Tag: beauty

  • Malabar Gold to expand into Hong Kong market

    Malabar Gold to expand into Hong Kong market

    Indian jewellery firm Malabar Gold & Diamonds is making plans to open 500 more outlets globally over the next five years – and Hong Kong is among the targets. The jeweller currently operates more than 250 outlets in 10 countries, 75 of which are in the Gulf region, including 12 in Qatar.

    The firm’s immediate expansion plans are to open more branches in Malaysia in the coming months, where the group started operations last year.

    Malabar Group chairman M P Ahammed said jewellery customers in Malaysia are showing enormous interest in the company’s ornaments and now the brand is gaining remarkably good acceptance in the country.

    “As part of our expansion, we are also looking at markets such as Hong Kong where there is increasing activity at present. The Chinese are buying both gold and diamonds in large quantities unlike what they used to, say, some three decades ago.”

    Speaking about the state of the business in general, Ahammed said: “From a modest beginning in Kozhikode in 1993, we have now expanded our operations even to the US, where our first outlet was opened earlier this year in Chicago.

    “Wherever there are strong family traditions and customs, there is hope for expansion in this business. A husband may want to gift something precious to his wife on a memorable occasion, a mother to his daughter and a son to his mother. No wonder, the choice of everyone in such moments – of strengthening bonds – continues to be gold or diamond.’

  • Innisfree lands in the Philippines

    Innisfree lands in the Philippines

    Innisfree Corp., budget cosmetics manufacturer under South Korea’s beauty powerhouse Amorepacific Group opened its first store in the Philippines with hopes to expand its presence in the bourgeoning Southeast Asian market. According to the company, the 148-square-meter store opened at SM Mall of Asia, the largest shopping mall in Manila.

    The naturalism-oriented brand plans to introduce skin-care products made of natural ingredients from Jeju Island such as green tea and volcanic pine mushroom and their effectiveness to consumers in the Philippines to satisfy beauty demand and experience.

    The Philippines is considered a potential market due to the high ratio of young people in their 20s and 30s interested in hallyu, or Korean wave, and Korean beauty.

    An unnamed official from Innisfree said that the company will introduce not only its flagship beauty items but also pore- and oil-treatment mask and powder products tailored for humid and hot climate. The official added that the company will also pursue its environmentally-friendly green life campaign in the Southeast Asian country.

    Innisfree, meanwhile, manages 655 outlets overseas including the latest store in the Philippines.

    The skin-care brand, which opened its first overseas store in China in 2012, has outlets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Thailand, the United States, and Japan.

    Innisfree also plans to open stores at three major shopping malls in Metropolitan Manila next year and launch online channel

  • Morgan Tan to lead Shiseido China region

    Morgan Tan to lead Shiseido China region

    Shiseido is boosting management of its Greater China business as part of a new strategy to boost is presence and sales in the region. Hong Kong-based Morgan Tan has been named as the senior VP of the Prestige Brands Division for the China region and will take up the new role on January 1. In her new role, Morgan will drive the growth of the prestige brands business in the China region under the new regional headquarters system.

    Morgan Tan has been with retail industry for more than 20 years, with experience in fashion, luxury and cosmetics. She started with Polo Ralph Lauren in Taipei before moving to Hong Kong in 2003 as the sales and operations director at Lane Crawford Hong Kong, gaining experience in leasing, merchandising and e-commerce. She was appointed president of Shiseido Hong Kong in 2015 and will retain that role along with her new one.

    The appointment is a key part of Shiseido’s medium-to-long-term strategy, Vision 2020, in which the company aspires to “be a global winner with our heritage” by ensuring sustainable growth in the Chinese market.

    Shiseido said in a statement that it will reinforce both the brand and corporate business structures in the China region “to enhance brand appeal to Chinese consumers and strengthen market execution”.

    Kentaro Fujiwara, as president and CEO of China region, will oversee the strategic alliances with emerging e-commerce platform companies across the region

    Newly hired Julie Chiang has been appointed chief marketing officer, overseeing Shiseido’s cosmetics brands and personal care brands.

    Other new China region appointments are Anson Yu as CFO, Julia Li as chief people officer, and Zaheer Nooruddin as senior VP, digital experience division.

