Dubai
Dubai Duty Free has posted a 10 per cent increase in sales for the first half of 2018 over the same period last year, the airport retailer said on Thursday, adding it is on course to hit Dh7.4 billion ($2 billion) in revenues by the end of the year.
Beverages, perfumes and tobacco maintained their positions as the retailer’s top three sellers, with beverages showing a seven per cent increase year to date, amounting to Dh553 million ($151 million).
Meanwhile, perfumes, which account for 15 per cent of total sales, reached Dh534 million ($146 million). Tobacco sales increased by 36 per cent compared to last year.
According to Dubai Duty Free, other notable increases in sales were seen in cosmetics which rose by 27 per cent and electronics by 25 per cent year to date. For the first six months of 2018, Dubai Duty Free recorded 12.7 million individual sales transactions with average daily sales of Dh20 million ($5.6 million).
“[This] has been a fantastic year for Dubai Duty Free so far,” Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, said in a statement. “We have continuously grown our business and are happy to see a double digit increase for the first half.”
He added that new retail areas were now operational, and with ongoing retail developments coming on stream at both Dubai International and Al Maktoum International, he was confident that Dubai Duty Free would “reach the $2 billion mark at the end of December, which also marks our 35th anniversary.”
Accounting for 88 per cent of the total revenue, retail sales in departures at Dubai International and Al Maktoum International showed an 11 per cent increase over the same period last year, reaching Dh3.2 billion ($889 million). Meanwhile, sales across all concourses have registered significant increases with overall sales in Concourse C in Terminal 3 up 60 per cent over last year, mainly as a result of new retail areas that opened in recent months.
In addition, Concourse A sales are up by 16 per cent, Terminal 2 Departure sales are up by 14 per cent, Concourse D sales are up by 8 per cent, and Concourse B is up by 6 per cent.
According to Dubai Duty Free, the ongoing major refurbishment of Concourse C, which features the newly opened watches and electronics shops, will be completed by year end and will cover a total of 4,700 square metres.
