Miller hosts a popular weekly business podcast on how to be a better leader, and during his IAADFS address he will dispense advice on how to act and think differently in a rapidly changing business world – an apposite theme for travel retail which has had to endure a turbulent Covid period.
Other sessions during the conference will focus on topics such as airports, regional recovery trends and sustainability, with speakers drawn from both international and regional operators, including Switzerland’s Dufry, US airport retailer International Shoppes and Canadian border store operator Blue Water Bridge Duty Free.
One topic rarely discussed at such business conferences is the brain drain the travel retail business suffered during the pandemic. Many buyers, sales executives and veteran frontline sales staff were laid off during the enforced travel shutdowns or left the industry to find other employment and many have never returned. Credit then should be given to Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail for addressing this issue with the launch of its digital learning app, Up&Up, aimed at its own employees and sales staff.
Suitable for all levels and available in seven languages, UP&UP encourages users to actively engage with the platform through games and other activities, offering 65 courses and programmes to educate them about Pernod Ricard’s broad product portfolio in GTR. Upon completion of these activities, learners can receive badges and certificates, which they can share with the community hosted on the app.
“Today in travel retail, the airport store touchpoint plays a key role in the traveller journey, with 55% of travellers having interacted with a member of our duty free sales force in Q3 of 2022,” says PR GTR head of training Virginie Bievre. “We want to equip frontline staff with the right tools and knowledge so they can enrich the traveller’s journey with expertise on our products, in turn creating a memorable experience for the consumer every time, regardless of the drinks category or nationality of shopper.”
Fun, easy-to-access training schemes like Up&Up have an important role to play in upskilling a travel retail sales workforce severely depleted by the effects of Covid-19.
