KOCHI: In a move to strengthen the growth potential of its retail duty free business, Cial Duty Free and Retail Services Ltd (CDRSL), a fully owned subsidiary of Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) will soon launch a pre-order facility for international passengers.
Also, CDRSL will begin a Kerala Corner, which will sell the state’s heritage products, crafts, tastes of Kerala and souvenirs in the departure side of Cochin Duty Free (CDF) shop.
The decisions were taken during a meeting of the board of directors of CDRSL held on Tuesday. The meeting also identified multiple revenue streams for ensuring a sustainable revenue growth.
“CDRSL is working on a plan to integrate the pre-ordering facility with the existing CDF portal (www.cochindutyfree.com) so that international passengers who are planning to travel to Kochi can select a duty-free item displayed at the portal and reserve it. The item will be delivered on arrival and billing take place at the CDF shop complying with all customs procedures,” said a statement.
Apart from pre-ordering facility, CDRSL plans to introduce advance booking facility from October 2021. Tourist passengers moving out of India for short trips can also avail the advance booking facility at the departure shop. It will ensure that they can enjoy all discounts and avail quick delivery while returning to India. Also, it has been decided to open an exclusive shop for perfumes and cosmetics.
The meeting of the board of directors of CDRSL has decided to appoint Cial managing director S Suhas as the executive chairman of CDRSL.
Suhas said that the management was planning to tap the potential of airport retail business by foraying into new ventures.
“We are going to avail buyers’ credit facility to meet the short-term foreign currency denominated payments of duty free procurements, which is expected to bring down the cost of short-term funding by another 3%,” he said.
