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As the global travel retail market recovers in a post-pandemic world, major beauty players like Fresh and Estée Lauder are launching dedicated WeChat Mini Programs for their travel retail business.
The “apps within an app” provide a channel to engage consumers, and offer in-app purchases, gamified experiences, as well as share info on new products and campaigns.
With the recovery of tourism in Asia-Pacific picking up, the stakes are high – if separate programs work, early adopter brands would likely benefit from first-mover advantage.
“In the travel retail industry, the use of Mini Programs is still in its infancy,” Ariel Yak, General Manager of Fresh Travel Retail, tells Jing Daily.
Expanding opportunities#
Global duty-free shopping sales recovered strongly in December, growing 130 percent month on month, according to the latest report by shopping tourism tax refund firm Global Blue. The Asia-Pacific region, where sales climbed 151 percent, led this expansion.
Residents from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Northeast Asia were major contributors to the recovery of sales across Asia-Pacific. Sales soared 231 percent in Japan, ranking it first among destination markets, followed by South Korea at 106 percent. Global in-store like-for-like sales attributable to Mainland Chinese shoppers climbed 82 percent.
Do brands need a separate travel retail Mini Program app?#
Many Chinese netizens are not used to communicating by email, or using the open web, and most brands in China operate a WeChat Mini Program.
A separate travel retail program would potentially provide valuable data on travelers, increase consumer convenience, facilitate communication and boost brands’ ability to differentiate.
LVMH-owned skincare label Fresh recently launched its travel retail WeChat Mini Program, dubbed “The Fresh Indulgent Voyage” (馥蕾诗悦享之旅). The app, created by Valtech China, enables shoppers to explore the Fesh travel retail world, including the brand story, product offerings, personalized services, and exclusive gifts.
Plus, it offers an AI-powered skin analysis feature, a “Mask Finder” function, a space for KOL recommendations similar to Xiaohongshu’s explore page, and a livestreaming component.
The separate app not only provides a tailored and immersive experience for travelers, but also valuable data and insights for the brand.
Yak explains: “Traditionally, travel retail brands have limited access to tourists’ data. The investments made in digital media, targeting profiles, and customer engagement at travel retail touchpoints were not effectively integrated for tracking, evaluation, and re-targeting purposes.”
Arnold Ma, founder of digital marketing agency Qumin, tells Jing Daily: “The customer base in travel retail channels is unique, emphasizing strong promotion-driven and tactically oriented strategies. Unfortunately, these strategies often fail to provide a differentiated brand experience in online interactions and consumer communications. Creating a separate WeChat Mini Program provides advantages for promoting exclusive travel-size and gift-boxed products.”
“Moreover, the surge in tourism in Hainan has resulted in overcrowded physical stores, long checkout queues, and challenges consulting sales personnel, leading to unfriendly shopping experiences such as stockouts,” he adds.
Estée Lauder’s “Beauty Travel Star Circle” (美旅星愿圈) travel retail WeChat Mini Program separates the pre-departure, pre-order, and post-departure supplementary purchase channels for CDF Hainan Island duty-free, allowing consumers to access information about the products they wish to buy, brand promotions, and discounts both before and after departure.
High user acquisition costs#
However, the WeChat Mini Program requires attractive perks and features to attract consumers to register.
For instance, Fresh has joined forces with leading Chinese B2C platform Globuy to launch an enticing sampling drive campaign to inspire user-generated content (UGC) and enhance social media engagement for the newly launched WeChat Mini Program. The sample giveaway initiative was responsible for 80 percent of newly acquired users.
Fresh also gave all newly registered members a Traveling Skincare Experiential Gift to inspire users to visit travel retail stores. Furthermore, the Mini Program offers a store locator function to effectively guide online visitors toward offline venues, thus elevating their O2O customer experience.
“Integrating the app with the in-store experience through features like barcode scanning, or exclusive in-app offers during in-store visits enhances the overall customer journey,” says Wai Social founder Olivia Plotnick.
Alongside gifting, Plotnick says “Mini Programs could leverage location-based services to send push notifications about special promotions or discounts when customers are close to duty-free shops, or travel hubs.”
“This targeted approach engages customers with relevant content, promotions, and updates,” she says.
In August 2023, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) partnered with nine leading companies in Japan’s beauty, aviation, tourism, hotel, and retail sectors, including the Shiseido Group, to launch a WeChat Mini Program named “Sightseeing Japanese Beauty” (观美日本) designed for Chinese tourists.
The platform integrates geographical location-based destination recommendations, shopping place suggestions, and engaging content in various formats—text, video, and live broadcasts—centered around brand products.
Securing long-term customers#
WeChat Mini Programs can play a significant role in retaining long-term customers at travel retail locations.
For one, the approach facilitates more effective communication.
“By connecting with them [travelers] through pre-trip interactions, event notifications, promotions during their journey, and post-trip follow-ups to gather feedback and foster customer loyalty, Fresh can establish lasting relationships with customers via this mini program and bring them into our unique, sensorial brand in new ways,” says Yak.
“Integrating loyalty programs within the app, or Mini Program, encourages repeat business,” says Plotnick. Customers can earn points, receive exclusive discounts, or enjoy special perks, fostering a sense of loyalty and incentivizing them to consistently choose the brand.
Additionally, the app offers customer support, which allows customers to address post-purchase queries. “This contributes to overall customer satisfaction and reassures them of the brand’s commitment to service,” says Plotnick.
During three years of intermittent confinement at home, Chinese tourists became more familiar with digital tools, and subsequently prefer a fresh yet seamless shopping experience. WeChat Mini Programs might be the edge brands need to meet this emerging demand.