The study examines how international travellers accompanied by partners, families, colleagues or friends behave differently throughout the airport retail journey, influencing shopping motivations, spending levels and interactions with retail staff.
According to the research agency, travel in 2026 is increasingly characterised by purpose-driven trips, with travellers seeking experiences aligned with emotional and personal motivations.
The study analysed three primary traveller groups: passengers travelling with partners or families, colleagues and friends.
According to m1nd-set, family travel is increasingly focused on memory-making and heritage experiences, while travel with friends is linked to interest-led tourism and shared luxury spending. Corporate travel is also evolving toward “bleisure” models that combine business, personal wellbeing and social interaction.
Peter Mohn, Owner and CEO of m1nd-set, said: “Among the core outcomes of the research, we see that airport shoppers do not behave as isolated consumers when travelling with others.
“They tend to operate more as temporary social units whose shopping motivations, spend patterns, planning behaviour, and conversion dynamics are heavily dictated by their companions. From the moment a group steps into the airport, the companion type becomes a powerful catalyst for behavioural change, transforming the entire airport retail journey from initial footfall to final basket size.”
The research found that travellers accompanied by partners or family members represent 43% of all duty free buyers, making them the largest travel companion segment.
These travellers were identified as highly value-conscious and convenience-driven, with strong interest in promotional offers. At the same time, they also recorded high spending in premium categories including jewellery and watches, beauty and haircare.
According to the findings, family travellers also recorded strong purchasing activity in food and tobacco categories.
Travellers accompanied by colleagues accounted for 14% of buyers and demonstrated the highest conversion rate at 68%, alongside the highest average spend at US$141.
The segment also showed strong purchasing behaviour in beauty, electronics and clothing categories.
Meanwhile, travellers with friends represented 12% of buyers and recorded the lowest average spend at US$127, although they were identified as the most spontaneous shoppers, with 32% making impulse purchases.
The research also highlighted the continued importance of human interaction in airport retail despite increasing digitalisation and online shopping influences.
Travellers accompanied by colleagues showed the highest level of engagement with sales staff at 57%, while staff interaction influenced purchase decisions among 80% of business travellers travelling with colleagues.
According to m1nd-set, nearly 30% of travellers accompanied by colleagues purchased products different from their original intentions following interaction with sales staff, while almost one in five stated they would not have made a purchase without staff assistance.
The research suggests that airport retailers could benefit from redesigning store layouts to include “social zones” or hybrid retail lounge concepts that allow groups to remain together while shopping.
Peter Mohn said: “We highly recommend that Duty Free stakeholders rethink store layouts to create social zones or hybrid lounges to mitigate the ‘social guilt’ of dragging companions along, effectively removing the social barrier to shopping.
By targeting group influencers with ‘companion perks’ and treating them as guests, retailers can transform the presence of a companion from a hurdle into a valuable asset and witness to a shared experience.”
He added that retailers should also adapt to the rise of purpose-driven travel by moving toward more experiential retail concepts focused on deeper storytelling and social sharing opportunities.
Tags: Peter Mohn, m1nd-set
