From lockdowns to travel bans, the effort to contain COVID-19 brought about unprecedented challenges that hampered the luxury retail market in 2020.
Fast forward to today and beauty companies like Amorepacific and L’Oréal have reported results that could only mean that consumers are back to splurging on luxury beauty goods – in some cases even surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
But the pandemic has set in motion lasting changes to life as we know it. As we look beyond life without COVID-19, how will the luxury beauty category change accordingly?
Possibly nothing has changed more than the luxury shopping experience which has broken the confines of bricks-and-mortar and duty-free outlets and into the digital space.
“I cannot emphasise enough that social commerce will be the next big thing for luxury beauty after e-commerce. It's all about you know, being where the consumers are and engaging them the way they want to be engaged,” said Shan Chen, deputy country manager, Singapore, LUXASIA.
Luxury brand By Terry has experienced first-hand the excitement social selling can create.
“We’ve participated in those social selling events in China. China is really pushing and trending on that. It's very exciting, I have to say. I think it's fascinating to be able to work in this market, and to be able to adjust. You have to be very, very agile because opportunities are here and they go very fast,” said Juliette Betant, General Manager Asia Pacific, By Terry.
Despite the uncertainty that we are facing with fresh lockdowns and resurging COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant in APAC, both By Terry and Luxasia believe that luxury beauty is poised for a tremendous future ahead in APAC.
Chen said: “I think the future of luxury beauty ever-growing brighter… Asia Pacific is really at an inflection point of development. And we believe that the next chapter of luxury growth is going to be in this region.”
To find out more about luxury beauty and its post-pandemic future in Asia Pacific, check out our video above.