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 scheme now includes all the company’s duty-free stores plus its duty-paid units, F&B outlets, and the boutiques 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 companies were named.

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 increase sign-ups, but also ensure longer-term sales 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 will be accepted in more travel locations than any other: 5,000 points of sale across the globe. Imagine the data that will be provided. A loyalty program, by definition, is for frequent flyers, but it is the first time that they will get such a rounded offer.”

As well as typical advantages like promotions and savings, which will be rolled out “step by step,” Rossinyol said users would further benefit from entertainment, experiences with big brands, instant rewards, airport VIP services, and “probably linkage to your frequent flyer account.” Options to donate to charities and worthwhile causes will also be part of the scheme.

Data-driven decisions

The program is designed to integrate with existing airport loyalty schemes of which there are many. For brand partners, Avolta claims they will get “increased visibility of purchasing behaviors,” allowing them to make data-driven investments going forward.

Rossinyol said: “Our diversification across travel retail, F&B, and convenience gives us a competitive edge through our ability to generate insights from proprietary data points. For members, Club Avolta starts as a simple transaction but quickly becomes a habit—and eventually a lifestyle. The program allows us to understand our clients even better.”

Some observers, including one airport landlord at the show, expressed doubt about whether Avolta will be able to lure enough members to do large-scale data analysis. However, even on a smaller scale, a travel retail membership scheme can be useful.

Competitor Gebr, Heinemann’s program called Heinemann & Me has been able to tailor promotions and services to customers using insights about them. The scheme’s members can collect points in all Heinemann shops in Australia, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Norway, as well as in its chiefly Europe-based cruise liner stores.

Rossinyol is also looking at the big picture. “This industry’s potential customers grow by 3.5% every year. It may not look like much but it means that every three years the number of people doubles. We, as an industry, have exposure to 10 billion travelers this year. In 15 years, that will be 20 billion. Nobody has that.”