SPECIAL FEATURE: DUBAI DUTY FREE
60-62% of our sales or around $1.3bn (if we take 2018 for example). “Then you have, let’s say, 150+ plus
brands, which contribute another 15% of turnover. So in the top 250-275 brands you have essentially 75% of your turnover.” The balance of brands that are left
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out of the 2,000 in total contribute less than 20% of DDF’s turnover. “Whether you are in domestic
or travel retail, the industry has to accept that certain brands are extremely strong and that certain brands dominate the retail landscape,” he said. “Now, having said that, the other challenging part is that in many categories like perfumes & cosmetics, like fashion, to some extent in technology, confectionery & food and watches, you have a situation where brands have custom fit-outs.” Custom fit-outs or semi-
permanent store fixtures allow brands to express themselves better and to execute best-in-class merchandising, thereby improving the shopping experience for the customers, said Cidambi. However, the downside of this is the inability to refresh the product offer frequently. “Even if we were to have the
notion that we can take smaller brands, experiment with them and increase opportunities with them at the airport, where are we going to do it?” asked Cidambi. “When you have so many fixed
units across these major categories, the reality of the situation is that these
strong brands have the footprint and they have the mindshare of the passengers, which will allow them to continue to be dominant.”
‘Nothing is forever’ Cidambi did say that he doesn’t think this situation will exist forever. “Nothing is forever,” he said. He
also pointed out that DDF is doing its best to give new or undiscovered brands pop-ups or temporary store space to see if they have the potential for more permanent residences. But the facts are hard to argue with. “With a capacity for around
2,000 brands, we were only able to introduce 100-150 new brands last year and the majority of them would have been in categories where it is easier to introduce them.” Cidambi explained that new brand Official Partner
introductions are easier to facilitate in the wines & spirits category because of the way the produce
“Dr Brendan O’Regan was a great man and was the founding father of the duty free industry that we know today… When I started in Shannon, I reported to Bill Maloney in the early days. Bill was a great manager and I learnt a lot from him.”
Colm McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free
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is displayed. However, it is much harder to introduce new fashion or beauty brands. “As much as we understand
Established 1998
the difficulty that smaller brands encounter, it is much harder for them to make their presence felt,” said Cidambi. “There are success stories from smaller brands of course, but new brand introductions typically are small in number and typically do not represent more than 1% of our turnover in any given year.” «
Customers at Dubai Duty Free now eligible to pay in Indian rupees
Dubai Duty Free (DDF) confirmed to TRBusiness that travellers can now pay for purchases using Indian rupees (INR). Indian rupees are accepted as a
mode of currency at all DDF points of sale at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at Dubai International and Al Maktoum International Airports. The move, widely reported in the Gulf
media, reverses rules that previously meant customers had to convert the currency into UAE Dirhams, US dollars or Euros to complete transactions. Accepted INR denominations are 100s, 200s, 500s (newest as earlier forms are out of circulation) and 2000s.
OCTOBER 2019
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However, payments in INR will receive change in UAE Dirhams; only purchases
For more information contact:
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DDF is now accepting Indian rupees at its stores.
in US dollars, Euros and Pounds receive change in the same currency. DDF says the INR is the 16th foreign
currency accepted for transactions at its shops.Ramesh Cidambi, Chief Operating Officer, DDF told TRBusiness: “Dubai Duty Free commenced the acceptance of Indian Rupees at its retail outlets to improve its service to passengers travelling to Indian destinations. “Dubai Airports had 12 million
passengers travelling to various destinations in India last year and it represents an important portion of the 90 million passengers who used Dubai Airports last year.”
TOP 10 OPERATORS 83
Above: Dubai Duty Free said it was going to open a Chanel boutique in Concourse B.
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