Singapore Travel Retail Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

Singapore’s retail scene is home to a wealth of duty-free shopping opportunities. Famous duty-free areas in airports like Singapore’s Changi Airport have become destinations in themselves with their high per passenger spend for duty-free. In Singapore, downtown duty-free stores are operated by DFS as DFS T-Galleria, and these stores are found in key shopping districts such as Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui and Singapore’s Orchard Road. The T-Galleria stores are like department stores where anyone can shop and carry away their purchases. Duty-free operators in airports are also increasingly offering online ordering and in-store pick-up services; for example, duty-free retailers in Singapore offer this service that enables travelers to order duty-free products online from multiple retailers for pick up when they travel or for delivery upon their return. Singapore is a major hub for the region’s luxury shoppers and Laneige has been seeing strong growth in travel retail ever since.

The impact of COVID-19 on the Singapore economy has been significant. First, global, and domestic travel restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 have led to a sharp fall in tourist arrivals to Singapore and air passengers handled at Changi Airport, thereby dampening the demand for tourism and travel retail in Singapore. As borders were closed and travel restrictions were imposed, visitor arrivals to Singapore plummeted to 2.7 million in 2020, the lowest in about four decades.

Key Market Trends

Tourist Arrivals in Singapore is Driving the Market

Singapore remains an ideal location for leisure and business travel, meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. Asian visitors continued to constitute a significant proportion of visitor arrivals to Singapore. Singapore Changi Airport, on the other hand, offers a more horticultural airport experience, boasting a sunflower and water lily garden as well as a cinema and rooftop pool. Visitor arrivals continued to increase as Singapore remains an attractive destination to both leisure and corporate travelers. Singapore Airlines recently increased the amount of time in which passengers can place pre-orders online prior to departure. International travellers have access to a variety of products including fashion and accessories, alcohol, fragrances and cosmetics, food and confectionery, tobacco, and jewellery and watches. Duty-free and travel retail products are purchased by locals and visitors alike when leaving or arriving in a country.

Consumer Spending is Driving the Market

Consumer spending is driving the Singapore travel retail market. Some of the leading companies are expanding their businesses by opening their outlets at the airport with an exclusive and wide range of fragrances and skincare products. This is because billions of people travel internationally every year and spend money and time at airports. Travelers get a lot of free time at the airport to browse and buy products. In addition, travel retail creates more visibility for their products, which draws the attention of new customers and increases the brand loyalty of existing customers. Passengers traveling over distances mostly prefer wines & spirits. Also, the growth in culture of owning luxurious goods and consumption of expensive wines & spirits are driving the growth of the market.

Competitive Landscape

The report covers major international players operating in the Singapore travel retail industry. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. However, with technological advancement and product innovation, mid-size to smaller companies are increasing their market presence by securing new contracts and tapping new markets.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support