*Changi Airport shops busier as travellers return; retail sales hit $1.1b in 2022
*News Aggregator -Report form the Singapore Straits Times
SINGAPORE – More than nine in 10 stores at Changi Airport’s four terminals are now open for business as the airport gears up for more passengers to pass through and shop at its premises.
According to figures released by Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Sunday, the airport recorded a total of $1.1 billion in concession sales in 2022, which is about 37 per cent of the total recorded in 2019.
In December 2022 – Changi Airport’s busiest month since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020 – retail sales at the four terminals hit about 58 per cent of 2019 levels.
This was on the back of passenger traffic at the airport recovering to about 72 per cent of 2019 levels that month, CAG said.
Over the past three years, sales at the airport’s terminals were hit hard by the pandemic as the number of travellers dwindled.
Operations at Terminal 4 were suspended for more than two years due to the low traffic, while Terminal 2 was closed for upgrading works that were brought forward amid the lull.
With the relaxation of Singapore’s Covid-19 border measures in 2022, business has picked up at stores in the airport’s transit and public areas, as well as on its iShopChangi online platform.
The biggest spenders in 2022 were travellers from Indonesia, India and Thailand.
This was given the near-absence of travellers from China, which is traditionally a major market for Changi Airport, CAG said.
More than 13 million transactions were recorded at airport stores in 2022, with liquor and tobacco, perfumes and cosmetics, and luxury products the most popular.
CAG also attributed sales of about $411 million to an airportwide “Win With Changi” shopping promotion that ran from November 2021 to October 2022 and gave Changi Rewards members who spent at least $50 a chance to win prizes, including an all-electric Porsche Taycan.
Ms Teo Chew Hoon, CAG’s managing director for airside concessions, said: “We reinvented ourselves during the pandemic and explored creative ways to engage our customers. We were also relentless in rolling out promotions and attractions.”
She said the airport is now readying itself to welcome more passengers with more shopping and dining promotions, including the return of the “Be A Changi Millionaire” lucky draw.
A spokesman for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, which has outlets at Terminal 1 and Jewel, said sales at the two stores surged in December 2022. As at end-2022, sales at the two outlets were close to pre-pandemic levels.
While this is partly due to improved tourist traffic at Changi Airport, local shoppers were also a significant driving force, the spokesman said.
She added: “Following China’s border reopening, we saw an increase in foot traffic at our stores in Singapore. We are encouraged by the signs of recovery and will continue to stay vigilant and nimble.”
