Chantecaille, which is owned by German personal care major Beiersdorf, is poised to debut in China and is currently waiting for full approval before making its entry.
“On Chantecaille, we are almost ready. We have already two-thirds of the portfolio which has been regulatory approved. We are waiting for the last third,” said Vincent Warnery, chief executive of Beiersdorf.
Warnery said that the firm will soft launch the brand in August and the full-scale launch will be in September.
He added that the launch campaign will involve media and influencers and promotion of the brand will take place online and offline.
At the same time, the company is aiming to expand the brand in the travel retail channel.
Chantecaille is a French luxury beauty brand founded by Sylvie Chantecaille in 1997.
In 2022, Beiersdorf completed the acquisition of Chantecaille in bid to strengthen its premium offerings.
Recovery drive
The last year was difficult for Beiersdorf’s prestige division as La Prairie and Chantecaille both experienced a decline in organic sales.
Chantecaille sales fell by 18.4% while La Prairie dropped by 15.4%.
The decline was attributed to difficulties in China and travel retail over 2023 and the firm’s decision to normalise the inventory for both brands.
“We faced difficult market circumstances in the travel retail business and in mainland China, which is why we made the decision to utilise 2023 as a transition year to clean up stocks and normalise inventory levels.”
However, the firm is already seeing some positive signs of recovery.
“We are now looking positively at 2024 with mostly healthy stock levels for both brands and travel retail stocks in Hainan will also be healthy at the end of Q1,” said Warnery.
He highlighted that both brands have reinforced their e-commerce capabilities.
“Throughout 2023 we prepared a stronger strategic e-commerce set-up for [La Prairie], with a special focus on the utilisation of TikTok, while also investing in future innovations. As for Chantecaille, we also enhanced our social commerce set-up for the brand in 2023 and moreover expect improved performance due to the expansion of the travel retail business.”
He added that the initial first quarter numbers for Chantecaille this first quarter of 2024 were “promising” while La Prairie sell-out experienced double-digit growth in the fourth quarter.
Following these trends, the firm expects both brands to return to growth in 2024.
“We have been active in China with our brands for several years now and the huge potential of the Chinese market is also no secret, which is why we continuously enhance our efforts there – but we are not trying to grow at all costs in China. In the coming years, we aim to create more impact there with our whole portfolio, by utilising our in-depth knowledge of the market and our existing infrastructure in the country,” said Warnery.