  • LF Beauty rebrands as MEIYUME

    LF Beauty rebrands as MEIYUME

    LF Beauty, a one-stop shop partner and supplier of products and solutions for the beauty industry announced that it will now operate under the new brand name of MEIYUME. The rebranding comes to represent the evolution of the company and its response to the rapidly-changing beauty landscape and the changing face of today’s consumer.

    The new brand positioning is based on the idea of MEIYUME as the catalyst shaping opportunities and transforming visions into reality with the fusion of MEI (美), Chinese for beauty, and YUME (夢), Japanese for dream.

    As part of the rebrand, MEIYUME’s business has been restructured into three key divisions: Packaging & Turnkey Solutions, Retail Solutions, and Brands.

    The rebrand has also given the company an opportunity to renew focus on its business strategy of Empowering Beauty Solutions. In addition to empowering established brands by providing them with the right products and solutions, it is also about paving the way for new brands to make their mark by collaborating and translating their unique identities into reality.

    “With a new brand and structure, we are best-positioned to connect end consumers and the entire supply chain, and to create value for our customers like no other company in our industry.”said Gerard Raymond, President of MEIYUME.

    Fung Group’s Deputy Group Chairman, William Fung, added: “It is the right time to undergo a full rebrand and really focus on who we are and the value we deliver to our customers.”

    The rebrand comes after the completion of Li & Fung’s strategic divestment of its three product verticals (Furniture, Sweaters and Beauty) in April 2018 to form LH Pegasus, which is 45% owned by Hony Capital and 55% owned by the Fung Group.

  • Tiffany & Co sales soars, China shines

    Tiffany & Co sales soars, China shines

    Tiffany & Co sales grew 10 per cent worldwide in the third quarter, with China performing strongly. Management of the luxury American jewellery retailer attributed sales growth to higher spending by local customers in all regions, partly offset by lower spending attributed to foreign tourists, primarily Chinese, in some markets. Worldwide net sales rose 10 per cent to US$3.1 billion, due to increased sales in all regions and product categories.

    Tiffany & Co sales in Asia-Pacific rose 4 per cent to $294 million in the third quarter, highlighted by strong sales growth in Mainland China.

    CEO Alessandro Bogliolo noted that third-quarter sales attributed to local customers (as opposed to tourists) continued to grow at a strong rate worldwide and were positive in every region, with particularly strong growth in Mainland China.

    “Jewellery volumes also increased in the quarter and year to date. This resulted in mid to single digit net sales growth in the quarter and even higher growth year to date, despite lower-than-expected spending in the third quarter attributed to Chinese tourists in the US and Hong Kong and lower wholesale travel-retail sales in Korea.”

    The increase in sales was counterbalanced by a drop in operating income of 22.9 per cent over the past year, attributed to higher spending on marketing, and investment in technology and its new digital channel.

    Neil Saunders, MD of GlobalData Retail, said his company’s consumer tracking shows that Tiffany’s brand recognition and affinity has increased sharply among consumers aged 35 and under.

    “A few years ago, this group was largely apathetic to Tiffany, viewing the brand as old-fashioned and irrelevant to their needs and tastes. In a relatively short space of time, Tiffany has started to shift that perception and demonstrate that it has something fresh to offer to younger consumers.”

  • Marks & Spencer concept store opens in VivoCity Singapore

    Marks & Spencer concept store opens in VivoCity Singapore

    Marks & Spencer Singapore has opened a full-scale concept store in VivoCity bringing a vast array of its own-brand fresh foods and beverages to the city, some for the first time. The 15,500sqft store offers a broader range of fashion, a new food hall and fresh zone similar to the style of larger Marks & Spencer Hong Kong stores, a broader range of wines and the chain’s third coffee-to-go cafe in the city.

    The foodhall features nearly 3000 products selected from the UK department store’s range building on what the retailer describes as a growing demand in Singapore for M&S’s convenience food.

    Marks & Spencer Singapore has added a range of chilled foods and beverages, including perishables. The new store sells fruits, vegetables, yogurts, a selection of cheeses, fresh milk and ready-made salads and meals. Some products are new-to-market for the brand, including raw meat and pre-packed sandwiches, all air freighted from the UK daily.

