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TheMoodieReport.com: Website of the week: Changi Airport Shopping City – 15/02/07
Source: ©The Moodie Report
By Michael Fryer
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Website of the Week: Changi Airport Shopping City

Style

Accessed via a prominent link on the front page of www.changiairport.com, the Shopping City site is colourful and inviting, though the absence of animation may mean it’s too static for some tastes.

Content and usability

The site scores highly for its interactivity, offering a pre-order service (though not a buy online option) and a monthly email that informs of special offers and news – important for frequent flyers.


The colourful, inviting and interactive site features an enewsletter service
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Reserving items is straightforward, done by clicking the ‘add to cart’ button at the bottom of each product page. The Shopping cart can easily be reviewed and amended later, though like the rest of the site, only displays prices in Singapore dollars. When finished, simply enter personal and flight details, take a note of the location of the shop(s) – maps are given under well-written product descriptions – and collect on arrival at the airport.

A frequently asked questions (FAQs) section explains that customers wishing to pre-order goods not listed on the website should send an email to caas_changi_airport_shopping@caas.gov.sg outlining the brand name, model, colour and size: “We will do our best to find the item for you. If it is not available we will recommend something similar that we are able to provide.”

Other notable areas are Collection service, which informs passengers they are able to shop in any of the liquor & tobacco, perfumes & cosmetics and electrical goods outlets before they fly and collect their items on their return, plus a What’s hot! section, providing information on new openings, items, promotions and draws – though this could do with being updated (the last entry is currently dated 15 August 2006.)

Our unique service collates the duty free and tax free shopping websites of the world, allowing readers instant and free access to the shopping offer of over 400 retailers, suppliers and brands. Click here to access the Travel Retail Web-Wide Index.

There is also a downloadable pdf document containing two magazine-style pages spotlighting free gifts and discounts, while the search facility can be used with either product or shop name and is a useful tool.

Overall, though, navigation could be better. Trying to find a list of products takes some effort, especially if you miss the low-key drop-down menu on the front page. We’d like to see fixed product category links on each page to make browsing less confusing.

And, with the site stating the following, it’s also a pity that individual savings over high-street prices aren’t shown:

"You’ll find the lowest prices for liquor, tobacco, perfumes and cosmetics amongst major Asia Pacific international airports here and what’s more, liquor and tobacco products are 40-60% cheaper than downtown shops, while perfumes and cosmetics are up to 40% lower!"