Last year L’Oréal broke new ground in travel retail with the introduction of two new beauty categories – dermocosmetics and hair care – spearheaded by its Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Kérastase brands. The group’s debut, flagship Dermacenter opened at the DFS T Galleria Chinachem in Hong Kong on 25 November 2014. Further Dermacenter openings, in Asian and South American travel retail, will follow this year.
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L’Oréal’s first Dermacenter opened at the DFS T Galleria Chinachem in November |
“Centered on two global leaders in dermoskincare, the Dermacenter now brings a strong and complementary product offer in skincare,” noted L’Oréal Travel Retail Managing Director Active Cosmetics & Professional Products Divisions Piermarco Luzzatto.
“Chinese customers have rapidly confirmed the strong appeal of our brands and of the Dermacenter retail environment. Clearly the strong and still growing awareness in China of Vichy and La Roche-Posay is a driver for in-store conversion.” He added: “With the launch of Vichy and La Roche-Posay we are responding to unmet beauty needs. We believe these new brands will attract new consumers to the travel retail channel – and support passenger conversion. We will also recruit new consumers to these brands, who will continue to [purchase] them in their local markets.”
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The Kérastase Travel Hair Salons have been well received by passengers, L’Oréal maintains |
L’Oréal’s flagship Kérastase brand is leading the charge within haircare – another relatively unexploited category within travel retail. DFS T Galleria Chinachem was again the location of choice for the opening of the first Kérastase Travel Hair Salon, which opened its doors on 28 November 2014. In late December a second Kérastase Travel Hair Salon opened in the newly refitted Singapore Changi Airport T1, in partnership with The Shilla Duty Free.
Luzzatto concluded: “Kérastase has had a very positive start [in the channel]. Average basket sales, the variety of products sold and the number of diagnostic/styling activities carried out confirm the strong appeal and potential of the brand. We are confident about reaching the targets set for year one, and have several more travel retail openings scheduled in the coming months, in Asia, south America and the EMEA region.”
– Look out for the full feature on L’Oréal’s travel retail entry into dermocosmetics and hair care, published in The Moodie Report Print Edition February/March 2015.
