COVER STORY: LAGARDÈRE TRAVEL RETAIL


New LEAP Forward project ensures Lagardère Travel Retail is ‘fit to succeed’


The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have forced retailers to implement new initiatives in order to cope with financial losses and to position themselves for the recovery. The fifth leading DF&TR operator, Lagardère Travel Retail, is no exception, as Andrew Pentol discovers.


A


s global operator Lagardère Travel Retail prepares to negotiate the post


coronavirus (Covid-19) era, flexibility and agility are key elements of its operational plan. Last year, was one of the retailer’s


best ever, driven by the successful integrations of Hojeij Branded foods (acquired in 2018) and Belgium’s International Duty Free (acquired in 2019). But this year has been anything but easy for the company, which recorded a -54.5% like-for-like sales decrease to €947 million/$1.1 billion in the first half of the year. With things unlikely to improve in


the second half of the year, it is vital for retailers such as Lagardère Travel Retail to have measures in place to try and mitigate against the expected financial losses.


New transformation project Dag Rasmussen, Chairman & CEO, Lagardère Travel Retail tells TRBusiness in this exclusive interview: “Internally, we have launched a transformation project called LEAP Forward to ensure we are fit to succeed in the new environment and best placed to respond to travellers. “Its purpose is to increase the


Group’s commercial and operational performance and expertise and strengthen our agility. The LEAP Forward project will enable us to find short-term efficiencies to cope with lower volumes.” Rasmussen adds: “LEAP will


be driven by locally-empowered teams and will create a nimbler and stronger Lagardère Travel Retail to capitalise on returning traffic.” It’s well documented that


Lagardère Travel Retail has invested strongly in innovation, but could


OCTOBER 2020


Consumers have increased desire to discover and purchase local products, according to Dag Rasmussen, Chairman & CEO, Lagardère Travel Retail.


there be a greater emphasis on investment in general post-Covid-19? Rasmussen comments: “When we


invest in a store, there’s innovation, digital and the trend towards greener shops and assortments to think about. It’s not about how much we invest. “It is about having all these


dimensions in mind for every investment decision we take and integrating them accordingly. As a result, we don’t always have the cheapest solution.” Some solutions require very little


investment. Video streaming, for example, has been used extensively across the retailer’s China operations during the pandemic. At the time of writing, video streaming had generated 30% of total Lagardère Travel Retail sales in the country this year. Rasmussen says: “Video streaming


is low-cost, innovative and digital. It involves a motivated team wanting to assist in the current situation.” Present in China since 2003,


Lagardère Travel Retail operates a whopping 88 stores at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. It also runs a number of stores in other Chinese airports and railway stations. In August of this year, Lagardère


reported like-for-like growth of +10% across its Chinese business. With domestic traffic in China gradually returning, the retailer will be confident of achieving further growth later this year. “When Chinese customers buy, they want more than just low prices.


“Internally, we have launched a transformation project called LEAP Forward to ensure we are fit to succeed in the new environment and best placed to respond to travellers.”


Dag Rasmussen, Chairman & CEO, Lagardère Travel


TRBUSINESS 23


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