CRUISE: THE AMERICAS
part of the cruise experience are two different things. “The traditional way of doing the
latter on cruise ships was through trunk shells. A company would bring a trunk, open it and show it to people for a certain period of time,” says Pittaway. “American jewellery companies,
for example, established themselves by selling on board cruise ships with a seminar or specific product at a specific time. These companies brought people to them and did not go in search themselves.”
Retail events The execution of current onboard retail-related cruise line events is an evolution of the trunk shell format, according to Pittaway. “Ultimately, you are creating
retail experiences that are part of the cruise. You are always trying to create an experience of selling that is in line with the cruise you are selling to the person in front of you.” MSC is clearly moving with the
times as far as onboard retail is concerned, while its American business is also gathering pace. The introduction of the aforementioned MSC Seaside ship in December, one of the largest ships operating in the US market, was a significant milestone. Sailing out of Miami, destinations include Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico and the Bahamas. “It is very important to have
this new ship in place,” Pittaway enthuses. “It allows us to be different and understand what American passengers want from a retail perspective. We are trying something a little different and bringing a little bit more of a quality offer focusing on strong brand selling and [strong] retail environments.” The needs of American consumers
are different to other nationalities. In fact, an American consumer living in New York can have completely different needs and wants to an American living in Los Angeles, for example. “When we look at nationality
input, we are not necessarily just boarding Americans and putting them all together. We think about demographics, background, buying
MARCH 2018 Staff celebrate the opening of Heinemann Americas’ second duty free store on Carnival Ecstacy.
experience, how often they cruise and so on,” says Pittaway. “There are many different factors
to analyse and several stages to negotiate before you understand the nature of the consumer and can adapt offers accordingly.” Jewellery, watches (luxury and fashion watches,
non-luxury),
fashion jewellery and duty free tobacco products are all important to American consumers, emphasises Pittaway. “If you look at the port shopping
opportunities in Caribbean islands such as St. Thomas or Aruba, you will see which categories are most popular among American consumers.” Being a global cruise line, its
‘adaptive business model’ stands it in good stead, particularly in terms of its Americas cruise retail business. “Our job is to understand exactly
what each of the markets require and provide a retail offer correct for them. “We have a team in Brazil for
Brazilian shoppers, for example, with specially designed products for these consumers. We have a model created for Brazilian consumers and other markets in the Americas.”
Volatile markets Staying in South America, the volatile nature of the various markets, has resulted in a number of ‘key issues’ . “The most important is the
domestic performance of the particular currency compared to how we are selling it,” says Pittaway. “In Argentina, we obviously sell in
dollars on our South American cruise ships so the valuation of the peso compared to the dollar is obviously very important. It is the same in Brazil. The value of the real to the dollar is very important in terms of the price we are selling at.” Speed to market is another issue.
“It is important to consider the domestic brand set-up in terms of what you are selling. Are you bringing brands that are well known or no so well known or with good novelties or not so good novelties? These are obviously elements which are important as well.” Economic conditions within South
American countries is another issue. “Inflation, economic outlook and people having more disposable income can all have a bearing on the motivation for shopping, particularly in travel retail.” Heinemann Americas and MSC
Cruises are well placed to continue growing their cruise retail businesses across the Americas. Nobody is saying it will be easy,
but with both companies seemingly keen to learn on the job and establish strong partnerships, the future is certainly bright. «
“There are many different factors to analyse and several stages to negotiate before you understand the nature of the consumer and can adapt offers accordingly.”
Adrian Pittaway, Head of Corporate Retail, MSC Cruises
TRBUSINESS 75
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
