Introduction: In this video interview, shot at the L’Oréal Travel Retail stand at the recent TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific Managing Director Jesús Abia shares his outlook on recovery in the region. As he makes his return to travel retail, he urges industry stakeholders to lead with beauty tech and embrace a ‘Pentarchy’ approach to partnerships.
While L’Oréal Groupe recorded an overall +6% sales increase amounting to €32,405.7 million (US$34,991.2 million), its North Asia sales decreased -3.5% amid rough trading conditions in China, including Hainan.
Jesús Abia, who is at the helm of L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific as the beauty giant navigates this challenging landscape, expressed his optimism for the future. He said: “I’m extremely happy to come back to Asia, a fascinating region for the beauty business and, of course, travel retail.
“I spent seven years of my career in this industry. Now I’m coming back and I can feel the energy and passion of the channel, which I believe is part of travel retail’s DNA.”
Abia has come back to a channel that has evolved dramatically in the post-pandemic years, changed by evolving consumer preferences. “While the stores are more or less the same as in the pre-pandemic era, the consumer is evolving and the traveller is changing,” he said.
“We need to adapt. We are in a moment of transformation in the industry and I’m very excited to be rejoining the channel. At L’Oréal, we are extremely well positioned to be even stronger after this transformation. Our portfolio of brands is stronger than ever. Our new acquisition, Aesop, will be launching soon in travel retail.”
Blockbuster beauty animations have always been integral to L’Oréal Travel Retail’s approach in the channel. In line with its mission of leveraging beauty technology to deliver ‘Beauty for Each’, the strategy for bringing these campaigns to life in the channel has also evolved.
Abia highlighted the recent Lancôme activation at Singapore Changi Airport as a case study of how L’Oréal Travel Retail is adapting to create the beauty retail of the future.
“If you look at our recent animation for Lancôme Génifique Ultimate in Singapore Changi Airport with The Shilla Duty Free, this is the perfect example of how we are approaching animations today.
“We need to rethink how we approach the channel. This is why we are embracing the term Pentarchy. The Pentarchy is brands, airports, airlines, retailers and media partners and underlines that we need to work together to put travellers at the centre.
“This is what we did with Génifique Ultimate, which featured our first Generative AI Beauty Consultant at the airport. This is very innovative and what the new consumers are looking for. I think we are very well prepared for the future.”
Looking ahead, Abia said: “I’m very confident about the future of the industry. The appetite for beauty is stronger than ever. While Chinese consumption may be lower, they are consuming more beauty.
“The appetite for travel is also bouncing back. While travel demand has slowed in the region in recent years, we can see that traffic will reach pre-pandemic levels this year. This makes me extremely confident about the future.” ✈
