Capgemini and Portugal Duty Free Transform the Airport retail Experience 

Introducing Portugal’s first Click & Collect duty-free solution, redefining convenience and premium travel retail.  

Setting the stage

Portugal Duty Free operates duty-free and travel retail across five major Portuguese airports: Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal, and Ponta Delgada. Jointly owned by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal and Aer Rianta International (ARI). Portugal Duty Free manages a portfolio of premium retail brands including Montblanc, Hugo Boss, and Women’Secret. 

The project emerged from a strategic need to modernize the travel retail experience by implementing a Click & Collect operation. This would allow passengers to pre-purchase products online and collect them at the airport, enhancing convenience, aligning with global travel retail trends, and reinforcing Portugal Duty Free’s premium positioning. 

As part of this modernization journey, Portugal Duty Free also introduced Duarte, a Customer Service and Personal Shopping Assistant AI Agent. Built on the Agentforce platform, Duarte’s mission is to guide passengers through their airport shopping experience, answer questions, and support product discovery. 

Client challenge

Portugal Duty Free faced a unique set of challenges shaped by the complexities of airport retail. The most pressing requirement was to deliver a complete end-to-end Click & Collect solution within just seven months, a timeline dictated by concession agreements and operational commitments. This ambitious deadline demanded speed, precision, and flawless execution. 
In addition, the project had to be delivered under a fixed budget and with limited IT resources. Portugal Duty Free needed a partner capable of maximizing efficiency, leveraging existing assets, and ensuring that every step of the implementation was cost-effective without compromising quality. 

The airport retail environment itself introduced further layers of complexity. Compliance with tax-free regulations, boarding pass validation, and age verification had to be seamlessly integrated into the digital journey. Pricing models also varied between Schengen and non-Schengen passengers, requiring sophisticated orchestration within the platform. These operational realities meant that the solution had to be not only technologically advanced but also deeply aligned with regulatory and security protocols. 

Solution

Capgemini designed and implemented Portugal Duty Free’s Click & Collect operation on Salesforce Commerce Cloud. The solution encompassed website development, UX/UI design, business process definition, technical implementation, and integration with both internal and external systems. 

To complement the digital commerce experience, Capgemini also supported the deployment of Duarte, Portugal Duty Free’s AI-powered personal shopping assistant. Integrated seamlessly into the customer journey, Duarte enhances service quality by providing real-time support, product guidance, and personalized recommendations, ensuring passengers feel assisted from browsing to pickup. Duarte is currently available on the web channel and will soon expand to additional channels, including WhatsApp and voice, further elevating customer engagement and service accessibility. 

Agile methodologies were at the heart of the delivery model. Using collaborative tools such as Confluence and Jira, Capgemini ensured transparency, rapid iteration, and close alignment with Portugal Duty Free and ARI teams. This approach enabled fast decision-making and guaranteed that the project remained on track despite the strict timeline and resource constraints.