     

    The coffee-to-go cafe offers speciality coffee and beverages along with patisserie foods including cakes and fresh pastry. An in-store bakery produces a selection of breads, scones and cookies daily.

    Fashion has not been left out in the VivoCity store’s revamp. Each fashion label is now clearly segmented, with distinct identities that allow customers to see which label best meets their personal style preferences. The brands are identified by different branding, visual merchandising and props. The VivoCity store will also be the sixth Marks & Spencer Singapore outlet to stock a kidswear range.

    “Customers are at the heart of everything we do at Marks & Spencer and we’re delighted to be bringing our exciting new shopping experience to customers in Singapore,” said Christine Choi, CEO at Marks & Spencer Asia.

    “Combining the best of our latest collections, together with our inspiring store environment and exceptional customer service, our store at VivoCity is truly special.”

  • Luk Fook sales soar despite challenges ahead

    Luk Fook sales soar despite challenges ahead

    Thanks to positive Hong Kong market sentiment and lower gold prices, Luk Fook Holdings has reported a 25.1 per cent boost in sales in the September half year. The company says sales totalled HK$7.859 billion (US$1 billion) compared with $6.283 billion in the same period last year. Profit attributable to shareholders soared 27.9 per cent to $665.4 million.

    Sales in the Hong Kong market, the company’s key source of revenue, rose 31.2 per cent as mainland Chinese visitor numbers continued to grow and retail sentiment improved.

    Sales in Macau rose 19.9 per cent.

    However the company has warned that the US-China trade war and the depreciation of the Renminbi are starting to impact on sales in the second half.

    “Same-store sales growth in the Hong Kong and Macau markets … started to see a decline since the second half of October and recorded a single-digit drop for the period from October to [the] first three weeks of November,” the company said. “In Mainland China there was a double-digit drop.

    “Therefore, the group remains prudent about its business development in the second half of the financial year. Nevertheless, with the anticipated considerable growth of the middle-class population in Mainland China, the group remains optimistic about the mid- to long-term business prospects.”

    Luk Fook said that during the coming year, it will focus on enriching its product offer, expanding its footprint in Mainland China and adopting market-oriented strategies to penetrate into the mass market, covering the middle-class, wedding couples as well as kids.

    “The group’s target for net shop addition in Mainland China for this financial year will maintain at not less than 120 shops. The group is also committed to further developing its e-commerce business and strengthening cooperation with e-commerce platforms in Mainland China.”

    Targeting younger shoppers

    In light of the enormous spending potential of young consumers on online sales platforms, the company plans to step up its efforts to promote the sales of affordable-luxury jewellery products to expand its footprint in the young consumer market.

    “By understanding customers’ spending habits, the group will adopt holistic approach to penetrate into the markets for the middle-class, wedding couples and kids. It will also continue to attract customers and encourage local consumption by visual merchandising enhancement, cross-selling boosting and VIP promotional activities, so as to improve sales and profits. Given the importance of social media in product promotion, the group will continue to showcase and promote its products on mobile applications and social media platforms such as Facebook and WeChat.”

    During the first half of the financial year, Luk Fook added a net 94 stores to its ever-growing network, including 90 in Mainland China, where is closed six self-operated stores and opened 96 licensed stores. Two company-owned stores opened in Hong Kong, one in Macau, and one in Malaysia, with a new licensed shop opening in the Philippines, However, one licensed store closed in South Korea.

    The group now boasts a global network of 1725 Lukfook shops spanning Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and the US.

  • L’Occitane might be an interest for Advent

    L’Occitane might be an interest for Advent

    Hong Kong-listed beauty products retailer L’Occitane may be taken private after at least one expression of interest in the business from a private equity investor. London-based private equity group Advent International has reportedly enquired about acquiring the company, which has an estimated US$2.7 billion market value.

    L’Occitane’s appeal has grown since listing on the HKSE eight years ago in a move to pursue Asian customers. While none of the parties involved have commented, sources close to L’Occitane have confirmed to European business media that “a number of potential buyers” are showing signs of interest.

    L’Occitane is thought to be well-positioned to take advantage of a fast-growing cosmetics and skincare market in the region, brought on by the expansion of the middle class and the Chinese tourism boom.

    L’Occitane’s is chaired by Austrian investor Reinold Geiger, who has overseen its growth internationally to 1555 outlets in 90 countries. The firm is experiencing sales growth in Hong Kong and China, as well as the US.

