MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: DUBAI DUTY FREE


shoppers entering and exiting each outlet and the number and duration of interactions between staff and shoppers during each five-minute period. They also took a snapshot of the location of staff and shoppers at five-minute intervals and analysed what was happening. Cidambi said: “We knew that


Average daily sales measured by DDF between June and September.


“We think we will finish somewhere between the low forecast and best forecast with 30 million to 45 million passengers in 2021. I also think our business will be somewhere in the middle [of last year’s total].”


Ramesh Cidambi, Dubai Duty Free


Cidambi is acutely aware that these figures cannot be sustained and he will continue to monitor levels in the coming months. “We don’t think this is


sustainable,” Cidambi confirmed. “Spend per passenger is very high because there is a lot of repatriation traffic and the interaction between passengers and customers is extremely good. “This is because of the small


number of passengers and the fact they feel very safe shopping in our stores because of the changes we have made.” Elaborating on the modifications


DDF made to the stores before they re-opened them initially on 3 June, Cidambi recalled: “We determined everything we needed to do in May, implemented everything and re-opened the shops in June. We looked at elements such as floor management and the changes we made operationally and presented everything in a presentation to the national authorities.”


September footfall analysis Following the instore modifications, DDF felt it prudent to undertake analysis of footfall and interaction. It conducted this between 07:30am and 08:30am on 16 September at its Concourse B perfumes and cosmetics shops and relayed its findings to those tuning into to the virtual MEADFA press conference. The period 08:00am to 11:00am


was identified as the busiest period for flight departures from Concourse B and Concourse C. On the morning of 16 September, individual team members monitored the number of


the capacity (of staff and shoppers) in the smaller perfume and cosmetics shop was 50 people (based on a ratio of one person per 10sq m). Capacity (staff and shoppers) in the larger store was 70 people (also based on one person per 10sq m).” The peak population in the smaller


store (Concourse B Unit 5) was no more than 23 people at any point and no higher than 41 people in the larger outlet. This meant there was sufficient room for more people to enter the store, shop safely and follow the safety protocol. “In the bigger shop (Concourse


B Unit 12) we had spare capacity of 70% and were able to convert a lot of them into customers. This tells us we can maintain the safety protocol and continue to have more shoppers in the store as passenger numbers increase.” A total of 24 people entered the


small shop and 77 visited the large store between 07:30 and 08:30 on 16 September and there was strong engagement with sales staff. “Most of them interacted with


sales staff and 35 of the 77 visitors to the large shop were converted into buyers,” said Cidambi. “The average transaction time in this store was three minutes. At no point in time did the number of passengers exceed the number of staff in the bigger outlet. On conclusion of the analysis,


DDF realised it could maintain the business while adhering to Covid-19 protocols and capacity restrictions, as long as it adopted a policy where 70% of store capacity was reserved for passengers and 30% for staff. “Within that 30% [dedicated to


Ramesh Cidambi was a keynote speaker during TRMarketplace’s webinar & workshop programme. 28 TRBUSINESS


staff], 70% is dedicated to brand ambassadors and 30% to other sales staff,” added Cidambi. “If you stick to that formula, you can manage the business and give customers a very good experience.” Responding to a question from


NOVEMBER 2020


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