Hitting restart: Note Cosmetique eyes China, India and Indonesia as part of APAC expansion

Note Cosmetique was established in 2014 and the brand is available across various markets internationally. In APAC, it is available in markets such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Across these markets, the brand enjoys a presence both online and offline. It is accessible via its own official website, e-commerce partner platforms, and has its own brick-and-mortar standalone stores in cities such as Singapore and Ulaanbaatar.

The brand was exhibiting at the 2022 Singapore edition of Cosmoprof Asia, to seek out expansion opportunities in APAC.

“For the next years, it will be Asia that’s growing. That's why we would like to strengthen the brand position in the Asian market,”​ said Gülfer Bal, Note Cosmetique marketing and new product development director.

Bal told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that Note’s strength is its wide range of products and colours, making it well primed to succeed in the diverse Asian market.

“We have a very wide range of colours – very dark shade to very light shades. We also have many types – high coverage to light coverage. I think this is one of our strengths. As a brand, it’s easier for us to go to market according to the consumer needs and attitudes.”​

For instance, it can easily adapt to changing consumer needs, such as the rise of eye make-up products today. “The categories are changing. For example, we are still wearing masks, so the eye category has become quite important.”​

Like many colour-centric brands, Note was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered a decline in make-up as people were stuck indoors.

Additionally, it scaled back its offline expansion in Singapore and moved online. Now that make-up is recovering, the company will refresh its efforts in markets like Singapore.

In addition to that, it is also looking to enter new markets such as China, India, and Indonesia, where it sees massive potential given their size.

Bal told us that the company will an omnichannel approach to the markets. The company sees the value of standalone brick-and-mortars stores but has also noted the increasing importance of online channels.

“Everything is changing, the channels are changing. E-commerce is becoming more important compared to the traditional [channels], in every country it is growing.”​

Be it online or offline, Bal said that the company has everything prepped to enter a new market as seamlessly as possible.

“We have a lot of things on our hands, for example, we have different gondola, wall units – all the designs and prototypes are ready. And we have our wide range of products. So, whenever we enter a market, we can choose according to the country. We have lots of different solutions.”​