‘Accelerating at incredible pace’: Coty fragrance business growing twice as fast as China’s market

The fragrance market in China has been experiencing notable growth, driven by factors such as increasing disposable income, shifting consumer preferences, and a growing awareness and appreciation of fragrances.

“It's very interesting to see how the market is evolving quite fast, I have to say, specifically in the fragrance category… Maybe a year ago, we shared with you that we’ve start to see the Chinese getting very, very interested in this category and this is accelerating at an incredible pace, even their tastes are accelerating,” ​said Coty CEO Sue Nabi.

She highlighted that the fragrance category in China is growing at a rate of 6% and that its was surpassing it by more than two times.

Coty owns and manages numerous well-known fragrance brands, including Hugo Boss, Chloé, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs and Gucci.

Nabi noted the recent launch of Burberry Goddess, a gourmand vanilla fragrance and its first refillable option.

“We launched Burberry Goddess in this country a little bit after the rest of the countries, because we thought that the scent of this innovation was really a bold scent, and the reception has been outstanding. The line is already a number six line at Sephora, which is a ranking that we never achieved in this country with any of our fragrances.”​

She added: “Burberry Goddess is just starting in this country, and we believe it's going to be a game changer.”​

Apart from Burberry Goddess, the firm also sees major opportunities to tap into the niche fragrance market in China.

“These fragrances represent almost a quarter of the market today in China. This is two and a half times bigger than what you see in the rest of the world,”​ said Nabi.

Makeup and skin care​

Aside from fragrance, Coty is also observing success in the makeup category, where its growing faster than the makeup market at 10%, mainly due to Gucci and Burberry.

One of the major trends in this space is the increasing blurred lines between colour cosmetics and skin care.

“There, it's all about face makeup, because, again, the makeup category is ‘skinifying’, and anything that's a good mix between pigments and skin benefits is clearly what people are looking for on top of the fact that everything has to be long wear.”​

In the meantime, the skin care market has been slightly negative in China. However, it still represents an “immense majority of sales” ​for Coty, Nabi emphasised.

The driving force behind Coty’s skin care business in China is Lancaster and its Ligne Princière line.​

“There, our brands are doing well, specifically Lancaster, which is the main brand that we have in this country. Specifically, online the brand is continuing to see momentum because it's growing month after month. We have started, as you remember, with Ligne Princière and now we are adding next to Ligne Princière a focus on sun care, because this brand is really seen as the epitome of what high-end sun care protection is.”​