CRUISE: CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE


Carnival anchors customised retail approach amid ongoing renovations


Thinking outside the conventional tax free and duty free box is one of a number of creative focuses for Carnival Cruise Line this year as it reinforces retail within the overall cruising experience. Luke Barras-Hill speaks to William Butler, Vice President, Retail Services.


T


en years ago, retail onboard Carnival Cruise Line felt ‘much more secondary’ to the


total cruise experience, according to William Butler, Vice President, Retail Services, Carnival Cruise Line. That was by no means due to a


poor assortment. Rather, it simply did not compare to what it looks like today. “To say a guest is choosing the


cruise just because of retail may be a stretch, but it is definitely a piece of it and the expectation is much higher now; if we don’t have a strong retail experience, we hear about it,” he tells TRBusiness. The flagship brand of publicly


traded parent company Carnival Corporation (CCL) sails more than five million guests per year and boasts a loyal fan base, with repeat passengers accounting for as much as 50% of its customers on some vessels.


More than tax free CCL does not disclose individual brand performances within its corporate earnings, but Butler confirms Carnival Cruise Line is experiencing some of its strongest ever growth in retail. Currently working with five retail


partners, the cruise liner returned solid performances across a number of categories last year, namely in jewellery through its partnerships with Effy Jewelry and Starboard Cruise Services. “We’ve taken a more customised


approach to other brands onboard our ships,” explains Butler, who points specifically to products targeted at guests on Carnival Cruise Lines’ shore excursion programme. “Across all our ships we’ve


introduced a line of Carnival Adventures gear – merchandise that is specific and meant to enhance your


MARCH 2019


overall shore excursion experience.” While there has always been


excursion merchandise available to purchase onboard, this is the first time a full, tailored assortment flagging specific routes such as to Cozumel in Mexico has been made available. In general, logo merchandise


continues to be a major draw for guests and typifies the line’s ‘Choose Fun’ slogan. “There is a guest that likes to shout


about being part of the Carnival family,” notes Butler. “There is also a guest that likes to say, ‘I was on Carnival Victory out of Miami in Cozumel (on this day)’. We’ve done quite a bit of work in tandem with our retail partners to enhance our logo assortment. We’ll have a lot of new merchandise coming out this fall. “When it comes to logo products,


if a guest buys it on one ship they expect to see it on the next ship a year later.” That aside, Butler says the cruise


line has been engaging with local retail merchants to curate a more personalised experience beyond traditional tax free and duty free propositions such as watches, liquor


& tobacco and beauty. “Whether it is a local artisan out


here in Miami with a product or souvenir line specific to Florida or Miami… we could sell something like that onboard our ships. I want us to get more creative so when guests come onboard they are also finding things in the retail environment they didn’t expect to find. “I’ve had several meetings and


connections with smaller companies that could benefit well from our market and the amount of guests we are sailing. If we can do a pop- up shop onboard Carnival Victory out of Miami for two voyages, that new potential brand could have 7,000 sets of eyes seeing it. That’s


“Across all our ships we’ve introduced a line of Carnival Adventures gear – merchandise that is specific and meant to enhance your overall shore excursion experience.”


William Butler, Vice President, Retail Services, Carnival Cruise Line


TRBUSINESS 63


Above: Dufry will run the duty free and tax free concession onboard Carnival Panorama. Source: Carnival Cruise Line.


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