AFRICA: TOURVEST RETAIL SERVICES


“Tourvest has developed a digital framework and portal that enables its airline partners to tap into rich data sources such as customer preference, geographic location, market trends, demographic group, past purchases and brand interactions.”


Michelle Green, Tourvest


experts, we understand the customer and our team of experts select products based on quality, value for money, customer demographics and research and trend analysis. “We also understand the need to


conclude a transaction seamlessly and quickly via our TourPOS hardware device inflight, as well as client own apps, together with crew device order fulfilment apps, among other digital payment solutions. “We are proud to work with some


of the top retail brands in our buy on board and boutique range and successfully brought more than 300 exclusive products and brands into travel retail for our customers.” In terms of DF&TR trends across


the African market, consumers are demanding additional functionality from their watches, such as activity tracking, heart monitoring, notifications and reminders. Green says: “We have seen great


sales in the smartwatch category and have significantly grown the range, which now includes the ladies Bergson smartwatch.” TRS has also seen the wellbeing


category grow, especially with its activity tracker listed on board. “Lastly, we continue to see growth in our sales of Johnnie Walker Black label in Ethiopia,” says Green.


Strides made in Ethiopia Other categories which continue to grow in Africa are men’s fragrances, specifically intense, oud and celebrity fragrance brands in particular. She adds: “In the UK, we have


seen strong performances across the majority of categories, in particular cosmetics,


jewellery, alcohol,


fragrance and tobacco.” Speaking of the Ethiopian Airlines


business, which TRS won the management contract for in 2016, CEO Clive Jones told Deputy Editor


OCTOBER 2018


Luke Barras-Hill last year the company was looking to become involved in other areas of the Ethiopian Airlines business. This spans technology and


innovation and cost control among other areas in which to grow its footprint. Additionally, he indicated TRS


had doubled Ethiopian’s boutique sales compared to 2016 and that the business continued to perform strongly.


African DF&TR tops $800m Offering a snap-shot of the overall African market and the external factors influencing business — sales in the African DF&TR grew +1.6% to $800m in 2017 — Jones comments: “In the African market, there have been challenges in terms of the significant exchange rate fluctuation and the reduction in price of oil impacting key African travel retail markets like Nigeria and Angola. “Closer to home, there was the


impact of the water crisis in the key tourism destination of Cape Town, South Africa, which has subsequently recovered thankfully. “Overall, our spend per head is


up year-on-year, therefore we are pleased with our performance and growth on the continent, under difficult trading conditions.” Last year, preliminary DF&TR


sales across the airline business rose +4.2% to $2.6bn compared to 2016. As the digital transformation gathers pace even across the inflight sector, could the segment be set for something of a renaissance? “At Tourvest, we believe the


future of travel retail is amid a digital transformation,” Green emphasises. “Consumers are changing in terms


of delivery channel preferences and preferred device and mechanisms to conclude a transaction.


Consumers are demanding additional functionality from their watches across the African market.


TRBUSINESS 59


“They expect an almost instantaneous


speed and


accessibility of data to drive their retail decision making.” In order to satisfy this need,


customers require a dynamic, personalised experience that adapts in real-time. She explains: “Tourvest has


developed a digital framework and portal that enables its airline partners to tap into rich data sources such as customer preference, geographic location, market trends, demographic group, past purchases and brand interactions. “The aim is to further enhance the


customers’ experience and allow the customer to personalise its journey.” She concludes: “We are really


excited about the future of travel retail and the technology and digital solution we can offer our airline partners to enable them to offer a truly personalised retail experience to their customers.” «


Above left: Tourvest won the Ethiopian Airlines contract back in 2016.


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