Australia's busiest airport has today called on tenders for its retail duty free operations, which are currently provided by Nuance Australia. These duty free outlets measure 7,600 square metres of space across six outlets and include several consumer electronics outlets, along with the tobacco, alcohol and perfume staples.
"As a leading airport located in one of the world's most vibrant cities, our retail partners are an integral component of maintaining Sydney Airport as a world-class shopping destination," said Sydney Airport retail general manager Andrew Gardiner.
"We are seeking the best operator to take the duty free offering and passenger experience at Sydney Airport to another level, as well as foster the growth of the airport for the benefit of Sydney, New South Wales and Australia.
"Sydney Airport offers passengers a sophisticated mix of the best shops and brands in fashion, accessories, jewellry, souvenirs, food and wine – there are 150 shops in T1 and a further 50 in T2. We see quality of retail space as a key driver of our retail?business and we plan to further invest in development of our retail space in T1 to enhance our duty free sales potential."
The most popular consumer electronics sold at duty free are cameras, headphones and tablets. Apple and Sony currently have branded retail presences inside the terminal that are managed by Nuance, while Canon and Nikon are also prominent.
Headquartered in Switzerland, Nuance specialises in airport retail globally, and currently has the contracts for Brisbane and Melbourne airports, in addition to Sydney.
"Our airport retail operations are a major part of our business; they include tax and duty free stores, arrival shops and speciality stores," Nuance said in a company statement. "Drawing on decades of experience, we understand the consumer's needs and combine local market knowledge with our global expertise to provide an exciting airport shopping experience. Working closely with our airport partners and suppliers around the globe, we develop innovative retail solutions tailored to the local market."
According to the release announcing this tender process, "The selected duty free partner will benefit from retail opportunities provided by the high?proportion of traffic at Sydney Airport that is long-haul, origin and destination-based, and its associated longer passenger dwell times, very high leisure mix, passenger numbers that have consistently grown year-on-year, generous retail space and attractive environment".
Responses from interested parties must be received by the Airport by 18 February 2014. The successful bidder will commence operation in February 2015.
"Drawing on these strengths, the chosen duty free operator will have the ability to provide our customers with an experience to which other airports aspire. We look forward to seeing how operators will rethink and unlock the airport's duty free potential," Gardiner said.
