Shiseido Travel Retail has joined forces with King Power International Group (Thailand) to launch Elixir skincare into travel retail at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The popular Japanese brand’s debut, with a standout gold-coloured counter, is supported by beauty advisors to encourage customer interaction through testing and product explanations. Best-selling products are highlighted and GWP offers are included.
Elixir, which was founded in 1983, is known for its focus on the skin needs of Asian woman, its collagen research and its creation of technology-enhanced products.
Elixir’s anti-ageing skincare line aim to offer consumers ‘tsuyadama’, which it describes as a “natural glow on the cheeks as a result of firm and transparent skin”.
“Elixir is positioned as an innovative introduction to entry-prestige skincare, and is distinguished by Shiseido’s extensive anti-ageing and collagen research for maintaining skin firmness and transparency,” Shiseido Travel Retail said.
Elixir was relaunched in the Chinese domestic market in 2017. In 2018, according to Shiseido, it experienced 59% year-on-year growth. Shiseido also noted “very promising” e-commerce growth of 345%, compared to 2017.
“Leveraging the Chinese travel boom and Elixir’s success in the Chinese domestic market, Suvarnabhumi Airport was the natural choice for the brand’s launch in the channel,” Shiseido added.
It noted that Thailand is the top country visited by Chinese travellers outside of China and Suvarnabhumi is their second most-visited airport.
Shiseido predicted that Elixir will increase its presence in Asia Pacific travel retail by expanding in China and Korea.
Shiseido Travel Retail President and CEO Philippe Lesné said: “We are delighted to bring Elixir into our travel retail portfolio. The brand has enjoyed incredible success in Asian domestic markets, and we are now happy to present it to dynamic travelling consumers.”
Lesné underlined Shiseido Travel Retail’s aim to drive category growth through innovation.
“We’ve seen a rising demand for luxury skincare products in travel retail and we believe that Elixir is well-positioned to fuel further growth through prestige anti-ageing products, at an accessible price point. There is major potential in the channel for this segment, so it’s an exciting step forward for us.
“Bangkok will be a great start and we look forward to rolling the brand out to more markets in the coming months.”
King Power International Senior Executive Vice President Susan Whelan added: “We are excited to collaborate with Shiseido Travel Retail to debut the Elixir brand in travel retail. We have a strong partnership with Shiseido Travel Retail and are very pleased to have this opportunity to introduce a new brand into the entry-prestige skincare category.
“We look forward to working with the Shiseido team to help Elixir achieve the same success in travel retail as it has in domestic markets.”
Elixir’s bestsellers include its Day Care Revolution which offers SPF50 UV-ray protection and long-lasting moisturising, Sleeping Gel Pack, Booster Essence to revitalise the skin and a retinol-formulated Wrinkle Cream.
According to Shiseido Travel Retail the products are highly-ranked in their categories in Japan and the Wrinkle Cream has proven particularly popular with Chinese consumers.
