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Interview: WHSmith Travel leader on the rapid rise of InMotion in UK airports

UK. The Moodie Davitt Report was recently on location for the opening of a classy, well-ranged InMotion store from WHSmith at Heathrow Airport, the largest of 30 such shops newly launched in UK airports. Senior Business Editor Mark Lane sat down with WHSmith Travel Managing Director Andrew Harrison to discuss how an elevated customer experience can help overcome the loss of tax-free advantages for the consumer electronics category in UK airports.

When WHSmith Travel Managing Director Andrew Harrison joined the business almost exactly one year ago, he did so in the most difficult of times, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to severely disrupt the world of travel. Passenger numbers in most major European airports were down more than -90% from their pre-crisis norms at that time. But just the week before he started the new role, a significant business opportunity arose when WHSmith rival Dixons announced its plan to exit UK airport retail.

Fast forward to the present day, and Harrison spoke to The Moodie Davitt Report with great pride about how that opportunity has come to life, with the opening of 30 InMotion-branded stores at UK airports. Some £18 million has been invested in the programme, commenced after the company captured a series of consumer electronics concessions last year, many in spaces vacated by Dixons.

The occasion of our meeting was the opening of the flagship of those new InMotion stores at Heathrow Airport, a sparkling 3,400sq ft retail environment featuring a 36-metre digital fascia as part of a £1.35 million refurbishment of a former Dixons space.

Customers visiting this high-class shopping experience in T5 will find the latest technology products and accessories, including tablets, digital cameras and headphones. There is also a wellbeing section, making its debut appearance in an InMotion store. The store’s offer includes products from globally-renowned brands including Apple, Samsung, Sony, Nikon, GoPro, Beats by Dr. Dre, Bose and Fitbit, alongside an extensive range of own-brand InMotion products.

The technology products are brought to life in-store for customers with an engaging experiential zone. There is also a pop-up events space for product launches and brand competitions, interactive LED screens and live product demonstrations.

Harrison says: “When we look across the store here today, we are seeing a very diverse range of customers, with appeal to both males and females, which is exactly what we are aiming for. We want this to be accessible to everybody both with the way the stores look but also in terms of the product line-up and the way we display excellence in product knowledge and deliver great customer service.”

We discussed these observations with Harrison, who prior to joining WHSmith performed a variety of senior roles with Manchester Airports Group, including leadership positions at two of the UK’s top four travel hubs – Manchester and London Stansted airports.

Addressing the move to diversify the customer base, he says: “When we did our research [prior to opening the first UK airport InMotion store], we found out that tech stores from our airport partners were often seen as an opportunity for male shoppers to kill time.

“And when we talked to our airport customers, females in particular were saying they find airport electronics stores an intimidating male environment, places that are not welcoming. This had to change. When you think about it, we all consume tech, whether you’re young or old, whether you’re male or female – it’s a big part of all our lives. We felt we needed to do something different in the tech space than had been seen before from legacy retailers.

“I think what we have done well in this store is to broaden the appeal and make it less intimidating and more welcoming, for example through the use of softer colour palettes and lighting. It gives an opportunity for people to discover how tech can help their lives through the experiential and interactive elements as opposed to going in to buy something they’ve already decided that they need.”

Harrison also highlighted more space between the various brand areas, making the store easy to get around and more accessible, even at busy times in the airport. The type of tech products available has also been widened beyond the usual cameras and accessories. For example there is a stunning area which houses Google smart home products and many other electronics products you might not expect to see in airport retail.

Harrison points out that WHSmith has re-employed many former Dixons airport retail staff and has also increased the number of customer-facing female store employees as part of that bid to create wider appeal.

“I think we’ve got some amazing people who joined our business, armed with great product knowledge, and that’s the thing I’m most proud about what we have done with InMotion in the UK, even more so than these fantastic airport store environments our team has created,” says Harrison. “They are vital to the experience we are trying to offer in-store.”

He adds that there is a big emphasis on understanding the needs of the customer, trying to advise them on the solutions that the various tech products bring, “rather than just trying to sell them a product”.

“Technology should be exciting,” Harrison asserts. “If you’re coming to an airport, and you’ve got an empty moment to just explore something that you might not have seen before – that’s all part of what we’re trying to achieve with the experiential elements we have added to this store. It’s a side to retail that our airport partners, not least Heathrow, want to see more of and we have a responsibility to deliver it.”

A big part of the reason to promote an elevated experience in stores like this is, of course, the UK government’s highly-controversial removal of tax-free shopping benefits from categories such as consumer electronics.

“Electronics is a very fine margin business, and obviously increasingly so since this unwelcome decision from the government,” says Harrison, when asked about this game-changing airport retail challenge. “The level of discounting is driven by the brands, and the big electronic brands tend to not offer much on this front. So we’re not trying to make the reason for buying in our stores to save a couple of quid or two or three or four percent.

“With the help of our expert staff, the point of difference is to make sure that people can explore different technologies in our InMotion stores, explore the features and benefits and really understand the value of the product and what it can do for them.

“Many of the products we sell have immediate uses for travellers when they go on holiday – they can do the set up on the plane and spend time understanding how to get the most of the product while they are away. It’s the perfect time to do it and that’s a big reason why I believe we will be very successful by presenting these products in the right way.”

Looking at WHSmith’s wider UK airport retail estate, including the traditional (but recently significantly upgraded) news and books shops and the new blended essentials concept stores, alongside the new InMotion offer, widespread investment and reinvention by the retailer during the pandemic period appears to be paying off.

Harrison reports that Easter sales in WHSmith UK airport retail were up a healthy +19% against the equivalent period of 2019, despite passenger numbers only reaching around 70% of pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, average transaction values are also up double digits.

