Research Paper on Luxury Travel Retail Market

Introduction

Luxury travel retail market is growing every day thanks to the significant opportunity that have been availed by the ever-changing technology and digital platforms that have availed a direct communication and link between the products and the customer. L'oreal is a leading Cosmetics Company based in France, travel and retail market have shown an increased change due to luxury products, for example, jewelry, watches and beauty products (Castaldo, Grosso, and Premazzi 2013). The digital platform is a new trend that has provided L'oreal with a platform to reach its customers. Increase in the number of middle class and the ever increasing number of middle-class people have presented the company with a broad market and an opportunity to develop new products. L'oreal main threat is the environmental challenges due to their packaging and logistics activities that may harm the environment (Keller 2013).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

You Should Consider the Following:

L'oreal has several macro-environment strategies, but the main one is very advanced tech products that have provided them with a platform to stay ahead of their competitors and win more new customers.

The main micro-environmental factors that affect relates to L'oreal include economic and political factors.

The company targets the younger generation of ladies since they are the main buyers of their products, they have experienced a change in the buyer pattern as older ladies are now purchasing more of their products since they do not want to look older and lose touch with their youthful selves.

The internet has revolutionized business for L'oreal since it is now receiving more customers from the internet.

Applying the Marketing Planning Process:

C.1. Define the market, study what's out there for travelers in terms of beauty products, services and retail experience in Travel Retail. What is the current market situation? What are the current trends and the vision for the future? Imagine what the aero-malls and airports in the future (in 10 years) will look like. What are the growth opportunities and threats?

The current market for L'oreal is the women who are between the ages of 20-45 although older women are embracing beauty products. The main products out there are makeup products and body oils. Buyers are receiving a lot of services and experience; for example, they can bargain for the products. The market at the airports has increased as the marketing platforms at those terminals attracts a lot of customers. The airports and are-malls have a lot of potential in ensuring that customers get the best services and therefore they will adopt advanced technology in their marketing. The opportunity for airport malls is that there is an increased number of traveler daily and the main threat is that people who travel through airports are the only ones who will receive these services and this will make it hard to reach a lot of people.

C.2. Identify the competition, who are the main competitors? Define their positioning and targets.

The company faces competition from many organizations; some of the main competitors include, Maybelline, Decay and MAC. L'oreal has employed the differentiation strategy where they have tried to make different products for their diverse market segments. Their primary targets are women, but they are currently also working on widening their target market to include men (Som and Blanckaert 2015).

C.3. understand the consumer and identify consumers' trends, who are the consumers who buy beauty products in airports? What are their habits (frequency, preferences, and rituals)? What are their expectations? Define the main trends for this type of consumer. How to recruit them, how to loyalise them?

The L'oreal consumer is a woman with stature who believes that she is worth using L'oreal products which portray the class of any person using them. Most of the consumers are middle-class youths and older ladies who have embraced the art of artificial beauty and would want nothing less than a perfect skin care product (Derval 2018). Consumers who buy products at the airport are those that want to enjoy a bargain or buy for less because most of the products at the airport are duty-free. Consumers mostly frequent the airport to buy their products may be just because they can bargain for them or because they travel regularly. They expect to find cheaper but quality products because at the airports the products are duty-free (Calefato 2014). The primary trend for this type of consumer is the improved advertisement and positioning of products at the airport; to recruit these consumers, they should provide them with information on the product and the benefits of using the products. So as to make airport luxury consumers loyal they should provide them with high-quality products that impact their lives.

Conclusion

To conclude, many companies should embrace travel luxury marketing since it currently works better than other traditional forms of marketing and it has gone further to ensure that companies increase their sales. L'oreal is a company that has embraced the strategy, and it is now enjoying a lot of customer response.

References List

Calefato, P., 2014. Luxury: Fashion, Lifestyle and Excess. A&C Black.

Castaldo, S., Grosso, M., & Premazzi, K., 2013. Retail and Channel Marketing. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Derval, D., 2018. Designing Luxury Brands: The Science of Pleasing Customers' Senses. Springer.

Frank, M. C., 2013. L' Oreal in China.

Som, A., & Blanckaert, C., 2015. Luxury: Concepts, Facts, Markets and Strategies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Singapore.

Keller, K., 2013. Strategic Brand Management. England: Pearson Education