International travellers tend to behave differently depending on who they travel with; this is because
companions can reshape travellers’ emotional state, their priorities, time allocation, social confidence and
shopping motivations. When travelling with companions, the type of companion can act as a catalyst for
behavioural change. The type of companion can even influence the entire airport retail journey from store
visits and browsing to interaction, conversion and average spend.

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful ‘Social Shoppers – The Influence of Travelling Companions in Travel
Retail’, we analyse how shopping behaviour is impacted by consumers’ travelling companions, whether
family, friends or colleagues, and how the ‘who with’ impacts the ‘how’, ‘what’, ‘why’ and importantly, ‘how
much’.

We hope you find it insightful!

Changing lifestyle preferences and economic factors are reshaping the way Chinese consumers travel and
shop when abroad; in travel retail in particular. High prices and increased competition from domestic and
online markets now challenge the traditional allure of Duty Free. Despite these obstacles, popular
destinations like Malaysia, Macau, South Korea and Japan remain primary targets for Chinese travellers who
increasingly use social media platforms for pre-travel research for shopping tips, particularly among those
travelling within Asia Pacific. This digital landscape is now entering a more practical “Smart Tourism” phase,
where Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved from hype to a core research medium used by more than seven
out of ten travellers to plan itineraries and monitor prices.

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful “From Recovery to Re-Invention: Mapping the Chinese Outbound
Resurgence & Evolving Shopper Profile”, we look at these evolving trends in shopper behaviour among
Chinese travellers. We also examine the recovery and evolution of international travel among Chinese
travellers from 2019 until 2025, along with projected travel until 2030.

We hope you find it insightful!

Bespoke research from m1nd-set, now available for purchase, analyses the dynamic relationship between airport retail and dining, exploring how airport design and traveller navigation styles influence commercial performance.  Undertaken among 5000 global travellers across all world regions, the study highlights that enhanced visibility of all categories through hybrid retail and Food & Beverage (F&B) concepts, such as branded bars and tasting stations, can successfully convert the significant share of passengers who currently only visit a single category. The research, which has been commissioned by several major travel retail and F&B stakeholders, reveals a major opportunity to bridge the ‘dual visitation gap’.

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful “Integrating Retail and F&B to Drive Dual Engagement”, we explore the evolution of airport F&B and retail, the emergence of these new hybrid concepts and the importance for industry stakeholders to embrace this integrated hybrid ecosystem to thrive and survive.

We hope you find it insightful!

Regular readers of m1nd-ful and subscribers to the Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S) traffic data and shopper behaviour tool, will know that at m1nd-set we have a bespoke segmentation model that groups global shoppers in travel retail into 5 specific segments, based on their shopper behaviour, demographic characteristics and mindset when browsing and buying in travel retail. These are Rational Pre-Planners, Price Sensitive Shopping Lovers, Emotional Brand Image Shoppers, Local Touch Seekers and Low Income Buyers, the latter being the subject of last month’s m1nd-ful newsletter.

However, there are many other ways in which shoppers can be defined by their behaviour. In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful “Home & Away : The Psychological Divide in Duty Free”, we look at another segmentation type, one defined by a clear psychological divide between two dominant passenger missions: those shopping for themselves, both for immediate needs while travelling and those stocking up for themselves for use on their return home. Both shopper mindsets give rise to quite diverse behaviour when browsing and buying, and shop floor staff can have a significant impact on shopper conversion across both segments, if they understand the difference between both, and tailor their approach accordingly.

We hope you find it insightful!

While the “Low Income Buyer” (LIB) shopper segment label (one of m1nd-set’s five key shopper segments) suggests price sensitivity, caution and limited discretionary spend, the data reveals a very different reality. Although they account for only 12% of the global Duty Free buyer population, the smallest compared to all other shopper segments, LIBs outperform the market , frequently surpassing even traditionally higher-value shopper segments.

