Singapore clean beauty brand DrGL expands online presence in Europe with Amazon launch

The brand will be setting up a storefront on Amazon with an official launch planned later this month. Amazon Storefront serves as a miniature e-commerce website that allow brands to showcase all of their products, similar to a flagship store.

There will be 16 SKUs retailing on Amazon EU, comprising products such as skin repair serum, gel mask, collagen essence, and anti-hair-loss cleanser, products which the brand calls its hero products.

Retail recognition​

DrGL is currently retailing in Douglas, a beauty retailer from Germany with stores across Europe.

According to Patsy Ong, co-founder and CEO of A DrBrand, the parent company of DrGL, business in Europe has grown 20% year-on-year.

“The listing in Douglas kickstarted its expansion in Europe, ​that's how we got noticed and today we are selling to people in Switzerland, Germany, and the UK​.”

Ong said the Amazon expansion came as a surprise: “We never thought of listing on Amazon so we were ​very excited when Amazon first approached us. Based on their consumer data, they were looking for brands like ours and we were a right fit for them​.”

Ong told us users in Europe were attracted to the simplicity of its products, fast absorption rate and transparent label.

“In the beauty industry, customer loyalty is short and users are constantly switching brands, so our products must be effective​.”

EU FDA approved​

DrGL’s skin care range is formulated by co-founder and aesthetic doctor Dr Georgia Lee, and follows what it calls the DrGL standard, consisting of clean, safe, cruelty free, stable, responsible and backed by scientific evidence.

All of DrGL products are also tested at independent toxicologist labs in the EU, and are approved by the EU FDA.

With the exception of larger players, there are not many Asian brands that are EU FDA-approved, according to Ong.

Following the Amazon launch in Europe, the brand is also in talks with distributors.

In Singapore, DrGL is also working on its online strategy​, having listed its products on its e-commerce store, and other e-commerce platforms. 

New product​

The DrGL brand aims to release one new product each year, instead of rolling out many products at once. Ong cited how its products go through a long process of testing; for instance, a toxicology test alone takes six months.

One upcoming product is a scrub which will be first launched in Singapore this year.

While typical scrubs do the job of exfoliating and getting rid of blackheads, they can be quite harsh on the skin and results in dry skin, according to Ong.

DrGL’s latest scrub is moisturising, suitable for sensitive skin, and multifunctional in the sense it can be used with any cleansers or soaps.

“We always believe that the most important thing for skin care is to have protection, but you also need to remove it as well​,” Ong said.

The brand is intending to launch an oral supplement next year. “We only launch products when we have full confidence of the product, and also taking into account the timing.​

“We chose to launch the scrub this year because everybody is wearing masks and exfoliating their skin regularly, but most people overdo it which is too harsh for the skin​.”