Red by Dufry becomes a much bigger loyalty program: Club Avolta. For the first time, the world’s biggest airport retailer Avolta has introduced a loyalty scheme across its entire network of stores, numbering approximately 5,100 in more than 70 countries. Called Club Avolta, it will replace the current Red by Dufry program—Dufry was the name of Avolta before its merger with food and beverage (F&B) player Autogrill.
The difference is that the new program now includes all the company’s duty-free stores plus its duty-paid units, F&B outlets, and branded boutiques that it operates. Since pulling together both companies, Avolta has served roughly 500 million customers making the idea of a fully-fledged global loyalty scheme a viable proposition. In a statement, the company described Club Avolta as “an industry-first loyalty program” and promised that it would be extended to airports, airlines, hotels “and more” though no further information was provided.
Avolta’s CEO made the announcement on Monday at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes. The trade show, which ends on Thursday, is the annual meeting place for the global duty-free industry. At a packed event, CEO Xavier Rossinyol explained the reasons behind the project whose initial aims will be to lift sales, but also create longer-term gains through improved data.
He told his audience: “Every retailer launches a loyalty program but we truly believe ours is different. We’ve been working on this for a year. It wi.