New Luxury Fragrance counter for World Duty Free at Heathrow Terminal 5

5th February 2015

The travel retail sector shows no signs of slowing down as we head into 2015 and last week the World Duty Free Group expanded their luxury perfume offer into Heathrow terminal 5 with a new counter dedicated to rare and luxury fragrance.

Photo by Saad Sharif on Unsplash

Photo by Saad Sharif on Unsplash

As the travel retail sector continues to experience unprecedented growth, World Duty Free have chosen to capitalise on this by developing their current store to include high end perfumes from around the globe, from luxury brands including Bulgari, Lalique, Amouage, Annick Goutal, Elie Saab and Salvatore Ferragmo.

As previously reported on the blog, the travel retail sector is one of the biggest growth areas within retail and currently serves an estimated 2.4 billion international customers. At the current rate of exponential growth, airport sales are expected to reach $100 billion within the next ten years and an increasing number of retailers are capitalising on this growth – by developing their offer to target new markets. Luxury goods in particular have seen a large rise in profits as the beauty sector of travel retail – including fragrance and cosmetics –is reportedly responsible for 30% of total travel retail sales, as Justine Kennedy, category buying manager for fragrance in the UK at the World Duty Free Group explains:

“Terminal 5 is becoming the designer shopping destination with a growing luxury shopper profile. Our unique concept provides an exciting platform for fragrance houses to showcase their most premium ranges targeted at consumers from around the world with a passion for the finer things in life.”

The new store offers items that cannot be purchased on the high street, containing rare or unusual ingredients such as musk, sandalwood or ambergris. Kennedy suggests that this unique offering will attract shoppers who want to buy something that can’t be bought easily anywhere else:

“The area is incredibly brand-versatile and completely interchangeable, allowing for different ranges and even entirely different brands to be displayed throughout the year. In the next twelve months we expect to see many more high-end perfume brands using our designer fragrance area to showcase their premium and limited-edition lines.”

At the store opening, the main focus was on Bulgari’s Le Gemme collection which is inspired by the precious gemstones used in Bulgari’s jewellery collection – a range only otherwise available at Harrods in the UK. It is this exclusivity at attractive prices which is expected to boost sales at the new store and as travel retail design experts, we will continue to keep our eye on this growing sector as it continues to adapt to global changes in retail habits.