Global cosmetics company Shiseido Company, Limited (Shiseido), and AS Watson Group (AS Watson), the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, entered a strategic alliance to form a 3-year plan to strengthen their strategic partnership and co-create beauty innovations to better meet the customers’ surging demand for Japanese-beauty products.
Shiseido and AS Watson have been very close partners for years. Recently, the two Groups have co-created the exclusive product range of Urban Damage Care under Shiseido’s sensitive skin care brand “d program”. In April, Shiseido introduced “d program” into Watsons China and the exclusive partnership in Mainland China started with a remarkable success, tripling actual sales from expectation.
Coupled with Shiseido’s strong R&D capability and leadership in Japanese beauty and AS Watson’s scalable distribution platforms and sophisticated customer insights, the two Groups have agreed to further extend their strategic partnership.
Co-creating Future
Shiseido and AS Watson will continue to strengthen the co-development through the exclusive products of Za and Senka. More exclusive products of other brands will be in the pipeline in the near future, with the joint effort in big data analytics and customer insights to deepen the understanding on AS Watson customers and overall markets.
Unlocking Potential Markets
With an extensive network of over 3,600 stores in Mainland China serving over 70% of targeted female customers of the world’s most populated country, AS Watson will help extend Shiseido’s reach into Mainland China, and other operating markets including Indonesia and Philippines, which are one of the most potential markets for Shiseido’s business growth.
Sustainable World of Japanese Beauty
With a common belief in making the world a better place, both Groups will contribute to the creation of more sustainable beauty through co-developing beauty innovations fuelled by both companies’ expertise. The two Groups are dedicated to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) together, such as Quality Education, Good Health & Well-being.
Strong Japanese DNA is deeply rooted in Shiseido and its core value. Shiseido and AS Watson will lead the Japanese-beauty trend and meet the huge customer demand for Japanese beauty products in Asia via co-creation.
Masahiko Uotani, Representative Director, President and CEO of Shiseido Company, Limited, says, “AS Watson and Shiseido share the vision that contributing to the creation of a better world through co-developing beauty innovations. We are very excited about the new step in our long-term partnership with the largest health and beauty retailer in the world. Our fascinating aspect of this partnership is that it keeps us innovating the beauty initiatives, addressing huge consumer demands in Asia on Japanese beauty products.”
Dominic Lai, Group Managing Director of AS Watson Group, is excited about this partnership, “With our customer insights and global knowledge of the beauty industry, AS Watson is able to help its business partners enter new markets and engage the right customers efficiently. Riding on the successful launch of d program Urban Damage Care range, the co-creation of Shiseido and AS Watson, in markets and regions including Mainland China, Taiwan and Thailand, we are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Shiseido to enhance customer connectivity and drive Japanese beauty in our operating markets.”
