After decades enjoying the reputation of offering consumers the best prices on everything from cosmetics and accessories to technology, the air travel retail sector is now facing stiff competition.
A new study by idealo reveals that online shopping has triggered a shift in power to the consumer over the last 15 years, particularly when it comes to finding low prices.
The research found that:
- Cosmetics and Technology can be cheaper at the airport, but not always. A passenger looking to buy the GoPRO Hero 4 would pay GBP49.00 more in the Heathrow Boutique than they would online.
- Passengers heading to sunny destinations should certainly not wait for the airport shop to purchase sunglasses. All of the sample prices taken for sunglasses in the study were considerably more expensive at the airport.
- Aftershaves bought in the Easyjet onboard Boutique & Bistro were found to be almost identical in price when compared with online deals.
- Perfumes were found to be slightly cheaper online than on board.
Although in the case of fragrances the price difference is nominal, it is certainly still vital that consumers are made aware of the illusion surrounding tax-free prices. While there are deals to be had as part of the air travel experience, customers should remain astute and never assume that duty free guarantees the lowest price.
Cosmetics
| Beauty Item | Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara | Clarins Super Restorative Night Cream |
St tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse | YSL Radiant Touche Eclat 1 |
Dior Rouge Lipstick | Guerlain Rouge G Genna |
| Heathrow Boutique | £14.55 | £62.05 | £25.00 | £18.75 | £21.65 | £26.40 |
| idealo.co.uk | £17.50 | £54.99 | £14.45 | £13.50 |
£29.50 |
£29.50 |
| Saving | £2.95 | £7.06 | £10.55 | £5.25 | £7.85 | £3.01 |
As the findings show, it is not always clear cut where the cheapest beauty product prices are, and it depends very much on the product and brand in question. What can be seen is that even though the airport duty free shop might advertise their prices as the cheapest compared to the RRP, they don’t compare themselves with the competitive online prices, which in one instance would save the consumer over £10.00. The two lipsticks on test were cheaper in the airport, showing that this is a product that consumers should perhaps consider buying whilst travelling.
Tech Items
| Tech Item | Apple iPad Air 2 64GB WiFi Space Grey | Fitbit Flex Black | Garmin Forerunner 15 | GoPRO Hero 4 Black | Marshall Monitor Headphones |
Beats by DR DRE Pill Speakers |
| Heathrow Boutique | £459.00 | £59.79 | £94.79 | £328.00 | £99.96 | £119.00 |
| idealo.co.uk | £449.87 |
£58.99 | £96.50 |
£279.00 |
£107.32 |
£119.99 |
| Saving | £9.13 | £0.80 | £1.71 | £49.00 | £7.36 | £0.99 |
The six products up for comparison in the tech category also show mixed results when it comes to price. Nevertheless, the online prices beat the airport deals in five out of six cases, even though the Fitbit Flex online price only took victory by the difference of 80 pence. The biggest savings came on the more expensive items, the iPad Air 2 and the GoPRO Hero 4 were both cheaper online compared to the air-side electronics store.
Sunglasses:
| Sunglasses | Bulgari BV8120B | Emporio Armani EA4002 | Oakley OO9102 | Ray Ban RB3025 | Prada PR 17PS | Persol PO2953S |
| Heathrow Boutique | £187.50 | £87.50 | £87.50 | £141.67 | £150.00 | £187.50 |
| idealo.co.uk | £165.95 | £68.02 | £69.34 | £84.96 | £103.60 | £83.44 |
| Saving | £21.55 | £19.48 | £18.16 | £56.71 | £46.40 | £104.06 |
The analysis of the sunglasses prices brings the most astounding price dissimilarities – a huge difference of over £100.00 can be seen on the Persol PO2953S, and each of the other five randomly-selected models are between £18.00 and £84.00 cheaper online. The lesson here is: if you’re heading to the sun, buy your eyewear before you get to the airport.
Fragrances: Should I buy online or on board?
The second part of the analysis focuses on those passengers who didn’t quite make it through security in time to browse the airside shopping options, or those who prefer to while away the hours spent in the air with a spot of shopping from the ‘onboard boutique.’
For our on board comparison we have focused on another mainstay of the duty free retail gamut: fragrances. To draw up a fair comparison we looked at the prices of six aftershaves and six perfumes as detailed in the Bistro & Boutique online magazine from Easyjet and compared with the best online prices we could find.*
Because all airlines structure their fragrance selection differently, we have chosen to compare the prices from the UK’s largest airline, Easyjet, with prices found on idealo.co.uk. The range and prices of fragrances offered by other airlines such as British Airways, Ryanair and Flybe can also be compared in the same way by checking prices on idealo.co.uk.
As can be seen fromt he graph below, the average prices of popular aftershaves are almost identical whether you are buying on board or online. Comparing on idealo will save you money, but it is worth checking out the individual item you are interested in to find out the potential savings.
When it comes to the perfumes in our analysis, all but one came out slightly cheaper online than on board, meaning that you can again make a slight overall saving by buying online – with idealo.co.uk finding the prices on average £2.22 cheaper.
The key take-away here is that passengers should remain astute when making such purchases, and not automatically assume that the label ‘duty free’ means that they are getting a good deal. While the online savings aren’t hugely different to duty free prices, what is clear is that we don’t need to wait for a trip away to get good deals anymore.
Online shopping: Prices can compete and beat airline and airport offers
There was a time, before the advent of internet shopping, that consumers saw their holiday as the best and only chance of the year to get hold of coveted products at knock-down tax free prices. Nowadays, we can all go online to find the best price for our favourite perfume or the latest gadgetry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, this hasn’t stopped the airlines and airports clinging onto the myth that duty free always means lower prices.
Many of us are easily persuaded into making a spontaneous ‘treat’ purchase in order to kill time at the airport and on board. If you can hold on to your holiday spirit and wait until you are home, or buy online before you fly, you are likely to find an equal or cheaper price across a wide range of tax-free purchases.
The most shrewd passengers will go one step further and make use of the free Wi-Fi at the airport to compare online prices with the duty free prices using the idealo app, and buy online there and then so it is waiting for them as a post-holiday treat on their return.
*Prices were correct on 11.05.2015 and each time we were careful to note that the product being compared was identical – i.e: same bottle capacity and type.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
