Travel retail buys differently from a theme park or a zoo shop. The customer is usually short of time and space, often paying in a currency they did not plan to spend, and choosing something that has to go into a bag that was packed before they left for the airport.
A product that sells well at a park gate can stall on an airport shelf because it is too bulky, too fragile or too heavy for the trip home, so the range is planned around the journey as much as around the destination.
Size and weight
The first test for an airport range is whether a product fits comfortably in carry-on luggage with room to spare. Plush for travel retail usually comes in smaller sizes, caps work best when they pack flat or hold their shape when compressed, and lighter drinkware tends to sell more easily than heavy ceramic.
Packaging that survives handling
Travel retail stock is moved, restocked and picked up more often than most retail stock, and the packaging has to keep the product presentable through all of it. Swing tags need to stay attached and readable, boxed items need corners that hold up on a crowded shelf, and every unit needs a barcode that the retailer's system can scan.
We design packaging and swing tags alongside the product, so both are settled and approved before the order goes into production.
Price and the label
Travellers decide quickly, so the price, the product name and the place the product represents need to be readable at a glance from arm's length. Clear pricing in Australian dollars, a short description and a strong sense of where the item comes from carry more weight in an airport than a long story printed on the back of the box.
Licensed and branded ranges
Airline and airport ranges often carry a licensed brand, and that brings approvals into the schedule. We have supplied Qantas for many years, including product made under the airline's official licensing programme, and licensed work in this channel follows the same pattern as anywhere else: artwork control, territory, and a licensor that signs off the product before it ships.
Reorders
An airport shop sells its core lines steadily across the year, so a travel retail range is judged on how well it reorders as much as on how it launches. Stock for the Australian market is held in our Sydney warehouse and reordered from there, which keeps a best seller on the shelf between production runs.
Our clients in this channel include WHSmith, Lagardère Travel Retail and AWPL, alongside the airline and tourism work described across this site.