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Most merchants still treat Tax Free like a form to fill in. That costs real money. In my view, stores are capturing about 50–60% of the potential at best. A lot of travellers don’t even know they’re eligible, post-Brexit, plenty of UK customers still don’t realise they can shop Tax Free across Europe. Awareness is the unlock, not another policy slide.
Here’s where it often breaks. A traveller walks in. The accent’s there. The spend is there. The saving is there. But no one asks the question, and the moment passes. That’s not a systems issue; it’s a people issue you can fix this quarter.
Start with people, not platforms
Two things hold teams back: confidence and the idea that Tax Free is “complicated.” One awkward eligibility interaction and staff stop asking. Fix the script. Don’t lead with “Do you want to shop Tax Free?” Try: “Do you live in the EU?” or “Where’s your main residence?” It’s simple, polite, and accurate. Then show how quickly issuing really is, so it feels routine, not a special case.
Why bother? International shoppers can spend up to four times as much as domestic customers. Missing that conversation means missing your biggest baskets. Training turns that switch from “maybe” to “muscle memory.”
At Magasin in Denmark, gamified training has become an integral part of the onboarding process, with regular six-month refreshers. Branded by the retailer, powered by Planet. Over three years, their Tax Free revenue tripled. It paid for itself, which is why they continue to renew. When staff know what to ask and how to issue, the numbers move.
Educate the traveller (before and after they land)
This isn’t about one nationality being “harder.” It’s more about persona. Students and younger staff jump into mobile learning; some experienced colleagues prefer the old way until they see the results.
On the traveller side, Chinese customers historically travelled to shop (and are rebounding fastest across Asia right now), while many Americans only hear about Tax Free once they’re already in-market.
So do both: a bit of pre-trip education and in-destination prompts when they land. That can be as simple as targeted messages that meet them at the airport and point them to the right doors. Basic marketing, strong impact.
And once they’re in the store, use language that keeps the conversation going. Tie the savings to something tangible: “You’ll roughly save €140 on this €1,000 suit, do you want to see a shirt and belt that work with it?” You’re not cutting margin; you’re using the refund they’re owed to unlock the bundle they actually want.
Use the savings to sell more (and bring them back)
Make the saving the story. If a €1,000 suit saves roughly €140 in VAT, it’s easier to add the shirt, belt, and shoes. Some department stores go one step further: let the customer take the refund as loyalty points (with a small top-up). You capture the spend twice, once at purchase, once when they redeem, and you pull them back into your ecosystem without a single extra discount. Simple idea. Big impact.
That same logic applies before they ever see your window. If you know Americans are landing in Zurich this morning, meet them with a clear value proposition: where to go, what they’ll save, how to claim. It’s not complicated tech; it’s timing and relevance. The goal is the same: get them through your door ready to buy, not browsing for sport.
Bring online and store together
Travellers are busy. Tours run on tight schedules. Click & Collect (and in some markets, click & deliver to the hotel) is built for that reality. If they can prove they’re non-EU and when they leave, let them collect quickly, or receive the order at their hotel.
This is where Full Stack Payments earns its keep. One tech stack for in-store + online + Tax Free + Pay in Your Currency (PYC) means the journey behaves the same everywhere. The card (and online checkout) recognises they’re visiting; the prompt for Pay in Your Currency appears; Tax Free eligibility and details are captured once, and travel with the basket, store or web. One token, one flow, one set of reports, one settlement. Fewer hand-offs, fewer failures, less retraining.
Keep checkout simple: the card tells you they’re visiting, you offer PYC, and you automatically prompt for Tax Free. Online mirrors that logic, so Click-and-Collect/deliver orders complete without extra steps, and returns/exchanges don’t break the refund trail. One flow. Less faff. More finished baskets and better match rate because customers complete the journey.
The biggest miss I see today? Treating online as domestic-only or forcing export shipments (with possible duties) and skipping Tax Free Click & Collect/deliver entirely. That’s lost revenue hiding in plain sight. Full Stack Payments fixes it by stitching the whole thing together.
Digital helps everyone
We should retire the “toilet-roll” paper form. Digital journeys are faster and cleaner. Shoppers carry everything on their phones. Stores capture the essentials quickly, including passport details, items, and prices, and then move on. Customs officials receive real-time data and can focus on actual risks instead of processing piles of paper. Better data, better experience, fewer misses. And because the data is visible end-to-end, governments finally see the size of the prize instead of guessing in the dark.
Policy is part of growth, not a footnote
When governments ask “How do we bring in more travellers and spend?”, the answers aren’t exotic: make visas easier, make digital Tax Free simpler, and don’t ignore currency dynamics. The value spills far beyond the till, hotels, restaurants, taxis, and attractions. That’s visitor-economy money you don’t get without the traveller, and you don’t keep without a smooth refund. Position Tax Free as a growth lever in that bigger plan, not a cost of doing business.
This is why you’ll now find ministries asking about inbound growth first and Tax Free second; the policy conversation starts with “How do we make it easy to come and spend?” and ends with “How do we validate and refund without friction?” Get that right and everyone wins.
Watch the one metric that pays: match rate
Here’s the number most teams don’t track hard enough: match rate, the share of issued forms that actually get validated and refunded. Issue 100 forms, and only 50 are complete? You just lost half the commission you thought you’d earned. Treat match rate like a front-of-house KPI.
Enhance it with clearer scripts, improved signage, follow-up through a shopper portal, and smoother airport processes. If your sales grow but the match rate doesn’t, that’s phantom revenue. You’ll feel it at month-end when the commission lands short.
A practical rhythm helps: review the match rate weekly, drill into store-level outliers, and pair coaching with small experiments, such as signage placement, receipt copy, and post-purchase messages. The aim is more validated refunds, not more issued forms. That’s where the money is.
The near future: Tap and go
The end-state isn’t far-fetched: tap your phone in-store to issue Tax Free, walk through validation at the airport, and the refund lands by the time you get home. The technology exists. What’s in the way? Issuers, airports, and government agencies utilise legacy systems. Someone has to decide to skip the incremental patch and go straight to the seamless update.
Smaller markets that opt for pure digital solutions, such as Malta, which is currently exploring this option, can leapfrog larger countries tied to outdated platforms. First movers will win on experience and word of mouth.
That’s the bigger point. Happy travellers tell the story for you. If the journey is smooth, buy, validate, refund, they’ll sell your city, your brand, your service to the next traveller at dinner next week. That’s the cheapest, most effective marketing you’ll ever get.
Do these four things this quarter
- Roll out short, gamified training and use the exact eligibility scripts above. Make it part of onboarding. Refresh twice a year.
- Enable click & collect/delivery where permitted, and streamline the in-store checkout process with one smooth flow, card recognition, payment in your currency, and a prompt Tax Free experience.
- Meet travellers on arrival with simple, timely messages into your priority gateways, tell them where to go and what they’ll save.
- Track the match rate weekly. Manage it like revenue, because it is; fix the steps that stop refunds from completing.
Stop treating Tax Free like paperwork. Treat it like what it is: a straightforward way to grow basket size, repeat visits, and the visitor economy around you. The tools are already in your hands. Now it’s about using them every day, on the floor.
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