Japan
www.shiseido.com

Sales: $8.9 billion

Key Personnel: Masahiko Uotani, president and chief executive officer; Jean-Philippe Charrier, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido Asia Pacific; Franck Marilly, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido EMEA; Shigekazu Sugiyama, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido Japan; Masahiko Uotani, chief executive officer, Shiseido Group; Marc Rey, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido Americas; Kentaro Fujiwara, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido China; Philippe Leané, president and chief executive officer, Shiseido Travel Retail.

Major Products: Skin care, color cosmetics, sun care, fragrances and toiletries. Prestige—Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beauté, BareMinerals, Buxom, Nars, IPSA, Laura Mercier, Benefique; Fragrances—Dolce & Gabbana, Issey Miyake and Narciso Rodriguez; Cosmetics—Elixir, Maquillage, Haku, Prior, Anessa, Aqualabel, Integrate, D Program, Aupres, Urara, Pure & