Dubai Duty Free began the new year on a high note as it announced record annual sales of Dh7.406 billion ($2.029 billion) for 2019.
The retailer crossed the $2 billion milestone on December 26. The operation's 36th anniversary day on December 20, when customers were offered a 25 per cent discount on a range of products, resulted in a huge surge in sales with 190,208 transactions recorded on the day amounting to sales of Dh111.65 million in the 24-hour period.
Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free, said: "Overall, it has been a fantastic year for the operation and I would like to thank Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Emirates airline, Chief Executive of the Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free, for his ongoing support. I also join him in thanking our great team of staff, our suppliers and of course our customers, for their contribution to our growth and success."
In 2019, the operation recorded over 24.284 million sales transactions, which is an average of 66,500 sales transactions per day, while a total of over 64.578 million units of merchandise were sold. The top-selling categories for the year included perfumes, cosmetics and electronics. Sales of perfumes, which rose by 2 per cent over 2018, reached Dh1.124 billion and accounted for 15 per cent.
Cosmetics had Dh848.74 million in sales, contributing 11 per cent towards total revenue, an increase of 11 per cent over 2018. Electronics recorded sales of Dh558.05 million. Meanwhile, sales in departures across the operation reached Dhs6.6 billion and represented 89 per cent of total annual sales, while arrivals had Dh664.23 million, which was 9 per cent of the overall figure.
McLoughlin also highlighted the retailer's many projects that were completed in 2019.
"We have continued to develop our retail offer in all the terminals and that included the opening of a Chanel boutique, a Maison Christian Dior shop and a Gucci boutique. We are also looking forward to the opening of the new 1,100 sqm retail space in Terminal 3 arrivals this month. The new arrivals shop is much more visible to passengers in the baggage area."
"In addition, we will continue the second phase of the refurbishment of the two FoodPlus shops in Concourse B and Dubai Duty Free will continue to enhance its retail offer within the fashion category in the second half of the year."
"We continue to develop our DDF Leisure business; the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel continues to do well and The Irish Village in Garhoud celebrated its 23rd birthday in October. We opened the third Irish Village in Dubai Studio One Hotel and we will be opening a fourth Irish Village at the Expo grounds this October," he added.
Looking ahead, Dubai Duty Free will continue to maintain its busy events and promotional calendar, which includes the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to be held from February 17-29.
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