The white coat effect: C-beauty’s pharmacy power play

“After getting a skin booster treatment in China, I used to buy medical-grade recovery masks from pharmacies through Ele.me,” Amber Wu, a seasoned consultant in China’s beauty industry, tells Jing Daily. What once seemed like a niche post-procedure habit is fast becoming mainstream retail behavior, as China’s 700,000 pharmacies emerge as the next battleground for beauty brands — where local players are outpacing global giants through clinical credibility and digital innovation. While beauty-through-pharmacy has long been entrenched in markets like France, where dermocosmetic heavyweights like Avène, Vichy, and La Roche-Posay dominate counters and consumer trust, China’s OTC (over-the-counter) beauty channel is still taking shape. Yet, it’s doing so at remarkable speed. From just over 524,000 outlets in 2019 to 700,000 in 2024, China’s pharmacies now outnumber traditional beauty retail outlets by a big margin. In this fast-expanding arena, homegrown players like Winona, Comfy, and Fuyan are outpacing global giants, claiming 98% of efficacy skincare sales in retail pharmacies, as of 2023. Making pharmacy skincare as easy to buy as takeout “France has one of the most mature pharmacy beauty markets,” says Wu, the consultant. “Consumers are trained from a young age to see pharmacies as go-to places for safe, effective skincare, with pharmacists and assistants playing a consultative role.” By contrast, China’s pharmacy system lacks that historical clinical infrastructure. But it’s making up for it through retail agility. “The growth here is more retail-driven, led by players like Yifeng and regional pharmacy chains,” Wu adds. “Pharmacy chains are integrating digital tools like mini programs and delivery platforms such as Ele.me to make skincare as easy to buy as takeout.” In light of this, consumers increasingly trust pharmacy-placed beauty products to deliver results. C-beauty brands build OTC playbooks Local brands are showing unusual speed and precision in locking down pharmacy distribution. “Chinese brands can sign with national, or regional chains in a fraction of the time it takes global companies to go through HQ approvals,” Wu says. “Local pharmacies are one of the few places where C-beauty leads rather than follows.” Anaïs Bournonville, CEO of China-focused agency AB Advisory, says: “The pharmacy channel aligns with C-beauty’s science-backed positioning and affordable pricing. Chinese consumers want visible results. These brands offer fast innovation cycles, local R&D, and address domestic skin concerns — something global brands often miss.” Adam Knight, cofounder of Chinese social commerce provider Yaso, says, “Pharmacy beauty here has surged from almost nothing into a multibillion-RMB category in just a few years. It’s one of the few beauty battlegrounds where C-beauty is setting the pace.” That head start isn’t accidental. Many Chinese brands are now building OTC-specific business units and recruiting talent directly from the pharma sector. Proya, a major domestic player, is hiring multiple OTC roles. Also, it has launched a medical-grade collagen patch, which is seen as a signal product to enter the channel. Though Proya has yet to confirm formal entry, its affiliated video account “Poyan” has featured endorsements from leading pharmacy chains like Jiuzhou and Kangbaikang. Pharmacies lend trust and clinical credibility Succeeding in pharmacies, however, requires a very different toolkit from traditional beauty retail, or live-streaming. “Pharmacy staff play a crucial role in influencing the customer,” Wu says. “You need to invest in frontline education and ensure that pharmacists and assistants understand your brand and product benefits.” Bournonville concurs: “Pharmacies in France often have medically retained staff giving advice. In China, that’s less institutionalized, so brands must supplement this through sales training and educational campaigns.” The pharmacy environment itself demands a different brand voice, less lifestyle, more clinical efficacy. “Being sold in a pharmacy, even if it's not prescription-only, gives you a credibility halo,” says Wu. “It automatically signals quality and safety.” Knight calls this the “white coat halo.” “Stocking in a pharmacy shifts consumer perception from domestic to quasi-medical,” he says. “That kind of trust is hard to replicate online.” Pharmacy beauty is not plug-and-play Though pharmacy beauty in China is scaling rapidly, it’s still nascent. Total retail pharmacy skincare sales hit 2.27 billion RMB ($316 million) last year, up 56% YoY, reports The Zhongkang Technology Consumer Research Center, in collaboration with Winona, has jointly released the White Paper on Functional Skincare Trends in China's Retail Pharmacies. Winona claimed over 42% market share, with sales of 960 million RMB ($133 million) across 129,000 stores. Kefumei followed with 467 million RMB ($65 million). Given that pharmacy retail still serves less than a fifth of the total market, the upside is enormous. This could be seen also as a structural turning point for China’s beauty industry. “E-commerce and social retail will remain dominant,” says Knight, “but pharmacy will become the third strategic pillar. Winona’s already in 100,000-plus doors and looking to double that.” Yet, execution isn’t simple. “China’s pharmacy retail is highly fragmented,” Bournonville says. “Thousands of independents and regional chains make national scale difficult. It’s not like France, where a unified network gives you wide access once you are in.” Moreover, the presence of over 1,500 beauty brands already competing for shelf space, many through gray market, or supplier-led channels, makes standing out difficult. ”Pharmacy isn’t plug-and-play,” Knight adds. “It’s a slow-burn, relationship-driven channel. Pricing must be disciplined. If you are selling the same product at half the price online, you lose pharmacy credibility.” How big is the opportunity? Structural tailwinds are also favoring the pharmacy push. In 2024, China’s Ministry of Commerce encouraged non-pharmaceutical products in drugstores, providing regulatory cover for beauty expansion. With over 4 billion pharmacy loyalty members and a skincare penetration rate of just 0.5%, the potential for expansion is significant. Some estimate a 100 billion RMB ($13.9 billion) opportunity if China reaches Japan’s 20% beauty-in-pharmacy ratio. For brands, success will depend on five critical pillars: brand power, product innovation, scientific credibility, distribution ability, and in-store activation. Already, names like Winona and Kefumei are developing mini-programs to replicate the pharmacy experience online, bridging OMO (online-merge-offline) into medical-grade skincare. Wu sees this as a uniquely Chinese advantage: “Digital integration is accelerating adoption. You can now buy skincare through pharmacy mini-programs and get it delivered within hours through platforms like Ele.me. That’s something you just don’t see in the West.” Will pharmacies create the next C-beauty giant? For C-beauty brands facing saturating online channels and rising customer acquisition costs, pharmacies offer a rare combination: scale, trust, and incremental demand. But they also demand a reorientation toward clinical storytelling, B2B training, and long-term relationship building. ”This won’t replace e-commerce or social retail,” Wu says. “But in categories like sensitive skin, post-procedure care, and baby skincare, it’s becoming a core pillar.” Pharmacy is where C-beauty gets to play offense, not defense.

The white coat effect: C-beauty’s pharmacy power play

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Published July 31, 2025

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The white coat effect: C-beauty’s pharmacy power play