Page 26 - July 2021

Raising the Bar

Concourse C, Dubai International Airport, UAE

The Dubai Duty Free story began in December 1983 and since
then it has continued to grow and is now considered one of the
largest travel retail operators in the world. Here, RLI sits down

with Colm McLoughlin, CEO of Dubai Duty Free to discuss
the changes the business has gone through, not only since its
inception but throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and how they
are set up for the future.

Celebrating its 37th anniversary on 20 December 2020, Dubai Duty Free (DDF) last year recorded annual
sales of Dhs2.5bn and today has over 2,600 employees on its books as the operation consistently improves the
benchmark for airport retailing.
The business operates some 40,000sq m of retail space at Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports in the UAE. Because
of the ongoing pandemic, Dubai Duty Free currently operates in Dubai International Airport’s Concourse D in Terminal 1, Concourse B and
C in Terminal 3 and Terminal 2.
“During these unprecedented times, we have implemented and introduced initiatives to keep the business operational through the
pandemic,” explains Colm McLoughlin, CEO of Dubai Duty Free. “With limited means of reaching out to our customers, we proposed an
alternate retail channel to appeal to local customers - and the Home Delivery Service within the UAE was launched in June.”
In terms of new openings for DDF, a major one took place last year and this was the opening of a 1,100sq m Arrivals shop in Terminal 3
of Dubai International Airport. The total retail space of 1,100sq m was a significant increase over its previous retail area of 660sq m. It also
meant that for the first time passengers landing into the airport had the opportunity to purchase from the entire liquor range of DDF, which
features over 2,500 products, including 121 Travel Retail exclusives and 41 products that are exclusive to DDF alone.
Meanwhile back in April this year, a 156sq m Gold shop in Concourse B was redeveloped and a 243sq m forecourt Public Shop was
launched at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport.
“Some of our biggest plans for the remainder of 2021 include the launch of three luxury boutiques in Concourse B of Dubai International
Airport. The new luxury boutiques include a Louis Vuitton outlet that will occupy 254sq m of space, and the upcoming Cartier and Dior units
will both be over 100sq m,” explains McLoughlin.
The company has consistently looked at ways of improving their retail offer to an increasingly diverse passenger mix, such as collaborating
more with suppliers and partners, continuing to stay relevant in an e-commerce and mobile world by increasing the level of engagement with
customers, partnering with different company’s such as Emirates Airlines and committing to providing new and convenient shopping options
for customers such as Home Delivery Services for UAE customers and a Click and Collect service for travelling and arriving customers.
In recent times social media has become the key medium for the business and it is a pivotal part of their ‘always-on’ social strategy which
has created a stronger association with customers and travellers.
“As a result of the pandemic, our social media messaging has been focused on nurturing the community as opposed to any hard sell and
this has led to a good increase in follower base as well as steady engagement rate,” McLoughlin says.
While the company was already embracing technological advances before the onset of the pandemic, the last 12 months have accelerated
this movement and DDF now interacts more with their customers than ever before, be that through new online services or hosting digital
boutiques on their website. At the moment they are also looking at hosting their first live sales event on Facebook and Instagram.
In the duty-free retail sector, DDF stands out from the crowd because they are continuously looking to innovate the retail experience for

26 Retail & leisuRe inteRnational JulY 2021