Asia Pacific is the largest consumer of luxury in travel retail, men outpacing women as the greater consumer of luxury goods than women and perfumes being the most popular category are among the many other interesting details that has come up in the recently published m1nd-set research on travel retail sentiments.

Notably, Asia Pacific travellers have the highest tendency to purchase luxury in travel retail. Nearly 47 pc shoppers from the region say they purchased luxury goods in travel retail on their last international trip.

Swiss-based research agency m1nd-set has released research revealing that males, younger shoppers and Asia Pacific consumers are the driving forces behind luxury shopping in global travel retail.

According to the study, more than half of luxury shoppers or 57 pc are younger than 35 years old, millennials make up 42 pc of luxury shoppers in travel retail, while Gen Zs account for 15 pc currently.

The study suggests that Gen Zs have started to purchase luxury goods much earlier than millennials.

Interestingly, among these younger Gen Z luxury shoppers in travel retail, men are more prone to purchase luxury goods in travel retail than women with 62 pc of luxury GTR shoppers being men and 38 pc women.

According to the report, the Middle East and Africa is in second place with 40 pc of shoppers purchasing luxury goods. In Europe, 38 pc of travel retail shoppers say they purchase luxury goods, while in the Americas just over one third say they purchase luxury goods, 35 pc in North America and 34 pc in South America.

The research also provides a category specific analysis of the luxury shopping trends, demonstrating that luxury shoppers have a higher tendency to purchase all the main premium categories than non-luxury shoppers.

According to the report, perfumes are the most popular category purchased with 42 pc of luxury shoppers, which is 4 pc higher than non-luxury shoppers.

Fashion and accessories follows with 38 pc purchasing these products, 22 pc more than among non-luxury shoppers. Significant differences between luxury and non-luxury shoppers are also seen with the skincare and jewellery and watches categories, where there is a 20 pc difference between the two customer segments, 34 pc vs 14 pc in skincare and 25 pc vs 5 pc for jewellery and watches, 36 pc of luxury shoppers purchase alcohol, which is 10 pc higher than other shoppers.

According to m1nd-set, there is a distinctly greater desire and quest for differentiation and exclusivity in their travel retail purchases among the luxury shoppers compared to non-luxury shoppers. More than two thirds of luxury shoppers say they want to purchase something different than what they usually purchase, which is 16 pc more than among non-luxury shoppers.

Other purchase driver criteria, where significant differences can be seen between luxury and non-luxury shoppers, include destination purchases, the product not being available in their home country, familiarity with the brand and travel retail exclusives.

The statement adds that the percentage of luxury shoppers who purchase exclusive items in the duty free shops is 31 pc higher than among non-luxury shoppers.

The research also shows a significant difference between luxury and non-luxury shoppers’ tendency to purchase products for the first time or products on promotion, 20 pc higher for first-time purchases and 16 pc higher for products on promotion.

“Luxury shoppers are not only attractive customer segments because of their average spend, but also because of their propensity to visit and shop in store. They have a higher tendency to visit the shops and purchase, which means their conversion rate is significantly higher than non-luxury shoppers. More than four out of 10 luxury shoppers who visit the stores in travel retail actually make a purchase. This is more than double the rate among non-luxury shoppers,” says Peter Mohn, m1nd-set owner and CEO.

Mohn noted that conversion among luxury shoppers is more than 80 pc, compared to only 50 pc among non-luxury shoppers. “It is important to understand what is driving this conversion and how shoppers are being influenced to purchase and we see a significant difference in behaviour between luxury and non-luxury shoppers when looking at how they are influenced to purchase in travel retail,” he adds.

“More than eight out of 10 luxury shoppers say the interaction with the sales staff influenced their purchase decision, which is 9 pc higher than among non-luxury shoppers. The difference is also significant with key opinion leaders on social media. 85 pc of luxury shoppers say they are influenced by KOLs they follow on social media, or livestream services, 15 pc higher than among non-luxury shoppers,” says Mohn.

According to him, the difference is greater still for sustainability and social responsibility. “More than seven out of 10 luxury shoppers in travel retail say they would switch brands and opt for an alternative brand because of a brand’s commitment to social, political, or environmental causes. This is 21 pc higher than among non-luxury shoppers. Sustainable luxury, through the growing pre-owned luxury category, is still relatively recent in travel retail, but we expect it will grow significantly in the months and years ahead. Retailers in the travel retail sector will inevitably have to embrace the fast-emerging tendency and service this growing demand,” Mohn adds.