Whisky Focus - New Store Concept Sees Whisky Sales Rise At Schiphol Airport

An innovative new approach to the category management of the whisky sector has seen, Schiphol Airport Retail at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, achieve outstanding category growth in its latest new store concept. Working in collaboration with William Grant & Sons they refurbished the South Store, Lounge 1 in December 2013 with the intention of growing the total whisky category sales by 4% and increasing the average spend per bottle.

The results have beaten all expectations, the first half of 2014 saw total whisky category growth of 10.4% and an incredible 33.8% increase in sales from the high value single malt sector, leading to an average spend per bottle increase of 21.4%.

Schiphol Airport Retail Director Peter-Jan Rozenberg said: "The joint category management project with William Grant and Sons has delivered a lot of shopper and category insights that have helped us to unlock sales in this high value category. That has resulted in improved ease-of-shop for our customers and has had a substantial impact on our 2014 performance. With this project we created the cornerstone of our category management for malt whisky; it is now our standard to be implemented in the other stores. It’s fantastic to join forces with business partners like William Grant and Sons to drive our mutual business a step further."

William Grant & Sons have highlighted category management as a key pillar for their continued success in Global Travel Retail (GTR). New Managing Director GTR, Justin Weston said, "With Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Kininvie we have a leading position within single malts. This is a critical and fast growing, high value category. To ensure long term growth we need to develop category management solutions that help to grow the entire category, not just our brands. These solutions must be shopper and consumer focused and help passengers navigate easily and effectively through what can be a complex and confusing assortment. This will mean working closely with operators, just as we have done at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, to secure a fair share of space for single malts and other whiskies in store. When this is done well we can help increase average spend per head and generate more profit for both ourselves and our partners."

William Grant and Sons Director GTR Europe, Andre de Almeida said: "The new store layout saw us increase the dedicated space for whiskies and expand the range to cover the full spectrum available. It created a premium environment for the shopper and importantly offered triggers to purchase for reasons other than simply price. The project demonstrates that category initiatives can work and can deliver ongoing incremental sales. I have to thank Peter-Jan and his team for being so open and willing to take on new ideas. We have built a great platform and I look forward to watching the project evolve and roll out across the airport."
 

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