‘Positive momentum’: Shiseido’s Clé de Peau Beauté expanding global footprint

The skin care and make-up brand launched in the UK this month with its first counter in Harrods departmental store.

Additionally, the firm’s travel retail arm launched the brand in Dubai International Airport and Istanbul Airport. The new launches will give the brand a presence in key Asia Pacific, EMEA and American markets

These expansions further its ongoing strategy to make Clé de Peau Beauté a leading global luxury beauty brand.

Clé de Peau Beauté Europe & Middle East VP Lindsay Azpitarte believes this is the right time for the brand to expand into Europe because the luxury market is expanding.

“The growth of the European Luxury market heralds great opportunities for brands and for super-premium offerings like Clé de Peau Beauté that comes with a unique and complete offering, the opportunities are endless,” ​she said.

Chief brand officer Yukari Suzuki, added the UK was the ideal starting point for the EMEA region.

“The UK has great potential for Clé de Peau Beauté as a key market. We believe that British customers and international travellers to the UK are highly knowledgeable when it comes to beauty, and will embrace our brand philosophy, as well as appreciate our approach for uncompromising quality,” ​said Suzuki.

Azpitarte remarked the UK launch was just the beginning for Clé de Peau Beauté in Europe. “We have ambitious plans in Europe and exciting new announcements are in the pipeline.”​

Travel retail potential​

Shiseido also sees plenty of opportunities for the EMEA travel retail channel. The region accounted for 59% of the international air travel in 2018. It is also the second-largest region after Asia Pacific visited by Chinese travellers, a key demographic for Clé de Peau Beauté.

Additionally, the skin care category contributed 20% to the region’s perfume and cosmetics travel retail market in 2018.

“The positive momentum and strong in-market results of the skincare category in EMEA present us with a timely opportunity to introduce Clé de Peau Beauté to the region, and we believe that we can realise the exciting potential of the brand thanks to the strong collaboration with our partners,” said ​Philippe Lesné, president and CEO of Shiseido Travel Retail.

The firm chose to launch in Dubai International Airport because of its status as a gateway to Europe and Asia and large volume of traffic, with passenger numbers expected to exceed 103 million annually by 2020.

According to the company, Asian travellers, the key segment of the brand’s target market, make up 60% of the skin care customers at Dubai International Airport.

Istanbul Airport, on the other hand, was chosen for its future potential as the next “mega-hub” ​of the world.

Upon its completion in 2028, the airport will service more than 110 routes. It will also have 15,000m2 of shopping space, making it the largest duty-free shopping zone globally.