“We have high expectations from the Indian market,” said Lee. “While we have a very strong partnership with Nykaa, we are now also building profound partnerships with Tata, Reliance, and other multibrand retailers like Lifestyle and Sephora.” The cosmetics and beauty giant is also in the final stages of signing distribution contracts for its Laneige products in Sephora stores.
The company currently has 80 multibrand outlets in India and plans to take this count to 240 in the next 3–4 years, according to Lee.
The plan to expand its footprint through multibrand outlets is in contrast to the company’s earlier strategy to open exclusive stores. It has shut down about 20 exclusive outlets and currently has just two in the Delhi-NCR region.
Lee also said that plans to roll out more exclusive stores are on hold. “That is because we believe the trend of offline as a channel of beauty has shifted to multibrand concepts, similar to what we see in the West.”
“In India, we are also seeing a shift from what used to be a Nykaa-dominated market, both online and offline. Today, the likes of Tata CLiQ Palette, Reliance’s Tira, and big retailers Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle are expanding rapidly,” he said.
India contributes less than 5% of Amorepacific’s group sales. But Lee said that its business is growing nearly 25% every year. Lee expects this growth to slow down to 15% due to intense competition from both local and international brands, but that is still higher than the industry’s growth.
About $15.8 billion worth of cosmetics were sold in India in 2020, the seventh largest market in the world, according to Euromonitor.
The market researcher expects the country to be among the top five, with volume pegged to grow 8.3% to touch $21.6 billion by 2024.
Other than tapping the stores of local retailers, Amorepacific has also unveiled a new look for Innisfree to mark its 10th anniversary. “The rebrand also includes a refreshed website and much-awaited new product updates,” said Lee. It has introduced a new tagline that embodies the brand’s commitment to embracing nature and pioneering healthy beauty.
