US. Japanese cosmetics group Shiseido has begun a slow and steady process of increasing its presence in airports inthe Americas and is developing a new corner in Los Angeles airport with DFS next month, and another with The Nuance Group in Vancouver. Speaking in Orlando last week, Bruno Richard, Shiseido regional director travel retail Americas and Latin America domestic markets said the brand aims to be present in five or six additional US airports by the end of 2003. The company recently opened a regional subsidiary in the US and another in Canada.
“As the number four brand worldwide, we have exciting positioning and excellent customer loyalty,” said Richard. “We will limit distribution to major flagship airports and little by little we will grow the distribution.”
The global launch of a product that was a hit in the Japanese market, Body Creator Slimming gel, has been brought forward to this month and Shiseido has high hopes for this in duty free.
Shiseido celebrates its 45th anniversary of overseas business this year. For the group, Asia continues to be viewed as the market with the highest growth potential. Shiseido said it is continuing to establish a firm foothold in Asia and the Pacific, with a particular emphasis on China. Consolidated sales in the region (duty free and domestic) continued to expand in fiscal 2002, registering a +17% increase.
In addition to the Shiseido brand Shiseido has marketing the makeup brand Pied Nus, the skincare brand UV White and other products, all of which were initially developed and sold as “Tokyo-release” cosmetic products mainly targeting Japanese consumers.
With regard to Pied Nus in particular, new products launched in Japan coincided with their release in targeted Asian countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, where information on Japan is transmitted almost instantaneously and customers are noted for their eagerness to adopt the latest Japanese trends.
Sales of such Tokyo-release cosmetic products in the Asia and Oceania region currently command 60% of total sales. In China – where the market is rapidly expanding – Shiseido is manufacturing and selling AUPRES cosmetics exclusively for the Chinese market. AUPRES, which was created to alleviate the skin problems of Chinese women such as dry skin, has gained overwhelming acceptance as a leading brand among Chinese women.
Shiseido has been active in travel retail in Europe for one year, where it is now featured in all major airports, and its progress was reinforced by a first-time appearance at TFWA World debut in Cannes last year. Worldwide Shiseido is already the number six ranked perfumery house in travel retail, according to Generation DataBank with a 3.7% market share.
