World Duty Free has been awarded first place in Heathrow’s Eureka! 2010 retail innovation incentive scheme. Launched this year the award recognises innovative thinking from the airports' business partners which positively impacts the passengers' experience at Heathrow.
The staff at Terminal 3 World Duty Free claimed a first place prize of £100 each (up to the value of £5,000) for their Chinese New Year promotion, which identified products of interest to Chinese passengers after research found they spend five times more than the average shopper. The campaign saw spending per person increase by approximately 35 per cent and participating brands’ year-on-year sales for February soar by 119 per cent.
Kurt Geiger secured second place for their virtual customer store which allowed passengers to order international stock from a laptop installed on the shop floor and Geronimo Inns came third for their Tin Goose Pub re-launch at Terminal 1.
Heathrow received over 60 entries ranging from new customer service initiatives and changes in operational processes, to unique marketing strategies based on consumer behavior and passenger profiling. Each entry was judged on passenger response, level of innovation, commercial impact and the relevance to and impact on the passengers at Heathrow.
Brian Woodhead, Heathrow Retail Concessions Directors, says: “Congratulations to the World Duty Team for their innovative Chinese New Year promotion that proved a phenomenal success with passengers. We are absolutely delighted by the high number of quality entries we received in the first year of launching the competition. It’s great to see everyone enthusing about pushing the boundaries of retail here at Heathrow.”
Notes to Editors
Prizes
1st Place: World Duty Free staff employed at Heathrow were awarded £100 each (up to £5,000)
2nd Place: Kurt Geiger staff employed at Heathrow were awarded £75 each (up to £4,000)
3rd Place: Geronimo Inns staff employed at Heathrow were awarded £50 each (up to £3,000)
The World Duty Free Entry
The staff at World Duty Free recognised that whilst Chinese nationals only made up 1.5% of passengers at T3, they generated 8% of World Duty Free sales. This translates to approximately 5 times more spending per person than the average shopper. To capitalize on this they created a really focused promotional drive aimed at celebrating the Chinese New Year and identified products that appealed to Chinese passengers. As well as in-store promotions and product sampling, the staff created a retail theatre wearing red Chinese costumes for the day. The results spoke for themselves. Spending per person increased by approximately 35% and participating brands increased year-on-year sales for February up to 119%.
The Kurt Geiger Entry
Due to the space restrictions on the shop floor the product range at Terminal 3’s Kurt Geiger was not as big as the high-street locations. In order to give passengers more choice, the staff created a virtual store where customers could buy anything from the Kurt Geiger international stock. A laptop was installed in the shop and customers were given the option of browsing online and purchasing items in-store for delivery to their home address. The success story was that Kurt Geiger’s overall sales in Terminal 3 increased by 10% as a result of the virtual store!
The Geronimo Inns Entry
In order to match the food offering at Tin Goose to the needs of the Terminal 1 passengers, Geronimo decided to re-launch the pub by looking at the changing expectations of travellers passing through. The staff addressed key issues such as the quality of their offering, customer service and value for money. Tin Goose now offers various new services including a breakfast and salad bar, real ales, 25 new gins and a full table service. The re-launch saw increased sales of over 30% and its success has meant that a similar re-launch is being rolled out across other Geronimo Inns.
