Shiseido reveals why Asia sits at heart of travel retail strategy

09-May-2016 - Last updated on 09-May-2016 at 13:01 GMT

Global beauty giant Shiseido has spoken about the factors behind its decision to place Asia at the centre of its new worldwide travel retail strategy.

“The growth of the cosmetics category in travel retail continues to be led by Asia and the skincare segment, and Shiseido Travel Retail is in a prime position to capitalise on this trend,” Shiseido travel retail VP of marketing, Elisabeth Jouguelet, told Moodie Report.

Travel retail is a newly added unit to the business and has just begun operations this month from its base in Singapore, comprising of a broad range of skin care, makeup and fragrance lines from across Shiseido’s portfolio.

“Asia Pacific is at the heart of our strategy; the region is the biggest contributor to our travel retail sales, while skincare – our strongest axis – makes up 55%,” Jouguelet confirmed.

“The ability to leverage Shiseido Group’s Centre of Excellence for skincare based in Tokyo, the home of our prestige Shiseido and Clé de Peau Beauté brands, gives us a further advantage.”

Innovation and China

Shiseido has said that it will be launching travel retail-only exclusive products in order to establish an identity for the new unit.

“We have stepped up our development of travel retail exclusives as consumers become increasingly focused on value,” Jouguelet explained, noting that China will be a particular point of focus.

“We are diversifying our portfolio with a strong push behind Anessa and Aupres, two Asian brands which are doing well in China – a key market for us – and have strong appeal for the growing segment of second, third and fourth tier Chinese travellers.”

Vision 2020 and beyond…

The launch of Shiseido’s travel retail unit participates in the company’s longer term strategic plan, Vision 2020, which sees the beauty giant angling for an operating income of 100 billion Yen/USD 800 million over the next four years.

Philippe Lesné, president of travel retail for Shiseido, recently confirmed the role the new unit will play in taking Shiseido towards its Vision 2020 goals, noting that it intends to be “an agile, entrepreneurial and strategic partner for travel retail operators.”