates that rival beauty. Why this category works.
The Tender Process: How Airlines and Airport Authorities Award Duty-Free Contracts
Inside the process that determines who operates airport retail. What evaluators look for and the strategic mistakes that lose tenders.
Sampling Strategy in Beauty: How Free Drives the Most Revenue in Duty-Free
The counterintuitive economics of giving product away. When sampling works, when it wastes money, and the ROI data that justifies every spritz.