Duty-Free Retailing Market Size, Consumer and Retail Trends, Competitive Landscape and Forecast, 2021-2025
The global duty-free retailing market size was valued at $19.7 billion in 2020. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 2% during the period 2019-2025. The growth in the market is driven by government initiatives, rising passenger numbers with the relaxation of lockdown regulations, the mass vaccination rollout, major global events, airport expansion or space refurbishment, re-growing popularity of cruise trips, and investments in arrivals duty-free formats across various countries.
APAC is expected to retain its position as both the largest and fastest-growing duty-free region through the forecast period. Cosmetics and toiletries will remain the largest category in the market. Omnichannel initiatives such as click-and-collect and contactless shopping services are being used extensively to reduce physical contact and enhance customer experience in duty-free landscape. The duty-free retailing market research report provides an overview of the global duty-free retailing which includes market and category expenditure and forecasts, trends, and competitive landscape.
Duty-free retailing market overview
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What are the key duty-free retailing market drivers?
As cross-border travel grows on the back of the easing of global COVID-19 restrictions, so does the number of airport construction and renovation projects. These projects will play an important role in the development of duty-free retail as they provide retailers an opportunity to expand their store footprint. Moreover, travelers are increasingly preferring online shopping over in-store purchases, thanks to the channel’s convenience and safety. Use of social media marketing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to provide a personalized shopping experience to travelers has become an industry norm, while an omnichannel approach, incorporation of AI/AR technology, contactless shopping and payments, and self-service tools, will see more adoption in duty-free space, driving spending.
COVID-19 travel certificates, less stringent quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers, rapid and cheap COVID-19 testing, and pent-up tourism/spending will drive duty-free retail growth and aid retailers to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Policies like the relaxation of traveler’s duty-free limits, the introduction of duty and tax-free shopping on arrival, and the Chinese government’s increase in the annual limit on duty-free purchases will drive the recovery of duty-free retail sales.
What are the key duty-free retailing market trends?
Airport expansion and redevelopment projects all over the world offer duty-free operators many new opportunities for expansion and renovation of store space. Even though the COVID-19 crisis has grounded many airport projects, ease of travel restrictions, global vaccination drives, and the opening of travel bubbles between countries are helping in the recovery of global travel numbers. Duty-free retailers are developing new supply chains by forging new alliances with suppliers in a bid to diversify their sourcing and expanding into developing markets. Furthermore, duty-free retailers are incorporating contactless payment technologies and automated retail concepts to remove the hassle of standing for a long time in queues to pay for purchases and reduce store space respectively. In a bid to aid the duty-free retailers during testing times, various countries introduced aid policies to help them remain afloat and navigate through the health crisis. Many Asian countries have launched non-destination flights as well. This allows passengers to make duty-free purchases.
What is the regional outlook of the duty-free retailing market?
Asia Pacific
APAC is forecast to retain its dominant position as the largest and fastest-growing duty-free market in the world. The sales growth can be attributed to the global vaccination rollouts which will help retailers compensate for some of the lost sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea is expected to outgrow China to become the largest duty-free market by 2025.
Europe
Duty free sales growth in 2022 will be backed by airport expansion plans, new services in duty-free retail space to pull more passengers into their stores, and the return of travelers post vaccinations. The duty-free players are now obliged to shift focus towards inter Europe travel as its core Asian market stopped traveling to Europe.
Americas
Countries in the Americas dependent on tourism such as Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Peru faced exceptional troubles due to the closing of borders to air and ship transport. Airport authorities have made efforts to help ailing duty-free retailers in these regions by providing rent concessions, ramping up sanitation, testing facilities, and now slowly opening airports to international travel, aiding sales recovery.
Middle East and Africa
Duty-free retailers in the MEA region suffered due to the reduced number of travelers from APAC countries, who traditionally form a substantial clientele for duty-free retailers in the region. However, the Middle East has emerged as an important transit hub connecting APAC and Europe which can be leveraged by duty-free retailers to compensate for lost sales during COVID-19 induced travel restrictions.
Duty-free retailing market, by regions
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What are the key sectors in the duty-free retailing market?
The key sectors in the duty-free retailing market are cosmetics and toiletries, drinks, jewelry and watches, food, tobacco, accessories, womenswear, communications equipment, menswear, printed media, and computer hardware and software. Cosmetics & toiletries, drinks, and jewelry & watches were the top three largest categories in the Japan duty-free retailing market in 2020.
Duty-free retailing market, by sectors
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Who are the key retailers in the duty-free retailing market?
The key retailers in the duty-free retailing market are China Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free, Shinsegae DF, DUFRY, Dubai Duty Free, DFS, King Power, World Duty Free, and Duty-Free Americas. China Duty Free had the largest market share in 2020.
Duty-free retailing market, by key retailers
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Market report scope
| Market size (Year – 2020) | $19.7 billion |
| Growth rate (2019-2025) | CAGR of >2% |
| Forecast period | 2021-2025 |
| Key sectors | Cosmetics and Toiletries, Drinks, Jewelry and Watches, Food, Tobacco, Accessories, Womenswear, Communications Equipment, Menswear, Printed Media, and Computer Hardware and Software |
| Key retailers | China Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free, Shinsegae DF, DUFRY, Dubai Duty Free, DFS, King Power, World Duty Free, and Duty-Free Americas |
Reasons to Buy
- Gain a comprehensive view of the Global Duty-Free market and forecasts to 2025.
- Explore new opportunities that will allow you to align your product offerings and strategies to meet demand following the impact of Covid-19 on the Global Duty-Free market.
- Investigate current and forecast trends in the market to identify the opportunities offering the most potential.
- Understand who the main competitors are in the market and their price positioning.
- Analyze the recommended actions to align your marketing strategies with the crucial trends influencing consumer behavior.
Key Players
Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
The duty-free retailing market size was valued at $19.7 billion in 2020.
The duty-free retailing market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 2% during the period 2019-2025.
The key sectors in the duty-free retailing market are cosmetics and toiletries, drinks, jewelry and watches, food, tobacco, accessories, womenswear, communications equipment, menswear, printed media, and computer hardware and software.
The key retailers in the duty-free retailing market are China Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free, Lotte Duty Free, Shinsegae DF, DUFRY, Dubai Duty Free, DFS, King Power, World Duty Free, and Duty Free Americas.
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