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Airports Take Aim At Holiday Shoppers With Canny Planning
A cashier rings up purchases in Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport, one of many where travelers must walk through duty-free stores to reach their gates.
(By Monte Reel -- The Washington Post)
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Because the customers at duty-free shops generally have their passports handy, many of the stores now electronically scan the customers' travel documents when they go to check out. This allows the employees to instantly fashion a personal sales pitch to the frequent traveler. After scanning customers' passports, a computer in Urioste's store pulls up their shopping histories, identifying the types of products purchased in the past. The cashier, Urioste said, is then instructed to ask customers whether they had purposefully chosen not to buy their usual items this time or whether they had just committed an unfortunate oversight.
The result is that travelers can often feel as if a bright red target has been painted on their wallets. Urioste reinforced that idea when he explained how the computers help him target big-game shoppers: "Instead of shooting with a little pistol," he said, "it's like using a rifle."
Among the consumers in his sights this week was Paulo Franca, 50, from Rio de Janeiro. Franca said that in countries such as Brazil, where there is a large trade in counterfeited name brands, the duty-free stores can be counted on to provide the real deal in perfumes, electronics and liquor.
"I always buy a little more this time of year," said Franca, who had filled a shopping basket with perfume and whiskey. "The perfume is a gift, and the whiskey is for me."
His purchase was no surprise to Urioste.
"Brazilians always choose a certain type of perfume, a sweet perfume," he said.
But there was still hope that Franca might follow the trends set by his fellow countrymen and opt for a bigger-ticket item, as well.
"Brazilians don't like white gold," Urioste said, "so we make sure to show them the yellow gold."
