Spanish beauty giant Puig Group is accelerating the layout of the Chinese market. Its high-end fragrance brands Panhaligon, L’Artisan Parfumeur and beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury previously entered the Chinese market through online e-commerce and has now opened a total of more than 10 offline stores.
In the post-pandemic era, overseas beauty groups are accelerating the layout of the Chinese market, especially Spain’s Puig Group being the most active.
Starting from the second half of 2021, Puig Group opened stores for its high-end fragrance brand Panhaligon and L’Artisan Parfumeur, as well as beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury. The three brands entered China’s market through the online e-commerce channel. They opened 10 stores after their launch in offline channel since 2021.
Charlotte Tilbury enjoyed the fastest pace to open its stores with seven offline stores now in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenzhen. Christian Louboutin Beauty, represented by Puig Group, has also rapidly expanded its offline stores in the total of 5.
Compared to overseas beauty groups such as L’Oreal and Estee Lauder, Puig Group, without same brand’s name in China, is not well-known in China. In terms of revenue, Puig Group achieved its sales incoming of $2.292 billion and $1.736 billion in 2019 and 2020, respectively, which is still far from the single-quarter revenue from the aforementioned major groups.
Affected by the pandemic, Puig Group recorded its first loss in 2020 with its net sales down 32% year on year compared to 2019. However, it was also in 2020 that Puig Group acquired British beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury in $1.630 billion.
According to Charlotte Tilbury’s accounts filed to the U.K. government in December 2021, the brand’s revenue increased 11.3% to $351 million in 2020. Charlotte Tilbury currently has good presence in Chinese beauty community. The addition of Charlotte Tilbury is a core move for Puig Group to develop its business in mainstream beauty market and Chinese market.
Puig Group’s Panhaligon and L’Artisan Parfumeur have both created hot-selling products that have gained popularity in Chinese market by virtue of the growth of the high-end fragrance market in recent years. Along with the trend of restructuring the fragrance category in Chinese shopping centers, these two high-end fragrances are favored by Chinese consumers due to their previous accumulated popularity.
To further increase its market share in the Chinese market, Puig Group has also recently partnered with RuiTai Supply Chain, a subsidiary of Chinese beauty operator Hangzhou UCO, to build a Chinese head warehouse. It also announced an investment in local Chinese fragrance brand Scent Library. Puig Group expects its sales in Chinese market will account for 25% of its total sales by 2025.
Puig is a Spanish multinational company specializing in fashion and fragrances, founded in Barcelona, Spain in 1914. Puig’s portfolio is divided into three divisions: Beauty and Fashion, with the owned brands Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten, Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur; the licenses of Christian Louboutin and Comme des Garcons perfumes; and Lifestyle fragrances, among them Adolfo Dominguez, Antonio Banderas, Shakira and Benetton. The Charlotte Tilbury division, which includes the luxury makeup brand. And the Derma division, with the Apivita, Uriage and Isdin brands.
