Financial focus: L'Oréal, Shiseido, Nykaa in our beauty business update

Huge opportunity for L'Oréal Paris as Chinese beauty consumers seek ‘value-for-money’ – L'Oréal CEO​​

French beauty giant L'Oréal sees tremendous opportunity for L'Oréal Paris to recruit new customers in China as market trends favour cost-effective products.

The beauty market has remained sluggish in China and was estimated to have dipped by 2% to 3% for the company as consumer sentiment remained subdued.

The company’s consumer products division increased slightly while luxury fell by a high single digit.

Against this backdrop, the company has observed more demand for cost-effective products.
 

Shiseido pressured in China by increasing price consciousness among consumers​​

Japanese cosmetics major Shiseido Company is facing mounting pressure in China as price sensitivity among locals intensifies price competition.

Speaking during the firm’s 2024 first half (H1) earnings conference, Toshinobu Umetsu, chief executive of Shiseido China, emphasised that the consumer has become increasingly price sensitive.

“Consumers are looking for the channel or touchpoint where they can purchase at the cheapest price. That has become more active and more aggressive among the consumers,” he said.

This has led to an intense price competition among retailers, said Umetsu.

Nykaa ‘doubling down’ on prestige fragrance in bid to gain market share​​

Indian omnichannel beauty retailer Nykaa will increase its focus on the prestige fragrance segment after observing high growth over its last quarter.

This is aligned with Nykaa’s aim to expand its presence in more beauty and personal care categories, after successfully capturing market share in makeup and skin care.

Now the company has turned its eyes towards the prestige fragrance category, which has been booming globally in the past few years.

G&M Cosmetics reports Vietnam offline sales growth surpassing online​​

Offline sales in Vietnam are growing faster than online sales for G&M Cosmetics, prompting it to make a major expansion into 500 stores.

In August, the company announced that it has expanded its Australian Creams MKII Gold Series in over 500 physical retail points in Vietnam, its biggest expansion in the market to date.

The expansion spans multiple retail partners, including pharmacy chains Guardian and Medicare Pharmacy as well as various other beauty and cosmetics chains like Sammy Beauty Shop.

Shinsegae’s AMUSE acquisition represents efforts to expand globally, improve profitability​

Shinsegae International’s move to acquire the Gen Z favourite colour cosmetics brand AMUSE signals intentions to expand globally and boost profitability.

On August 2, Shinsegae announced that it had acquired a 100% stake in colour cosmetics brand AMUSE for USD51.6m.

Founded in 2018, AMUSE is a vegan beauty brand with a strong fan base among Generation Z consumers with products such as the lip product Jel-Fit Tint.