While acknowledging that this is partly driven by a larger number of UK airport stores now operated by WHSmith, Harrison says that these numbers are “psychologically important”.

“It demonstrates just how far the sector has recovered,” he says. “Given the level of traffic, the fact is that a relatively higher number of people are coming into our shops, and then spending more when they do so. That’s great, because it demonstrates that the things we are doing are working.”

Asked for his priorities for the WHSmith Travel business going forward, Harrison points out that much has changed in how the retailer does business inside UK airports. Therefore the focus has to be on making new concepts work and maximising sales in the upgraded environment this summer.

“Given the changes we have made to business on a macro level and the offer of our stores, this is just the first phase,” he says. “We’re going to trade the summer well, then we have got to assess if everything progressed as we imagined and ask if our hypotheses worked out. We must ask ourselves did we deliver what customers want and what do we need to do differently?”

He also notes that many WHSmith airport shoppers will be returning to airports for the first time in three years this summer. “We have to give them a great experience in our stores,” he says. “We need to learn how to deal well with big volumes of customers again. And we need to make sure our suppliers are ready [to replenish products] because summer is going to be really, really busy.”

Looking ahead to 2023, Harrison says: “As we move into next year, it’s going to be about organic growth; we think that we’re going to have to be agile and ready to react to whatever comes at us – the pandemic has taught us that.

“But we do believe that we will see more sustained levels of trading so that will give us different challenges – we will be a business no longer coming out of recovery, but one which is then going to need to be tweaked and incrementally improved. I believe very exciting times for WHSmith in airport retail lie ahead.”

This article also appears in the latest edition of the Moodie Davitt eZine. Read the issue  here .

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Located in Terminal 3, the one-stop convenience store offers a wide selection of products across various categories including chocolates, beverages, travel essentials, books, digital accessories and souvenirs, among others.

The new product is a ‘self-repair’ 10,000mAh PD powerbank, described as a superfast portable charging solution, which offers up to 50% recharge in about 20 minutes.

Showcasing a strong Sense of Place, the openings of Elbow River Exchange, Frontier Provisions and InMotion feature local vendors, artists and popular global brands.

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WH Smith PLC

Wh smith plc is a leading global retailer in news, books and convenience for the world’s travelling customer., since 1792, we've been there for every journey, every innovation, every moment as we've evolved with the changing retail landscape., we now have over 1,700 stores in over 30 countries worldwide, and we are present in airports, hospitals, railway stations and on the high street..

WH Smith PLC is a leading global travel retailer for news, books and convenience, with a smaller business located on UK high streets. We're proud to be the familiar face people trust on their journeys, both in life and through life.

At the heart of our business is our people and our customers. As a diverse group of over 14,000 colleagues, we are all on the same journey to a better business through our commitments to our planet, people and the communities we serve.

We aim to deliver our goals through our strategic priorities and initiatives by: constantly innovating, expanding globally, improving our profitability and delivering sustainable returns.

And as we continue on our journey, our aim is simple: to make every one of life's journeys better.

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Delivering sustainable shareholder returns is a core focus for WH Smith PLC.

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WH Smith PLC is one of the world’s leading international travel retailers, with a smaller business located on UK high streets.

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We're present in over 30 countries across the world, employing a diverse group of over 14,000 employees, and supporting thousands of local communities and the environment around us. As a major retailer, our operations can have far-reaching consequences and we are increasingly sensitive to the global issues that impact our world. We want our customers to trust us to act sustainably, ensuring we have minimal impact on the environment, that we source our products fairly and ethically and that we support the communities where we operate.

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WHSmith sees ‘strong growth’ across all regions in travel retail

By Chris Madden in Financial News , Latest News January 19, 2023 Comments Off on WHSmith sees ‘strong growth’ across all regions in travel retail

Revenue across most of the world is up on 2019 for the retailer’s travel business

WHSmith has seen impressive recovery in its travel retail business, with 77% growth in the last part of 2022 supported by improved results around the world.

Reflecting on the company’s results, Group Chief Executive Carl Cowling said the performance of the WHSmith Travel stores was helping to drive a “strong start” to 2023.

“The group has made a strong start to the financial year,” he said, “with our global travel retail business performing strongly across all regions.”

The travel retail business for the 20 weeks to 14 January was also up 48% on the results recorded in 2019, and helped the group’s whole operation surpass pre-pandemic revenues by 20%.

WHSmith Travel UK revenue was up 70% year-on-year for the period and 18% up on 2019, thanks to “improving passenger numbers across UK air”, as well as good results from the company’s hospital and rail business. The company is poised to open 15 new UK stores during the next year.

‘Positioned for future growth’

“We continue to focus on initiatives that position us well for future growth,” A WHSmith spokesperson explained. “We have increased average transaction values and broadened our categories during the period, for example, by ranging more health and beauty and wellbeing products, providing customers with a onestop-shop for all their travel essentials.

“Our market leading tech accessories stores, InMotion, are performing strongly.”

In North America , revenue was up 31% year-on-year for the period, and surpassed 2019 by 20%, thanks to a “strong track record of tender wins”. WHSmith has opened eight new stores across Reagan National Airport in Washington and Palm Springs Airport , with a further 37 set to open this financial year and a total of 60 won and due to open over the next three years.

Revenue for the Rest of the World business was up 198% on 2022, with “notable improvements” in Australia and Asia . Since November, the company has opened 12 new stores and won tender for three more.

The group is in its strongest ever position as a global travel retailer

Cowling continued: “The group is in its strongest ever position as a global travel retailer. This strength, combined with the ongoing improvement in passenger numbers across the globe, means that we are confident of another year of significant growth in 2023.

““Our strategy to transform our customer offer continues at pace through broadening our categories and expanding our ranges, to include health and beauty and tech accessories, and is underpinned by a forensic approach to retail.”

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