Imagine getting a free massage or facial while waiting for your long-haul flight. Or getting staff to prepare all your beauty buys even before you hit the airport.

Airport retailer Nuance-Watson has made all this possible at its new store at Changi Airport's Terminal 3 (T3).

Its Perfumes & Cosmetics Central Mega Store opened in T3's departure area last month.

At 6,652 sq ft, the store certainly warrants the tag of Mega - it is the largest of all the Perfumes & Cosmetics stores at Changi Airport's three terminals.

But as well as size, it offers new levels of pampering and service (see below).

All this is in response to the strict security regulations at airports nowadays, says the Italian boss behind the stores, Roberto Graziani, 43.

Costing $3 million to set up, the store and its services are the way to go for airport retail, declares Graziani, chief executive of Zurich-based airport retailer The Nuance Group.

His company has been jointly operating all the beauty stores in Changi Airport with Hong Kong retail conglomerate, A.S. Watson Group, under the Nuance-Watson brand since Sept 2001.

If you find the latter's name familiar, it is the company behind popular drugstore and beauty chain Watsons.

Last year, Nuance-Watson won the bid to operate all 24 beauty stores at Changi Aiport for at least the next three years.

It has six T3 outlets, eight each in Terminals 1 and 2 and two in the budget terminal.

'Unlike in a shopping centre, people are not here to shop. They are here to travel,' Graziani tells Urban in an interview at the opening of the Mega store.

Combine that with heightened security and travellers have less time to linger in the departure area, so a retailer needs to be able to attract customers and give them what they want, he says.

Ken Tse, managing director of Nuance-Watson Singapore, chips in: 'If you don't have what they want, they won't be back - literally.'

That would be a lot of dollars lost considering how passenger traffic at Changi Airport hit a record high of

36.7 million last year.

Indeed, Nuance-Watson carries more than 110 beauty brands, said to be the most among all beauty retailers in Singapore.

Of the number, 10 per cent are exclusive to the airport retailer and include Australian make-up brand Becca and the beauty range from American lingerie giant Victoria's Secret.

Other products like Gucci's latest perfume, Gucci by Gucci, hit airport shelves as early as six months before they were available at local department stores.

'We understand that we cannot always have a brand exclusive to our store. No one would know about it that way,' Graziani says. 'We simply try to be ahead of the trend.'

And then, of course, there is the luxury pampering on offer.

The new megastore has a beauty concierge service where customers can get staff to help with anything from advanced orders to free personal shopping.

There's also a kiosk where a computer program allows customers to find the fragrance of their choice.

At the back of the store, there is also a La Prairie mini treatment room where customers of the Swiss beauty brand can get free caviar-based treatments with any purchase.

If you're wondering how time-strapped travellers would find the time for a 20-minute facial, Graziani explains that it is actually designed to cater to the transit crowd.

'I fly in via the European route to Sydney and have three hours to spend. Instead of the boring stuff, I could get a massage that also helps relieve stress,' he says.

'And if you know the airport has such a service, there are people who would arrive 20 minutes early just to enjoy it.'

The airport-based beauty treatment room is the third in the world: The first was set up at Zurich Airport in 2005 by the Nuance Group, and the second at Hong Kong's airport in 2006 by Nuance-Watson.

Graziani is not assuming it's clear skies ahead, though.

The onboard restrictions that various countries have imposed on liquids and gels continue to turn travellers off duty-free shopping.

Singapore introduced its set of rules, which includes having alcohol and perfumes bought at duty-free shops packed into special bags, in May last year.

Even though Nuance-Watson's revenue from its Perfumes & Cosmetics stores exceeded a whooping $220 million last year - up 9 per cent from 2006 - he says the figure is between $6 million and $8 million less than expected.

'In general, not just in Singapore, it is quite a big issue for those in our line of business,' he says.

But he is convinced that Nuance-Watson is on the right path, especially when regulations between countries are starting to harmonise.

'Ten years ago, I wouldn't have talked about airport shopping. It was duty free,' he says. 'Now you feel like you're in a novelty department store where you can probably find any brand you want. Without the restrictions, business would probably be even better, I'm sure.'

FIRST CLASS SERVICE

Find out just what makes T3's cosmetics megastore the first-class of duty-free beauty retail here.

• Of the $4.5 million that went into setting up six Perfumes & Cosmetics stores at T3, the Central Mega outlet cost a whopping $3 million.
• At 6,652 sq ft, it's the biggest of all the Perfumes & Cosmstics stores at Changi Airport.
• The new store retails more than 110 beauty brands, and 10 per cent of them - including Australian make-up brand Becca, the Victoria Secret's beauty range and Botlux, France's answer to Botox - are exclusive to the T3 store.
• Pampering hits new heights at the La Prairie mini treatment room. La Prairie customers get a complimentary treatment with caviar-based skincare products that lasts 20 to 30 minutes.
• Can't find the right fragrance? Use the free Michael Edwards Fragrance Finder kiosk, a computer that has a program by Australian perfume 'evaluator' Michael Edwards to help make scents of it all.
• Expect first-class service. The store has over 20 beauty consultants on duty at any time.
• Need some advice on what to buy for your wife? The megastore offers a beauty concierge service where a team of over 10 staff can help you with anything from making advanced orders to personal shopping.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Mar 13, 2008.