South Korean outbound travellers are known for their strong appetite for shopping and high-spend levels. South Koreans prioritize shopping as a core part of their travel experience, and while spend in some categories at home has fallen in recent months, South Koreans are splashing out more in Duty Free over the past year. International travel is on the rise, well ahead of the pre-Covid levels, with popular destinations such as Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and China, chosen for both their cultural and leisure appeal as well as for the luxury and local shopping experience.

 

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful, titled “The K-Retail Effect”, we look at the attitudes to shopping among South Koreans in travel retail, the key demographics, how their footfall and conversion outperforms the global average, their planning behaviour and purchase purpose, as well as the core categories South Koreans are seduced by when shopping in travel retail.

 

We begin with a positive outlook on the growth and continued forecast growth among South Korean travellers.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

Product authenticity is a vital component of building meaningful, long-lasting relationships with consumers. Brands that emphasise authenticity are considerably more likely to generate trust and encourage loyalty among consumers.  Brands perceived as genuine tend to develop deeper emotional connections, leading to repeat purchases.

 

Trust is a crucial factor for businesses in the international marketplace aiming to convince, convert and develop a longstanding relationship with consumers. Travel retail provides a secure environment for consumers seeking authentic products while abroad. They are reassured by the reputation of the travel retail stakeholders. They know they can trust the retailers, knowing that that  the sector’s watertight supply chain in the international travel space makes it considerably less likely for counterfeit goods to enter this market.

 

This presents a largely untapped opportunity for the global Duty Free and Travel Retail (DF & TR) sector.  In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful, titled “The untapped opportunity: authenticity and trust in travel retail”, we uncover some of the main concerns among international shoppers when purchasing abroad, we look at the advantages for consumers when purchasing in travel retail and consider some of the most important marketing messages when communicating with consumers about the travel retail environment for shopping. We also explore what international travellers say about travel retail as a secure place for shopping vis a vis fake goods, to underline the importance of focusing on product authenticity in the marketing mix.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

Self-indulgence in travel retail is on the rise. Understanding the motivations and behaviours behind self-purchasing can help industry stakeholders tailor their strategies to address and seduce this growing self-indulgent segment. In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful titled “All about me – Self-indulgence as a shopping driver in travel retail” we analyse the evolving trends in self-purchasing within the global travel retail sector, comparing it to other purchase purposes.

 

We highlight shifts in drivers to visit the Duty Free stores from the pre-Covid era until 2024 and focus on the motivations for purchasing, spending behaviour, and appeal factors. We also explore the demographic profiles, product category preferences and the role of impulse versus planned purchases among global shoppers in travel retail to demonstrate the differences in consumer behaviour when self-purchasing.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful for 2025 titled “Travel Retail Oasis: Middle East Shopper Trends”, we look at the traveller and shopper behaviour in the Middle East. With a focus on air traffic in the region, we analyse the top airports and key nationalities flying from the region.

 

We also deep dive into the shopper behaviour among travellers from the Middle East with comprehensive insights into demographics, visit and purchase drivers, interaction levels, purchase planning, and evolving consumer preferences. This edition also examines the growing importance of sustainability, key shopping motivations, and the barriers that influence purchasing decisions among Middle Eastern travellers.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

There have been significant shifts in travel retail shopper profiles over recent years, including both key demographic and behavioural changes. Among the most notable is the rising importance of eco-conscious priorities, including sustainable packaging, ingredients, and production processes.

 

In this first edition of m1nd-ful for 2025 titled “Winds of change: how demographics and behaviour are redefining Travel Retail”, we look at how both Duty Free shoppers’ profiles and their decision-making process have evolved over recent years. Through a comprehensive analysis focusing on demographics, travel behaviour, purchase planning and sustainability preferences, we study the evolutions from the pre-Covid era, between 2017 and Q1 2020, to the post-Covid recovery period from 2021 – 2024.

 

We will also explore how trends in both product category mix and the number of categories purchased have evolved, as well as motivations behind purchases, highlighting the regional differences, particularly in the wake of Covid-19. We will also look at how shoppers’ decision-making moments, such as pre-flight or during travel, have evolved. Finally, the research identifies the key barriers to purchase among non-buyers in Duty Free shops, such as lack of interest or limited options, and how these challenges have evolved since pre-Covid times.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful titled “How will global air traffic and shopper behaviour evolve in 2025?”, we unveil a sneak preview of the m1nd-set 2025 Annual Forecast Report. The full annual report offers a comprehensive outlook on global air traffic trends and a preview of how shopper behaviour is expected to evolve over the next 12 months. Covering the top 25 airports, and the leading nationalities contributing to international traffic, the air traffic analysis identifies trends across global regions, while the analysis of global travelling consumer shopping behaviour examines trends and patterns across major categories from 2018 to the present, with projections for 2025 using m1nd-set’s predictive analytics.

 

Drawing on interviews with over 250,000 global consumers across all world regions, the 2025 forecast report underlines the key trends in consumer behaviour among international travellers amidst an evolving travel retail landscape and an increased preference for experiential retail and digital touchpoints. The report focuses on key performance indicators (KPIs) impacting travel retail, including footfall and purchase drivers. It explores the evolution of impulse versus planned purchases, purchase destination preferences, pricing, shop attractiveness, gifting, and the role of experiential retail.

 

We hope you find this summary report insightful! Please do get in touch for information about how to obtain the full report.

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful titled “How are Globe-trotting Gen Zs responding to Global Travel Retail?”, we explore how Gen Zs are reshaping the global travel and tourism sector; we review their shopping trends in travel retail and discuss best practice on how to influence this unique generation, to ensure travel retail meets their expectations.

We hope you find it insightful!

The major downtown Duty Free shopping markets are primarily situated in global tourist hubs and cities with high volumes of international travel. It might seem logical that the behaviour of downtown Duty Free shoppers would mirror that of international Duty Free shopper behaviour at airports, inflight or on cruise ships, given that both target similar customer profiles, namely international travellers. However, as we explore in this month’s edition of m1nd-ful titled “Discovering the Downtown Duty Free Shopper”, the reality is quite different.

We hope you find it insightful!

Travel Retail is, always has been and always should be considered as the ideal gift-shopping environment. As we will discover in this month’s edition of m1nd-ful, entitled “Gifting on the go – understanding the gift shopper mindset in travel retail” however, the gift shopping tendency was impacted to some extent during the global pandemic. This month’s research on gifting as a purpose of purchase analyses the trends over recent years to highlight the importance of refocusing the travel retail channel’s identity and reinforce its image as the ideal gift buying environment.  We delve into the attitudes and behaviour of the gift shoppers in travel retail to understand how the global travel retail industry can navigate through this downturn and revive the gifting behaviour among global shoppers.

 

It’s important to highlight here that when talking about gift shoppers, we are referring to shoppers gifting as a purpose of purchase, (as opposed to self-treating, sharing or purchases on request) and not gifts as a category.

 

We hope you find it insightful!

In this month’s edition of m1nd-ful, entitled “Is price becoming less relevant in travel retail?” we demonstrate how the importance of price as a primary decision-making factor for consumers in travel retail is steadily declining. As markets evolve and consumer preferences shift, other aspects such as the retail and brand experience, quality, exclusivity, sustainability and the quality of the sales service are growing in importance. Consequently, products at both ends of the price spectrum need to rethink their pricing policy and positioning, and focus on other aspects that influence the purchase decision. We explore the reasons behind this trend and its implications for the global travel retail industry.

 

We hope you find it insightful!