All that glitters: Clio more than doubles Japan offline footprint with 7-Eleven expansion

Twinkle Pop by Clio was described as “a glitter specialty brand” that was developed to target the MZ generation – millennials and Generation Z beauty consumers.

The brand was launched across approximately 20,000 7-Eleven stores on May 25 with 22 items, such as eye shadows, glitter gels, and lip tints.

According to Clio, Twinkle Pop is the first new makeup brand to launch in Japanese 7-Eleven stores in the last two decades, which has already drawn attention of beauty consumers.

The launch into the convenience store channel would accelerate Clio’s offline footprint in Japan from about 15,000 to 35,000 touchpoints.

Growing its offline network is crucial as 65% of sales in Japan’s cosmetic market are generated offline through a variety of drugstores, convenience stores, and specialty beauty stores, said the company.

In addition to 7-Eleven, Clio has a presence in Japanese brick-and-mortar stores such as Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Plaza, and Don Quijote.

Clio’s steady growth in Japan

The South Korean company is the firm behind brands such as Clio, Peripera, Goodal and Dermatory.

In the first quarter (Q1), Clio reported that sales in Japan increased by 15% driven by the band’s expansion into offline channels as well as its localisation efforts.

Japan has emerged as an important market and “new growth engine”​ for the K-beauty company.

“Japan is the country with the third largest cosmetics market in the world, a strategic point for Asian beauty and an important market that can foster global beauty standards,”​ said Yoon Sung-hoon, vice president of Clio.

The firm announced in April that it had acquired two Japanese distributors, including Doowon, its original partner that facilitated Peripera's expansion into Japan in 2013. The firm also bought cosmetics import agency Kiwami in a USD6m deal.

Through these acquisitions, the firm is set to establish a Japanese corporation with the aim of improving profitability by streamlining operations.

According to Yoon, the Japanese subsidiary will be established in the second half of the year.

“Clio has been preparing to establish a Japanese subsidiary since the beginning of the year. We are actively responding to changing trends by actively promoting local communication and re-establishing strategies for each distribution channel.​

“I am confident that from the second half of the year, when the establishment of the Japanese subsidiary is completed, we will be on track to achieve full-fledged performance growth through the development of skin care as well as colour cosmetics,” ​he said.

In addition to Japan, Clio has also seen robust growth in North America, which recorded a growth rate of 48% in Q1. In South East Asia, growth in markets such as Vietnam and Singapore resulted in a growth of 129%.

All this led to a record-breaking quarter, with the company achieving sales growth of 24% to KRW93bn (USD68m) while operating profit increased by 63% to KRW8.5bn (USD6.21m).