Shiseido continues its march into emerging markets with Turkey venture

The move has seen the company establish a Turkish division, Shiseido Kozmetik Anonim Sirketi, headquartered in Instanbul, which is a joint venture with cosmetic importer and distributor Vesco Kosmetik Űrűnleri.

The business will begin trading operations in January 2012 and the arrangement means that Shiseido will hold a controlling majority stake in the joint venture, while it will trade in Shiseido’s global branded premium cosmetics as a consolidated subsidiary within the Shiseido group.

Shiseido first entered the Turkish market in 1998 through an agreement with Vesco, an agreement that has seen the company expand its range of premium products into more than 170 stores throughout Turkey, in turn growing its sales in the country significantly.

Expanding store presence​

The newly formed joint venture with Vesco will aim to further expand Shiseido’s presence in stores throughout the country, while also emphasizing the presence of its brands through in-store promotions and by strengthening its team of beauty consultants.

The aim is to achieve double-digit growth or higher, while simultaneously strengthening its presence in the prestige cosmetics category in Turkey.

Shiseido is hoping to tap into a young population in Turkey where the average age is 29.2. Likewise, continued economic growth in recent years has led to rising incomes, which means consumers are increasingly turning to more sophisticated cosmetic and personal care products.

Expanding global footprint​

Shiseido is currently present in nearly 90 countries and regions, and has been following a strategy to expand into the lesser known developing markets. Typical of this was last year’s move to start selling the Shiseido brand in the Republic of Panama through the Columbian distributor Wisa Group.

In markets into which it has entered over the past few years, such as Georgia and Mongolia, Shiseido has established a selective retail strategy, choosing to sell the Shiseido cosmetics brand in a limited number of stores that can provide a tailored customer service experience using beauty consultants.

Despite growth slowing more than expected as a result of the global financial crisis, Shiseido hopes to achieve net sales of over 1 trillion yen (€8.8bn, $12.2bn) by the end of 2017, with 50 per cent of this expected to come from overseas markets, the spokesperson said.