The Japan-headquartered company is just beginning to target the continent, distributing products through a duty free shop in Cairo Airport as well as through certain stores in Morocco.
South Africa has been chosen as it is recognised as a leading economy in the continent with a growing market for prestige cosmetics, according to the company.
In 2009, sales in the cosmetics market in South Africa were estimated to be approximately €1.1 bn, according to the company’s research, with double digit growth compared with the previous year.
In addition, Shiseido claims that the prestige cosmetics market is estimated to account for €220m of the total cosmetics market.
The Prestige Cosmetics Group is the chosen distributor and products will appear in five luxury department stores, with an expansion to more than 10 stores by the fiscal year 2012.
Global player
Expansion into the country is part of the company’s three year plan that aims to see Shiseido becoming ‘a global player representing Asia with its origins in Japan’.
Recent expansions into new territories include a move into the Balkan Peninsula announced in July this year, as well as a new distributor in Mongolia. Other new markets include Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Laos and Morocco.
The company also recently announced its aim to expand its footprint in the domestic market and other Asian regions to cover the masstige and low end markets.
Shiseido’s new Senka skin care brand has just been launched in Japan and contains four moisturizing products with lower price points. The plan is to not only expand the range of products offered but also the regions in which they are present.
Shiseido described the launch as the first phase of a strategic plan that will tailor the company's business in the region around the different stages of economic development and the impact these patterns are having on consumer spending patterns.