Bacardi Global Travel Retail has opened The Whisky Emporium, its world-first permanent boutique, in the Shenzhen Duty Free Mission Hills shopping complex in Hainan, China.
The store showcases its award-winning whisky portfolio and is dubbed “a significant milestone” in the company’s mission to grow its whisky business in China.
The 82sq m Whisky Emporium (pictured below) is designed as an omnichannel retail experience to engage a new era of Chinese whisky appreciators. Products include Dewar’s blended Scotch whisky and its award-winning malts portfolio – Royal Brackla, Aberfeldy, Craigellachie, Aultmore and Glen Deveron.
A digital marketing strategy targets consumers before, during and after their trip to Hainan via a dedicated WeChat programme for The Whisky Emporium, benefiting from the huge audience on Shenzhen Duty Free’s e-commerce and social media platforms.
Consumers can plan their visit, pre-order purchases and book personal in-store experiences including private tastings, product personalisation and gift presentations.
Digital plans include partnerships with Ctrip, hotels and golf resort destinations and live-streaming events with key opinion leaders, such as for the Double 11 Singles’ Day Shopping Festival on November 11, 2021.
At Mission Hills in Hainan, the brands are presented in illuminated showcase walls that also house interactive QR codes.
Brand videos unlock the stories behind the whiskies, their provenance and the craftsmanship that led to the six medal triumphs for the new Royal Brackla Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The new Royal Brackla range is available in-store from November 1, 2021.
Vapour infusion jars and tutored tastings at the central bar help consumers explore their whisky before they buy.
“The Whisky Emporium is the personification of our vision to reinvent travel retail as an omnichannel market,” said Gaurav Joshi, Regional Director Asia Pacific, Bacardi Global Travel Retail. “Bacardi believes that multi-layered, digital engagement amplified along the extended travel journey, together with an exquisite in-store experience and disruptive innovation in whisky-making is the optimum strategy to maximise both the revenue and the brand-building potential with the Chinese whisky market. We are very grateful to Shenzhen Duty Free for their long-term partnership and we look forward to putting Mission Hills on the map as a premium whisky location.”
Shenzhen Duty Free Group Chairman You Jiangwei added: “This is an important moment in the development of Shenzhen Duty Free at our new Mission Hills complex. We are delighted that Bacardi has chosen Mission Hills for The Whisky Emporium, its flagship whisky boutique, and we welcome Dewar’s and the single malts portfolio and the great choice and quality offered to Shenzhen Duty Free shoppers. We thank Bacardi for their continued partnership in creating exciting initiatives like this.”
