Cosmetics a major focus for Australia's first daigou hub; Australians spend $17.9 billion in post-Christmas shopping spree; Shiseido announces new $US11.24 billion three year plan and L'Oréal and SkinCeuticals to debut ultimate personalised skincare service.
Cosmetics a major focus for Australia's first daigou hub
Daigou is the Chinese word for "to purchase on behalf of" and it's a term Australian companies have become very familiar with. There are an estimated 40,000 daigous operating in Australia who buy Aussie brands on behalf of consumers in China and take the goods back in person or send them through the post.
Jurlique and Swisse, for example, have been long-time partners of AuMake, an ASX-listed company connecting Australian brands and companies directly with daigous and Chinese tourists. The four major categories covered by the one-stop shop network are – health supplements, cosmetics, primarily skincare, dairy and baby foods and wool and leathergoods. Last week, AuMake launched Australia's first daigou hub in Sydney's Haymarket, showcasing 70 Australian suppliers to a live viewing audience of 730,000 in China during the first three hours of operation.
AuMake plans to open daigou hubs in other major capital cities over the next 12 to 18 months, says Chairman, Keong Chan. "What we aim to achieve is absolute cut-through, and not just for our large suppliers, this new model will provide a simple, cost effective path for new and small-scale Australian suppliers to have a direct connection with daigou and Chinese tourists. That hasn't been an option for them before, not without significant investment or relationships", says Mr Chan. For more information, go to www.aumake.com.au
China's so-called "she economy", covering cosmetics, fashion luxury goods and healthcare is expected to reach $US700 billion by 2019, reports Chinese securities firm Guotai Junan. According to the 2017 Tmall Global Annual Consumers Report, Australia ranks number three on the list of countries selling cross-border to China on Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce player, after Japan and the US and ahead of Germany and South Korea.
Australians spend $17.9 billion in post-Christmas shopping spree
The six weeks prior to Christmas are a honeypot for retailers. So are the three weeks after the Big Day as Aussies head to the shops armed with a king's ransom's worth of gift cards. National retail sales from December 26th to January 15th totalled $17.9 billion, reports the Australian Bureau of Statistics – a year-on-year uptick of 2.09 per cent.
The star performer was "Other Retailing", which includes cosmetics and fragrances – up 3.22 percent boosted by a 3.23 per cent jump in online sales. According to Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association – "With the constant increase in online sales, we believe online retail will only grow even bigger through the new year".
Some categories experienced negative growth, including newspapers and books (down 5.08%), furniture (down 2.43%) and footwear and accessories (down 2.3%). Victorian figures showed the most improvement for the period (+ 3.8%), followed by South Australia (+2.5%) and Tasmania (+2.1%). NSW posted growth of 1.8 per cent, with Queensland slightly lower at 1.7 per cent.
Shiseido announces new $US11.24 billion three year plan
The Japanese beauty industry may have been overshadowed by its Korean counterpart in media headlines. But industry observers are asking whether this is the year that J-beauty reasserts its dominance as the Asian beauty leader. Back in 2014, Shiseido announced a major growth strategy called Vision 2020 aimed at achieving global sales of 1 trillion yen ($US9.37 billion).
The Japanese giant smashed the target three years ahead of schedule in 2017. Unveiling a prestige first approach, Shiseido has announced a new plan, operating from now to 2020, with a revised goal of $US11.24 billion in worldwide sales. If the company pulls it off, the Japanese number one will become one of the world's top three pure-beauty multinationals.
L'Oréal and SkinCeuticals to debut ultimate personalised skincare service
L'Oréal bought SkinCeuticals in 2005 mainly to enter the strong and growing market of high- end spas in the US. At the time, the Dallas-based professional brand was one of the fastest-growing in its category in the US, bringing in $US35 million a year. The acquisition strengthened the French multinational's Active Cosmetics Division, including La Roche-Posay and Vichy, which has been posting year-on-year double digit growth and passed the magic 2 billion euro ($AUD3.26 billion) sales milestone for the first time in 2017.
The professional and dermo-cosmetic skincare categories continue to boom and big plans are afoot for SkinCeuticals in the US and globally. L'Oréal's Technology Incubator, which was responsible for the development of La Roche-Posay's wearable UV patch, has unveiled the Custom D.O.S.E service. L'Oréal analysed 250 skin types which can be uploaded into the D.O.S.E machine which scans, evaluates and combines skincare ingredients for the ultimate personalised serums. The first-to-market technology is nothing short of a mini skincare laboratory, says L'Oréal.
To debut in the US during the Northern Hemisphere summer, SkinCeuticals general manager Christina Fair explains – "Our customers are consistently concerned with skin ageing and discolouration, among various skin conditions that require a personalised approach to address them. The D.O.S.E technology empowers skin care professionals to co-create personalised formulas that address patients' unique skin care needs on the spot, in minutes".
Snippets from the wires
- Everything old is new again is a constant theme in the beauty industry. Since gender neutral was hailed as one of the top trends of 2018, more and more established unisex brands are re-badging themselves with the more up-to-date tagline.
- AmorePacific is trying to cut down its dependence on China as the major destination for beauty exports. The Korean bigwig has tied up new distribution deals in Europe and the US. The US has the second largest number of people of Korean descent outside the national homeland – 1.8 million – for starters. AmorePacific has already rolled out the majority of its "champion brands" in the American market, including Laneige, Innisfree, Sulwhasoo and Etude House. Its naturally-derived Mamonde skincare brand will debut exclusively in selected Ulta stores across the US.
- Amazon Prime is going head-to-head with Birchbox and Sephora in the US with the launch of a beauty subscription service. There will be a range of collections priced from $US4.99 to $US19.99 and the luxury version will contain samples from L'Occitane, Elemis, StriVectin, Elizabeth Arden and more.
