INDIA REPORT: DELHI INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL
“People are genuinely surprised by the quality of the departures store and the range of brands we have.”
Philip Eckles, Delhi Duty Free Services
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passed since the official inauguration of the new premium shopping experience and Philip Eckles, CEO, DDFS, is pleased with how things have progressed.
The new Delhi Duty Free Services departures store spans 2,778sq m
‘Surprising range’ He tells TRBusiness: “People are genuinely surprised by the quality of the departures store and the range of brands we have. “We not only pride ourselves
on the new stores, but also on the high level of customer service being offered.” Eckles adds: “Customers are
receiving the same high standard of customer service, but in a fantastic new environment.” At the time of writing there were
still two small stores to complete. One was a Pier Junction store due to open on 3 September. The other was a small pier store,
which was set to begin trading on 10 September. “When you finally get through
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all major commercial areas and exit into the piers, where you have to turn left or right, there is a store we are refurbishing at that junction,” says Eckles. “There is also a small pier store
halfway down one of the piers. The opening of this outlet will mark the completion of the main shop refurbishments.”
transaction value is pretty high, so the easiest way to succeed is to get more people spending in the shops.” DDFS is seemingly well set-up for
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the next few years and prepared to capitalise on any passenger growth once things settle down following the collapse of Jet Airways on 17 April 2019. But the cessation of Jet Airways
flights has actually made the past few months anything but easy. Eckles explains: “Through May,
June, July and August, passenger numbers have been [lower than] last year, which is obviously problematic.” “At the end of July, we were about
Johnnie Walker is well represented in the new Delhi Duty Free departures walkthrough store.
50 TRBUSINESS
4.9% down on passenger numbers compared to last year, but on the flip side, spend per passenger was up
www.trbusiness.com/subscriptions A new refurbished shop and collect
unit in arrivals, was also pegged for completion by the end of August. Once everything is complete,
the hard work starts all over again, according to Eckles. “The big task will be to go back and
ensure everything we did in arrivals and departures is working properly. “There are a couple of small
changes we need to make around our destination area, but nothing too drastic.” Ensuring that the product offer
is relevant, remains crucial and can be measured by transaction value and capture rates.
Increasing footfall “Our aim is to keep moving the dial on spends and to ensure the average units per basket and average transaction values keep increasing. “At Delhi Duty Free, our average
15% and 3% higher than we expected it to be.” With total DDFS sales up 9% to
the end of July compared to last year, the retailer has certainly felt the impact of the new shops, according to Eckles. However, nonetheless passenger numbers “being down is obviously causing a problem,” he remarks.
The next level Overall, airport operator DIAL has done an excellent job reallocating slots left by Jet Airways. These will come online this month and next. “Air India is starting flights
four times a week to Incheon and will also begin flying to Toronto, while LOT Polish Airlines is launching a five-times-a-week Warsaw to Delhi service,” adds Eckles. “IndiGo has also picked up slots
to Chengdu, Istanbul and Riyadh. The fact we have some good spending routes coming back online including Incheon and Toronto is really encouraging.” As previously mentioned, DDFS is
extremely proud of all it has achieved in Terminal 3. But there are still certain things it
must do in order to take business to the next level. Eckles comments: “We need to
work better at our online presence, which is not yet commercialised due to customs issues.” On a separate note, Eckles
implies more must be done to ensure passengers utilise their full allowances. “We must make sure passengers maximise their
allowances, particularly in the arrivals store.” « OCTOBER 2019
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