Page 172 - European Cruise Traveller Duty & Tax Free Retail

The weakest area of the on-board convenience store offering in terms of visitor perceptions is the product pricing, followed by the range of products available. These areas should be prioritised when looking at strategies to improve the overall convenience based offering.
Product Pricing...
Product pricing should be considered the leading area to address when assessing methods of driving satisfaction with the on- board convenience based offering on- board cruise liners in the European region, with almost a third of visitors possessing negative connotations of the area.
Our previous research has illustrated how on-board convenience stores are often perceived to price everyday items at a premium compared to domestic stores and this appears to be a trend also apparent in the European region.
Convenience store operators should look to
ensure comparable pricing with domestic offerings so as to ensure customer expectations are met. Operators should look to further support this with promotional activity, such as multi-buy discounts or product combinations, such as discounts on aftersun cream when purchasing suncream.
Figure 30: Convenience Store Perceptions: Product Pricing
Product Range...
Although perceived more positively than product pricing, we believe that the product range should also be considered a key priority for convenience store operators going forward, with one fifth of visitors possessing negative perceptions of the aspect on their most recent trip and just one-third possessing strong positive perceptions.
On-board convenience stores are often fairly small stores. Therefore, expanding product ranges could be deemed challenging. This being said, a wide range of products are clearly required, as illustrated by the range of product categories purchased.
Store operators should therefore look to offer as wider range as possible but focus on leading international brands where space constraints exist. Mid-priced products should also be prioritised.
Figure 31: Convenience Store Perceptions: Product Range
Industry Insider:
European Cruise Duty & Tax Free Retail 2016
8.2.1.1 HIGHER PRIORITY AREAS
Excellent Very Good Good Poor/Very/Extremely Poor
10%
20%
40% 30%
Excellent Very Good Good Poor/Very/Extremely Poor
9%
24%
47% 20%
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