By Charlotte Turner | Friday, 4 October 2019 11:44
Japanese travel retail operators are reporting a slowdown in airport departure store sales as a result of stricter inspection procedures at airports in China, putting off some Chinese travellers from making purchases – in the same volume as they once did.
This has had the biggest knock-on affect on tobacco sales, particularly Iqos e-cigarettes, along with some popular beauty products.
Renovations taking place in a large number of stores at both Narita International Airport and Haneda International Airport in Tokyo are also partly responsible for a deceleration overall.
Find the comprehensive Japan Market Report in the October issue of TRBusiness magazine, which can be picked up with the indispensable Top 10 Operators Report at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes (30 September-04 October).
Thankfully, some of those same operators have still seen growth overall from their operations due to the steady rise in arrivals and downtown duty free store sales, according to TRBusiness Asia correspondent, David Hayes.
TOBACCO NOW ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN 80% OF PURCHASES
Narita, Haneda and Osaka’s Kansai airports continue to report rising sales from their arrivals shops in particular.
A shift is occurring in the share of spend in these stores, in favour of more Japanese men, while tobacco now accounts for more than 80% of purchases.
To provide some context, Japan’s duty free import regulations were changed last year to allow inbound passengers to bring in two cartons of either foreign or Japanese cigarettes, or one carton of each.
This replaced prior rules that limited the duty free import of tobacco products to one carton of Japanese cigarettes and one carton of foreign cigarettes only.
The change in regulations has benefitted duty free arrival shop operators who are currently restricted to selling only imported liquor, tobacco, confectionery and perfumes in their arrival shops.
Find the comprehensive Japan Market Report in the October issue of TRBusiness magazine, which can be picked up with the indispensable Top 10 Operators Report at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes (30 September-04 October).
Download the TRBusiness App from the iTunes store or view the latest issue online now.
By Charlotte Turner | Friday, 4 October 2019 11:44
Japanese travel retail operators are reporting a slowdown in airport departure store sales as a result of stricter inspection procedures at airports in China, putting off some Chinese travellers from making purchases – in the same volume as they once did.
This has had the biggest knock-on affect on tobacco sales, particularly Iqos e-cigarettes, along with some popular beauty products.
Renovations taking place in a large number of stores at both Narita International Airport and Haneda International Airport in Tokyo are also partly responsible for a deceleration overall.
Find the comprehensive Japan Market Report in the October issue of TRBusiness magazine, which can be picked up with the indispensable Top 10 Operators Report at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes (30 September-04 October).
Thankfully, some of those same operators have still seen growth overall from their operations due to the steady rise in arrivals and downtown duty free store sales, according to TRBusiness Asia correspondent, David Hayes.
TOBACCO NOW ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN 80% OF PURCHASES
Narita, Haneda and Osaka’s Kansai airports continue to report rising sales from their arrivals shops in particular.
A shift is occurring in the share of spend in these stores, in favour of more Japanese men, while tobacco now accounts for more than 80% of purchases.
To provide some context, Japan’s duty free import regulations were changed last year to allow inbound passengers to bring in two cartons of either foreign or Japanese cigarettes, or one carton of each.
This replaced prior rules that limited the duty free import of tobacco products to one carton of Japanese cigarettes and one carton of foreign cigarettes only.
The change in regulations has benefitted duty free arrival shop operators who are currently restricted to selling only imported liquor, tobacco, confectionery and perfumes in their arrival shops.
Find the comprehensive Japan Market Report in the October issue of TRBusiness magazine, which can be picked up with the indispensable Top 10 Operators Report at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes (30 September-04 October).