National Retail Association predicts last minute Christmas spend to reach $17.8 billion; new agreement between AuMake and JD.com targets sales of $2 million per month; P&G buys multicultural health and beauty company; Premiere Group secures license for Kenneth Lam Beauty.
National Retail Association predicts last minute Christmas spend to reach $17.8 billion
The major pharmacy chains, department stores and specialist beauty retailers are awash with bargains and special gift ideas in the final lead-up to Christmas. Rightly so when the National Retailers Association (NRA) is expecting the annual last minute rush to add another $17.8 billion to the festive season's revenues over the frantic 10 day period from December 14.
Dominique Lamb, NRA Chief Executive, says that retailers should brace for an "incredibly busy" time in the countdown to Christmas Day. "More than one-third of sales during the Christmas trade period will occur in the final ten days before Santa rides his sleigh into town, so you can expect to see retail stores across the country packed to the rafters with shoppers", she says.
NSW and Victoria will account for the lion's share of spending in the final stretch, with sales of $5.8 billion and $4.7 billion, respectively. Online sales will make up only a fraction of the total pre-Christmas revenues at $1.07 billion, with $387 million coming from pure-play e-commerce retailers and $683 million from multi-channel businesses.
New agreement between AuMake and JD.com targets sales of $2 million per month
In 2016, Chemist Warehouse inked a deal with Alibaba, the Chinese online giant. Two years later, the Aussie pharmacy chain is the largest cross-border retailer on Tmall Global. AuMake International is hoping to reap equally big rewards by partnering with JD Worldwide, a division of JD.com, the other titan of the Chinese e-commerce market.
As we reported recently, AuMake recently hosted its inaugural trade show in Sydney which showcased leading Australian beauty and vitamin brands such as Jurlique and Swisse. The eight year old retail business now has 13 stores selling to daigous (Chinese personal shoppers) and sales doubled in the 2018 fiscal year to $21.4 million.
AuMake will become JD's exclusive retail store partner in Australia and New Zealand and a new omnichannel platform will connect Australian and New Zealand brands with daigous and their Chinese customers.
Under the agreement, JD will provide access to its online and logistics capability in China to support AuMake's online flagship on JD Worldwide. The two companies will help ANZ brands keen to access the Chinese market and also develop new brands. The initial sales target for the newly-minted agreement is $2 million per month.
P&G buys multicultural health and beauty company
P&G may have divested over 40 brands to Coty, but the personal care behemoth is still in acquisition mode. In July, P&G bought First Aid Beauty, the indie brand famed for effective and smart solutions for sensitive skin, for a reported US$250 million. The owner of Olay and SK-II has plugged another gap in its portfolio with the acquisition of Walker & Company, a US company which specialises in products for people of colour.
Founded in 2013 by African-American tech wizard, Tristan Walker, the two key brands of Walker & Company are Bevel, a men's shaving brand, and Form, which caters for women with textured hair. Half of Bevel's revenues come from Target stores in the US, a distribution strategy kicked off in 2015. The 10 SKU Form brand launched last year to great reviews, but the company did not have the resources to capitalise on the acclaim.
P&G will supply the wherewithal to take both brands to the next level and develop a pipeline for additional products. Walker & Company will operate as a separate and wholly-owned subsidiary of P&G under the leadership of Tristan Walker. According to Alex Keith, CEO of P&G Beauty: "The combination of Walker & Company's deep consumer understanding, authentic connection to its community and unique, highly customised products and P&G's highly-skilled and experienced people, resources, technical capabilities and global scale will allow us to further improve the lives of the world's multicultural consumers".
Premiere Group secures license for Kenneth Lam Beauty
The Premiere Group, a prestige subsidiary of the Perfume Center of America, kicked off in 2015 with the lofty goal of becoming a world class leader in the beauty industry. The company's first step to realising the ambition was the acquisition of the Kate Spade fragrance license. Over the past three years, its portfolio has grown significantly to include the Carven, Hanae Mori, Fila, Trussardi and Mercedes Benz perfume licenses.
Derek Lam, the former creative director of Tod's for ready-to-wear and accessories and president of design for Michael Kors Kors line, launched his namesake brand in 2003. He also extended to the 10 Crosby brand, named after the Manhattan location of his original flagship store, releasing a collection of 10 fragrances in 2015.
Premiere's marketing and sales experience in all global distribution channels will springboard the Kenneth Lam beauty brand into worldwide contention, notably in Asia. The multi-year agreement will see the creation of a new premium scent line with the first fragrance set to debut next year.
Snippets from the Wires
- Euromonitor International has crunched the numbers to forecast the top five national beauty and personal care markets for 2019. The US will remain the largest single market in the world with annual sales of US$89.7 billion, followed by China (US$60.5 billion), Japan (US$37.1 billion) and Germany (US$19 billion).
- API, the parent company of Priceline, has proposed a merger with healthcare competitor, Sigma Healthcare. If the offer is cleared by the ACCC, the merged business will bring brands such as Priceline Pharmacy, Soul Pattinson Chemist, Clear Skincare, PharmaSave and Chemist King under one corporate umbrella.
- We've seen goat's milk and donkey's milk touted as skin soothers and enhancers and now deer milk is entering the personal care space. South Korean pharma company, Yuhan, has signed a deal with New Zealand provider Pamu to produce a skincare range, including a serum and moisturiser, based on deer milk. High in fat and protein, deer milk has already become a hit with some of New Zealand's top chefs for its extra-silky texture.
Image: @tristanwalker