In this first edition of m1nd-ful for 2026, “Why ‘Low Income’ Shoppers Are High-Impact in Global Travel Retail (GTR)”, we look at the spending trends and unique behaviour and attitudes of this highly intentional and digitally influenced shopper segment. Far from being purely price-driven, our research reveals that Low Income Buyers have a strong tendency to seek new products, buy spontaneously and engage with sales staff. For brands and retailers, therefore, LIBs represent one of GTR’s most underestimated growth opportunities, provided they are understood and engaged in ways that reflect their unique shopping mindset.

We hope you find it insightful!

International air traffic is poised for another year of solid growth in 2026, fuelled by steady global economic expansion, rising demand from fast-growing markets, and a packed calendar of major global events. But strong demand will be met with constraints. In this edition of m1nd-ful, “Cleared for Takeoff : International Air Traffic Outlook 2026”, we look at the positive growth outlook for 2026, albeit tempered by operational realities that continue to challenge aviation’s full recovery.

Drawing on m1nd-set’s unique air traffic and forecasting tool, our Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S), with international traffic data provided exclusively by IATA, we also analyse the total number of passengers, relative market share, and year-on-year growth rates for all world regions, along with projections for some of the major global hub airports.

We hope you find it insightful!

Cross-category promotions have, for many years already, been implemented by Global Travel Retail stakeholders to increase penetration, basket size, and shopper engagement. And rightly so, as you will discover from the data.

In this edition of m1nd-ful, “Cross-Category Collaborations in Global Travel Retail”, we analyse the power of partnerships in improving Travel Retail’s KPIs and demonstrate the spending dynamics among shoppers in travel retail when purchasing multiple categories.

We hope you find it insightful!

Solo travel has gone mainstream, fuelled by Millennials and Gen Z shoppers who seek purpose, autonomy and personal growth. The solo-travel market was valued at USD $482.5 billion in 2024 and projections suggest the global solo travel market could potentially exceed USD $1 trillion by 2030. The solo mindset is reshaping retail, wellness, technology, human resources strategies and workplace policies, pushing travel and tourism entities to design for one, enable self-directed consumers, and support flexible work lifestyles.

In this edition of m1nd-ful, “On My Own – Solo Travellers in GTR ”, we explore the dynamics of this growing traveller – and travel shopper – segment, unveiling the growth drivers behind the solo travel boom. We also reveal the unique shopper behaviour or solo travels across the airport, cruise and ferry travel retail environments, looking at the key performance indicators (KPIs) as well as shopping drivers and buying behaviour.

We hope you find it insightful!

It is important to remember that while Millennials are today’s key spenders, Gen Z already represents a much larger global population and will surpass Millennials as the largest air passenger group by 2028, making them of considerably greater strategic importance in the long term.

The average spend in global travel retail today is US$128. The spend levels vary significantly of course, across the segments. The segment that spends the highest amount, Millennial business travellers, splashes out $151, while the lowest spending segment, Boomers, spends $107.

In this edition of m1nd-ful, “Hey Big Spender”, we make a deep dive into the profile of travel retail’s high spenders today, to define who they are, their average spend, why they visit the stores and why they purchase, what they purchase, and who for, among other key shopping behaviour criteria. Throughout the sections, we compare the shopping behaviour of these big spenders to that of the lowest spenders and the global average, across all criteria.

We hope you find it insightful!

 

Shoppers today are increasingly exhibiting spontaneous behaviour in their in-store purchase decisions, a trend that is reshaping the way brands and retailers think about physical retail environments globally, as well as in travel retail. While planned purchases remain important, there is a growing openness among consumers to make decisions in the moment, influenced by a combination of emotional, environmental, and digital triggers.

In this edition of m1nd-ful, “Understanding shopper spontaneity in Travel Retail”, we explore the trends, tools and techniques that are driving spontaneity in retail and travel retail today, with a detailed analysis of how these trends have been evolving over recent years in travel retail specifically. We look at the growing tendency of impulse-driven purchases in travel retail, with a focus on the evolution drivers to purchase, the increasing tendency to make the decision to purchase in-store, and the growing influence of staff as a human touchpoint in the decision-making process.

We hope you find it insightful!