    It recently unveiled new concept stores in Canada and New York showing its future direction.

  • Lush opens Tokyo tech-concept store

    Lush opens Tokyo tech-concept store

    After opening two concept stores in Milan and Berlin earlier in the year, British cosmetics retailer Lush has opened a third global concept store in Tokyo. While the Italian and German locations opened with a focus on packaging-free cosmetics, the Japanese retail outlet, which kicked off trade on November 22, will specialise in selling Lush’s bath bombs.

    Located in Harajuku, the tech-focused store will promote Lush’s best-selling bath bombs, as well as those new editions, and those known to be seasonal.

    Across two floors, Lush will also add limited-edition bath bombs sold exclusively in the new shop.

    Inspired by Japanese culture, the bath products reflect the style of the district’s Harajuku fashionistas “with their vivid colours and imaginative outfits to mythical creatures such as nine-tailed foxes,” according to a press release from Lush.

    Under the umbrella of Lush Labs, the new Tokyo store will serve as a retail experiment for future Lush stores, by incorporating online and offline retail experiences in the same setting.

    In doing so, consumers will enter a store void of signing and pricing, and even sinks typically used to demonstrate the product.

    Instead, shoppers will be encourage to shop online via the Lush Labs app, and view demonstrations and products digitally, as well as gaining ingredient detail, simply by scanning the naked bath bombs directly from their phone. In this vein, packaging is done away with too.

    “With Lush’s long term commitment to removing packaging from cosmetics, the Lush Lens feature uses the phone’s camera and Artificial Intelligence to support the customer in shopping packaging-free with ease and ensures they get all the important product information they require in a fun and environmentally-conscious way,” said Lush in a statement.

    Lush is increasingly experimenting its online retail in the offline world and will use “community feedback” from the Harajuku store as a source of research and ultimately reason to open more across the globe.

    “Customers are being invited into the R&D process once again, only this time to feedback on the retail experience as a whole, rather than just the product,” concluded Lush.

    “Each comment, reaction and critique sent back will help shape the future of the shop and each area of innovation launching within it.”

     

     

  • Cover Story to launch accessories line soon

    Cover Story to launch accessories line soon

    Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail launched fast fashion brand Cover Story almost two-and-half years back with an aim to take international brands like Zara and H&M head on. The company then proceeded to set up a design house based out of London to develop cutting edge fast fashion. This design house was dubbed Future Style Lab, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Group, which developed and procured styles for Cover Story. And since then there has been no looking back.

    According to Manjula Tiwari, CEO, Future Style Lab, a fantastic growth has been seen for the brand, in terms of its popularity with customers and retailers alike. “Being just a 2.5 year old brand, Cover Story has established itself as a formidable competitor in the fast fashion space to international players. The brand is among one of the very few Indian brands to be present on ground floor locations across the leading malls in India, a great indication of the journey so far.”

    “We place customers in the centre of all that we do. Our product is a blend of latest trends and suitability in the Indian context and that has struck the right chord with our customers,” she adds.

    Target Audience

    The target audience of the fast-fashion brand is the 23 to 40 year old, financially independent woman with a rising disposable income which she loves to splurge on frequent shopping trips.

    “She thrives on social media, is a traveller in spirit and embraces new experiences. She frequently seeks to refresh her wardrobe. Feminine and eclectic, she switches effortlessly between Indian and western wear. Dressing up for her is a form of self-expression. She is modern but rooted,” says Tiwari.

    Store Design

    All Cover Story outlets are designed to recreate the intimate boutique and provide a comfortable shopping experience. The layout is layers of transparency with opacity, which encourages a sense of discovery while shopping.

    “A warm and neutral palette has been chosen for the store as well as all the equipment in it. Colours such as Rose Gold have been opted for, to give the place a feminine touch, to help women identify with the store,” states Tiwari.

    The display panels in the store are designed to look like magazine editorials. Exclusive fashion clusters display merchandise as if they were stories, luring women into reading them.

    Visual merchandising is done by and premium in-store windows are designed by London stylists on the lines of international luxury brands. The cash counter mimics a woman’s vanity bag, while changing rooms have seating for the comfort of waiting friends and family.

