Australia's love of social media remains steady; Catch Group debuts online brands outlet store; Puig reaches $AUD3 billion sales milestone in 2017; Luxury division powers L'Oréal to $AUD10 billion-plus revenues in Q1.
Australia's love of social media remains steady
Australia has one of the highest percentages of social media use in the world. In spite of the recent US congress hearings and cheapjack jokes about Facebook being for old people, it remains the nation's favourite social media channel with 60 per cent of the population logging on. Millenials and Gen Zers aged from 13 to 39 form the bulk of users – 10.54 million – with 6.9 million older Aussies aged 40 to 65-plus taking overall numbers to 15 million, reveals the latest March figures from Vivid Social – Social Media Agency.
In descending order, the other social media channels rounding out the top 10 are:
- YouTube - 15 million unique monthly users
- Instagram - 9 million monthly active users
- WordPress.com - 5.8 million users
- WhatsApp - 5 million active users
- LinkedIn - 4.3 million monthly active users
- Snapchat - 4 million active daily users
- Tumblr - 3.8 million
- Twitter - 3 million monthly active users
- Tinder - an estimated 3 million users.
In terms of penetration, 1 in 2 Aussies use Facebook on a daily basis, 1 in 2 use YouTube, 1 in 3 use Instagram and 1 in 6 use Snapchat.
Catch Group debuts online brands outlet store
Fancy saving $91 on a pair of Tiffany & Co twist knot earrings? Or maybe major discounts on Burberry accessories and fragrances or pre-loved Fendi bags are more your style. Nati Harpaz, CEO of the Catch Group, has moved a step closer to his aim of making Catch.com.au Australia's largest online shopping destination with the debut of Catch Outlets, the company's first online brands store. Customers can shop round-the-clock from any device, accessing deals and discounts ranging from 25 to 80 per cent directly from more than 75 designer brand stores.
Any seller in the Catch marketplace can list on the new platform if they retail well-known brands, says Harpaz. The move follows Catch Group's recent expansion into New Zealand and offers consumers a more permanent access to leading outlet stores with a larger choice of brands.
Puig reaches $AUD3 billion sales milestone in 2017
Puig has announced record sales of 1.935 billion euros ($AUD3.07 billion) for 2017 – an increase of 8.1 per cent over the previous year. An outstanding result that keeps the Barcelona-based fashion and beauty group on track to reach its goal of achieving revenues of 3 billion euros ($AUD4.76 billion) a year by 2025.
Growth was bullish in Puig's leading markets – Spain, France, the UK and the US – as new launches such as Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal and Paco Rabanne Pure XS proved to be winners straight out of the blocks. Good Girl by Carolina Herrera continued to be a global bestseller, especially in the US. But Puig expects travel retail and the Asia/Pacific market, including Australia, to springboard significant growth over the next 10 years as both sectors outpace the global average.
Puig signed a global licensing agreement with French luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin last month and new agreements inked in 2017 with Luxasia in Southeast Asia and Trimex/Groupe Clarins in Australia and New Zealand are also tapped to fuel continued growth.
Luxury division powers L'Oréal to $AUD10 billion-plus revenues in Q1
L'Oréal Consumer Products, including major brands such as Maybelline, L'Oréal Paris and Garnier, is the French giant's largest division and clocked up sales growth of 2.6 per cent in Q1. But the luxury division and accelerating sales in China were the heros of first quarter results, helping to lift total revenues for the world's largest beauty player to 6.78 billion euros ($AUD10.76 billion).
The luxury market is really firing right now, says Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L'Oréal. The Chinese demand for high-end brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Kiehl's and Lancôme continued to surge over the first three months of the company's financial year – the strongest quarterly uptick in 8 years. Online sales were another bullet performer, accounting for 8.8 per cent of all revenues over the period.
Snippets from the wires
- TV still attracts the most advertising dollars for good reason. According to Nielsen's latest Australian Video Viewing Report, 19.64 million Aussies watch broadcast TV – free-to-air and subscription channels on in-home TV sets – each week – 82.6 per cent of the population. Even Gen Zers aged 18 to 24, the highest engagers of video content online, still watch broadcast TV on a weekly basis.
- COS, the upmarket sister brand of H&M, has opened three outlets in Australia in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The next outpost will be in Brisbane with more details to come.
- Many daigous – Chinese buying agents – make bulk purchases in retail stores in other countries and re-sell the products when they get home. Increasingly, this practice clears the shelves and makes it difficult for retailers to service their local customers. Leading beauty brands in Japan have called time on the practice, says Asahi Shimbun. Companies such as Shiseido have restricted in-store sales of best-selling serums and moisturisers in a single transaction and timeframe to one bottle every 24 hours.
- As we reported recently, Instagram darling Glossier attracted $US52 million in new funding. Following the opening of its first permanent flagship store in New York, the brand has announced it will open a second bricks-and-mortar outpost in Los Angeles in May on Melrose Avenue.
