Dufry · El Dorado · Marketing Leader · Jul 2017 to May 2018 · Bogotá
The airport is not a store. Awareness is given; capture rate and ticket have to be earned.
At a glance
commercial concepts, 50,000 SKUs, 3.77M monthly passengers
sales, with repurchase rate +17%
Total sales vs prior period, repurchase rate +17%
promotional pressure in liquor, growing sales at full price
Share of liquor sales sold on promotion
Context
In October 2017, Dufry and DFASS opened the first duty-free operation at Bogotá's El Dorado: ten stores across 3,200 square meters at launch, fifteen concepts by January 2018. Beauty, fragrance, spirits, confectionery, eyewear, leather goods, fashion, electronics and Hudson convenience, under one operation and hundreds of prestige houses including LVMH brands, Chanel, Dior, Carolina Herrera, La Mer, La Prairie, Bottega Veneta, Montblanc, Luxottica, Michael Kors, Moët and Absolut.
Challenge
Build a marketing function from nothing for an operation opening store by store while the terminal was still under construction, with global brand standards and a local team new to travel retail. The role grew well beyond marketing.
What we did
Negotiated prime retail space, taking brand occupancy to 100% and bringing in new international brands; supported global brand negotiations. Built the promotional space program, the promotional calendar and the markdown logic for fashion.
Hands-on operations during the launch: inventory control, replenishment and assortment across 50,000 SKUs and fifteen concepts.
Visual merchandising, in-store communication and custom brand furniture across every concept. Thinking Colombia, the program for Colombian products. Red by Dufry, the loyalty program, launched in the market. A floor team of 100+ associates certified before opening.
There is no neighborhood to walk. The trade area is the flight schedule: sales analysis by airline, flight and destination drove assortment, promotion timing and staffing by time slot.
The campaign calendar · Dec 2017 to May 2018
Fifteen concepts opened in December and the calendar never stopped: the opening offers, Dufry's first global promotion of the year localized for Bogotá, the launch of RED by Dufry, the loyalty program, and a signage system for Colombian products. Every implementation was photographed and reported monthly to Division 4 in Miami.
Dec 2017
Grand Opening Offers
Lightboxes, islands and end caps across Main Shop, North Mall and Hudson
Mar 2018
Make it Yours
Dufry's Global Promotion 1, localized: totems, islands and the tasting bar
Apr 2018
RED by Dufry
Loyalty program launch: capture points, lightboxes and five registration pieces with QR
Apr 2018
Made in Colombia
Label and signage system for local coffee, food, liquor and jewelry
Implemented in Main Shop, North Mall, Hudson and the luxury boutiques · reported monthly to Dufry Division 4
The vendor guidelines for El Dorado: every promotional space in Main Shop and North Mall mapped and specified, from high-profile podiums and tasting bars to lightboxes, video walls and hostess coverage. The document a brand reads before it buys visibility in the store.
The loyalty program's launch in Bogotá: capture points in Main Shop, Luxury and North Mall, lightboxes, column wraps, the point-of-sale front and the registration pieces, all specified to the millimeter for the printer.
A label and signage system with the flag and the price, so the traveler finds the Colombian assortment at a glance: coffee, confectionery, liquor and jewelry. The seed of the local-products platform planned for the year.
What I learned
In travel retail the sales associate is the only touchpoint the brand controls, which is why training came before anything else. Growth at full price came from negotiating brand-funded activations, gifts with purchase and better displays instead of discounts. And when a role blurs, you can defend the job description or run toward the gap. That year taught me more about operations than any other.
When a role blurs, you can defend the job description or run toward the gap.