    “Customers can browse tablets with fashion content and styling tips. Cover Story’s in-store ‘selfie booths’ are bound to create brand excitement. Consumers can browse through stores and merchandise, share their personal information, and then have their shopping home delivered,” asserts Tiwari.

    Shoppers can even make a request for sizes not currently available at the store. A personal shopper then locates the size from other outlets and delivers it to consumer.

    Product Category

    The brand offers around 450 SKUs per season under the categories like dresses, tops, tees, trousers, skirts, shorts, jackets and sweaters.

    “We also do footwear and bags and are planning to launch a jewellery and accessories line,” reveals Tiwari.

    “Dresses and tops are our fastest moving categories because we provide a wide variety in both categories for all occasions. Also these categories are generally the most sought after categories by women in general,” she adds.

    Marketing Strategy

    The marketing strategy of the brand is a healthy mix of generating brand awareness and driving traffic to the stores to convert to sales.

    According to Tiwari, “We ensure our campaign imagery is of high quality and for that we shoot internationally to bring forth the true image of the brand, being designed in London. Locally, we rely on heavy mall activations and branding to steer the customer to our stores. We also turn to Instagram as a great tool to highlight our fashion authority in the market along with a lot of support from celebs and influencers.”

    “We believe the future of consumer engagement is to get personal – create a connect with the consumer through great experiences. We intend to bring our customers a connect to our London designers with regular events and interaction, and to create constant content around international fashion and style to establish Cover Story as a go to fashion authority for the Indian consumer,” she adds.

    Future Plans

    The brand, which has 23 EBOs, 61 SIS across the country and presence on 5 online channels, will cross 100 doors by the end of this year.

    “We have been more than doubling the turnover every year and same store sales growth has been in the health double digits. Currently online contributes 5 percent to the overall revenue and we see it growing significantly in the times to come,” concludes Tiwari.

  • Uniqlo online Hong Kong launches soon

    Uniqlo online Hong Kong launches soon

    Uniqlo Hong Kong will launch its online store on December 4. A spokesperson for the company said the online platform for Hong Kong and Macau is a fitting solution considering rising rentals and limited space for retailers in Hong Kong, along with the strengthening popularity of e-commerce in the region.

    The brand has operated an online flagship on Alibaba’s Tmall for nine years and has had its own online shop since October.

    According to Uniqlo’s CEO for Greater China Ning Pan, the two existing e-commerce platforms take 15 per cent of sales in China, the majority of that figure from Tmall.

    He explained that while TMall remains an important strategic partner, the new platform will allow the firm to leverage analytics and AI to evaluate buyer preferences.

    The Hong Kong site is now under testing, and will be fully operational come launch day in December.

  • Takashimaya opens in Bangkok megamall

    Takashimaya opens in Bangkok megamall

    Japanese department store operator Takashimaya has opened inside a brand new shopping mall in Thailand, opting for the capital city of Bangkok to bring the Japanese way of luxury retailing to the nation. Scaling seven floors, the newly named and opened Siam Takashimaya will form just a small part of the $1.7 billion megamall, which also houses the entertainment development project, Iconsiam.

    The Iconsiam is a sprawling 525,000-square-metre complex developed by Siam Piwat and Charoen Pokphand Group, which includes two residential towers over 50 floors high, a movie theatre, a concert auditorium and a variety of retail options, outside of Takashimaya.

    The mall location looks to serve as draw card for the Japanese retailer, whose expansion into Thailand comes at a time when Japanese physical retail is shrinking back home and consumer tastes are moving toward online shopping.

    The shift means Takashimaya  — and other Japanese department stores like it – are entering nearby Asian economies where tourism is high, and retail is burgeoning, in order to survive.

    “Southeast Asia and China are growing economically, so in order to increase our sales we have to go to these types of markets,” said Hironobu Hanai, a Takashimaya representative.

    “That is one of the reasons why we are opening a store in Thailand.”

    Takashimaya has already witnessed great success with its Singapore store opening some 25 years ago, and it is hoping to replicate the same in Thailand – bringing the best of Japan to rich Thais.

    To date, the Singapore store accounts for around 20% of the group’s operating profit, at 6.1 billion yen ($54 million).

