LANCÔME Travel Retail Asia Pacific Zeros in on Hainan

What happened LANCÔME Travel Retail Asia Pacific has recently partnered with China Duty Free Group (CDFG), a state-owned duty-free retailer, for a brand takeover in Hainan, China throughout November. This omni-channel experience, which connects physical pop-ups and QR codes with livestreaming and digital campaigns, focuses the spotlight on LANCÔME’s newly launched Clarifique Dual Essence. The campaign, called “Aurora Light Journey,” runs from November 3 to 29 at the Sanya Haitang Bay Duty Free Mall, Haikou’s Mova Downtown Shopping Mall, and Haikou Meilan International Airport. The company remains confident in the post-COVID-19 China travel retail market, said Stevie Wong, general manager at LANCÔME Travel Retail Asia Pacific. “The foundation for beauty consumption is solid, and is evident with skincare’s resilience during the pandemic,” Wong said. “Our digital expertise at points of sale and personalized interactions with travelers will be a key competitive for us in this retail environment.” Jing Take: In November, Hainan has also seen other L’Oréal-owned brands and entities launching campaigns with CDFG, the monopoly of duty-free sales channels at the domestic popular holiday destination. At the beginning of the month, L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific teamed up with CDFG to introduce a pop-up for Kiehl's. In mid-November, L’Oréal’s YSL Beauté and the duty-free retailer co-hosted their first-ever livestreamed outdoor poolside catwalk show. Hainan’s potential in travel retail has begun to be tapped this year, visually evident in hours-long wait lines of duty-free shops during the Golden Week national holiday in October. Over the first half of the year, CDFG has become the world’s largest duty-free retailer by turnover, beating Swiss-based Dufry and South Korean Lotte Duty Free, according to tourism trade publication The Moodie Davitt Report. The shakeup is largely attributable to Hainan, as the island’s duty free sales accounted for almost half of China Tourism Group’s revenue in the first half of 2020. In 2019, it was ranked at 4th. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Sectors

Insights

Company

LANCÔME Travel Retail Asia Pacific Zeros in on Hainan