LG Household and Health Care (LG H&H) revealed on 23rd October that it had opened its first OHUI, VDL and Belif stores at the Wulin Intime Department Store located in Hangzhou, China.
Luxury market share
“We decided to release the brands in China in order to meet the rising demand by Chinese consumers who had used the products,” the company announced.
“In the long run, we want to enhance our competitiveness in the growing Chinese market by additionally launching our upscale brands,” LG H&H went on to say.
Several of the company’s brands have been received with great acclaim over the past decade. Premium cosmetics name, The History Whoo, first entered the Chinese cosmetics market in 2006, and has continued to grow ever since, with its number of stores now reaching 182.
Existing brand success
The History of Whoo sales surpassed 1 tn won (€773.9mn) in October 2017, and this is thought to largely be due to their popularity in China. The heavyweight name reached this target a month earlier than last year — when it met the 1 tn won (€773.9mn) mark on 3rd November 2016 — indicating a surge in demand.
A decade later, another luxury label from LG H&H, Su:m, launched onto the Chinese beauty sector, after it first emerged ten years ago. Since April 2016, Su:m has amassed solid sales leading to the opening of 58 operating stores. The brand also met its targets faster this year than in 2016, and have seen product sales already hit 300 bn won (€232 mn), Business Korea reported.
Skin care brand, OHUI, and make up name, VDL, aim to showcase numerous make up exhibits by inviting well-known make up artists to form part of a one-stop shopping service. LG H&G plans to open its second shop in a Shanghai-based department store in November 2017.
Long-term strategy
As part of its mid-to-long-term strategy, the personal care giant will expand its number of upscale department stores in China.
“We aim to belong to the top five luxury cosmetics makers’ list in China within five years,” said Kim Byeong-yeol, the company’s Marketing Director for Chinese operation, to Korean business news site, The Investor.
“We combined VDL and Ohui brands into one store to meet customer needs for both skin care and cosmetics products,” an LG H&H spokesperson added.
Moving forward, LG H&H will seek to raise the profile of its three new cosmetic brands through high-end department stores in big cities located throughout China.