Luxury in time of crisis: By Terry and Luxasia embark on Asia expansion despite pandemic
As previously reported by CosmeticsDesign-Europe, market intelligence firm Euromonitor International has forecasted that the global luxury goods market is set to decline by 18% in light of the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Considering the resilience of the beauty market, however, Euromonitor has predicted that luxury beauty would recovery more rapidly compared to other categories.
These new realities have pushed luxury beauty brands like Paris-based By Terry Beauty to hone on its digital efforts to withstand a pandemic-stricken economy while growing its business in Asia.
“The beauty industry was already transforming towards greater digital play prior to COVID-19. What COVID-19 did was to accelerate this shift significantly. Beauty companies do not have a choice anymore – without a compelling digital offering that is seamlessly integrated with retail, brands will inevitably begin to fade,” said Marion Assuied, CEO of the independent French luxury brand.
Assuied elaborated that brands needed to innovate and engage consumers in the digital realm to “provide a holistic omnichannel offering” to consumers, particularly in the brand discovery stage.
As such, social media presence and engagement have become even more critical to brands.
“This allows brands to listen to their consumers and quickly customise offerings to fast-evolving wants. A localised approach is also different because different markets have different preferences, especially in Asia,” said Assuied.
Ambitions for Asia
Assuied told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that the company saw Asia as a ‘key pillar’ to the brand’s future.
“The receptivity of niche brands in Asia is increasing rapidly. Having already been recognised as one of the leading niche make-up brands in the region, the goal of By Terry Asia is to enhance and entrench the brand’s presence even further.”
She added: “We are looking to expand the Asia chapters of our brand’s success story – the next phase of By Terry’s growth.”
To further its ambitions in Asia, the company has formed a joint venture with Luxasia, a Singapore-based distributor of luxury beauty goods with decades of experience in the high-end beauty market.
Sabrina Chong, head of corporate development at Luxasia, expressed that the company was very confident in the potential of By Terry in the region.
“We have seen an impressive growth by By Terry in our markets, and the superior quality of its products are also testified by beauty consumers everywhere.”
This confidence is also underpinned by the company’s belief in Asia’s luxury beauty market.
“In Asia, we foresee that luxury beauty will continue to grow, with the segments of skin care and make-up being the biggest beneficiaries of this growth,” said Chong.
The companies aim to cement By Terry’s position as one of the leading high-end beauty brands in the region
“Because of the immense potential and popularity of the brand, we needed to strike the iron while it’s hot, and make the best of existing opportunities to accelerate brand growth and gain greater market share,” said Chong.
Omnichannel game plan
In order to achieve this, Chong noted the importance that Asian consumers got to “experience the quality, luxury and heritage of the brand”.
“Through more exciting retail concepts, consumer engagement events, and social media interactions, By Terry Asia aims delight consumers both online and offline. We are also re-looking at how we can bring By Terry within easier reach of Asian consumers.”
This would include more focus on e-commerce, which has rapidly accelerated with the development of COVID-19.
“COVID-19 and the various lockdowns across the world have successfully converted even the most digitally hesitant consumer groups – such as baby boomers – towards online-shopping. In lockdowns lasting for two to three months for many markets, online-shopping has already become part of staple everyday habits.”
Luxasia itself saw a tremendous growth of up to 15 times in its e-commerce business, which spans across its 290 official online brand stores across the region.
Chong believes the growth will not stop as its has resulting in lasting changes in consumer behaviour.
“This conversion towards online shopping will not just remain but grow even more as people and companies realise that e-commerce is a viable, convenient, and consumer-friendly channel for almost everything under the sun.”
Assuied concluded: “Together with Luxasia, we are confident that our joint venture can adapt By Terry’s brand marketing in a way that resonates best with local consumers across multiple retail, online, and social media formats.”
