Fresh-faced glow: Shiseido Travel Retail caters to demand for ‘natural look’ to boost make-up segment

19-Mar-2020 - Last updated on 19-Mar-2020 at 01:13 GMT

Shiseido Travel Retail is looking to accelerate the growth of its colour cosmetics segment. ©Shiseido

Shiseido Travel Retail is looking to accelerate the growth of its colour cosmetics segment with an assortment of make-up products to help travel-weary consumers achieve the desired natural look while on-the-go.

Launching in the first quarter of 2020, the Spring line-up consists of products from its four prestige brands: NARS, Laura Mercier, SHISEIDO, and Clé de Peau Beauté

The coloured lip balms, cushion compacts and protective primers were launched in response to the growing traveller demand for make-up that provides a softer, au naturale look.

“In line with our consumer-centric strategy, we are proud to present a collection that meets the current consumer trend of all-natural beauty,” said Vice president of marketing and innovation, Elisabeth Jouguelet.

She added that the company leveraged on this opportunity to further boost the fast-growing make-up category.

“The make-up segment has become the fastest-growing category within Shiseido Travel Retail, and we are committed to accelerating this growth through continuous beauty innovation.”

These innovations include Laura Mercier’s Pure Canvas Primers Collection, which was recently relaunched to include five version and a multi-functional essence-primer.

Each primer addresses a specific skin concern while extending make-up wear and protecting the skin against environmental aggressors.

Launching in March for the APAC market is the SHISEIDO Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Custom Finish Powder Foundation.

Despite its lightweight finish, the company claimed that this product can resist heat, humidity and motion to last a full 24 hours.

“This glow-enhancing make-up range is a result of blending consumer insights, traveller data and cutting-edge technology and is a reflection of how we fuse art and science in our products,” said Jouguelet.

“It is truly a compelling and competitive addition to the market that we are confident will meet our travellers’ wants and needs.”

A trying time for travel

This launch comes at a difficult time for the travel retail business globally due to the due to the escalating novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

According to Shiseido’s FY2019 reports, the company saw a rapid decline in the performance of its travel retail business in the wake of the epidemic.

Consumer purchases in the Japan travel retail business were growing 25% from January 1 to 23 this year but tumbled by 6% by the first week of February.

In 2019, travel retail continued to be the firm’s top-performing division with growth of 19.4%.

The Japanese company has yet to reveal its 2020 forecast with COVID-19 taken into account.

However, its initial plans revealed that the travel retail division was to play a key role in Shiseido’s plans to accelerate growth. It forecasted that the travel retail business would grow by 14% like-for-like in FY2020.

“Currently, the forecast for the next fiscal year does not take into account the worldwide spread of a coronavirus. We are evaluating the impact on our business and companies in Japan, China, and Travel Retail. We plan to more carefully assess this impact and reflect it in our business forecasts as appropriate.”