    The department store’s complete offerings include a large proportion of Made in Japan, with 30% of the 530 brands, on sale at the new Siam Takashimaya, originating in Japan.

    An entire floor is dedicated to Japanese food, including a supermarket selling luxury products and premium restaurants.

    Another floor of Siam Takashimaya is devoted to beauty products and perfume along, as well as cosmetic services, in addition to floors for women’s and menswear.

    Finally, the last floor sells kid’s products and homewares and will host more restaurants.

    Siam Takashimaya expects to turn its first profit in the year ending February 2020.

  • Le petit h by Hermès launched in HK

    Le petit h by Hermès launched in HK

    Hermès presents a workshop of metamorphosis for materials and the invention of forms themed from now on till 9th December in Hong Kong. From a giant elephant pouffe to a target mirror, the Landmark Price’s store is transformed with scenography designed by Hong Kong artist Kevin Cheung. Once upon a time, there was a meeting of materials, their inimitable mix, their singular hybridisation. Petit h shares with upcycling product designer Kevin Cheung a passion for slumbering materials, from bamboo to silk, cashmere and many more.

    The staging is inspired by daily life and everyday objects. A tree and its bubble-like buds unfurl across the three levels of the store where new petit h inventions appear, paying homage to the diversity of Hermès materials and know-how, and to the dreams that take shape during our daily lives.

    Petit h was founded in 2010 by Pascal Mussard, who had the idea of bringing leftover materials from all over the house under one roof and giving them new life through Hermès craftsmanship and know-how.

    Godfroy de Virieu, creative director since January 2018, is now leading the dialogue between artisans, designers and artists from all backgrounds.

    Together, they create dreamlike, playful, poetic and surprising objects from noble materials as either unique pieces or limited editions.

    Petit h permanent home remains in Paris, in the Hermès store at 17 rue de Sèvres, as well as Hermes.com.

    Petit h will be traveling Asia in 2019.

  • Nykaa.com to bring Laneige to India

    Nykaa.com to bring Laneige to India

    Nykaa.com, India’s leading beauty retailer has launched Korean Beauty brand Laneige, exclusively in India. Laneige maximizes the potential of water to deliver the right solution to each skin concern with carefully selected, optimum natural ingredients. The brand has been showing great results with its simple yet innovative skincare and makeup solutions.

    With over 20 years of research, Laneige’s Water Science has developed optimum water to address skin concerns like hydration, pore refining, anti-aging, or complexion-correcting. Their signature Hydro Ionized Mineral Water offers quicker and deeper absorption for better overall moisturization while Mint Water reduces excessive sebum while offering greater pore care.

    “Observing the growing trend of Korean beauty brands across the world, Nykaa began introducing Korean brands to our portfolio last year. These brands have been a huge success with the Indian audience with their innovative ingredients and cutting-edge science. With Laneige’s signature water science based products we offer our customers a new facet in their beauty regime,” says Falguni Nayar, CEO Nykaa.

    Laneige’s best-selling products like Water Sleeping Mask, Lip and Eye Sleeping Mask, Water Bank Hydro Essence and White Dew Ampoule Essence are now available for women in India exclusively on nykaa.com and at select Nykaa Luxe stores in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Indore, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

  • Bath & Body Works to open third store in India

    Bath & Body Works to open third store in India

    Bath & Body Works, one of the world’s leading specialty retailers of fragrant products for the body, hands, and home for more than 20 years, is launching its third store at Ambience Mall, Gurugram on November 25. Earlier this year the brand launched in India with two stores in New Delhi at Select Citywalk and DLF Mall of India.

    In keeping with international formats, the Bath & Body Works stores in India showcase latest trends as well as the newest, freshest fragrances for body, hand, and home.

    From light-hearted and flirty scents to sophisticated and exotic fragrances, the Bath & Body Works store at Gurugram will be all about fun with world-class fragrances, with a special launch offers.

    Having established itself as one of the best and most sought after Personal Essentials and Home Fragrance brands, the Bath & Body Works store in Gurugram will be spread over approx. 1,200 sq.ft that will allow customers to enjoy an extensive array of fragrances: Body Crèmes, Shower Gels, Body Lotion, Bath Frizzies, Fragrances Mists, Hand Creams, Hand Washes, Hand Sanitizers, Candles and Gift Sets.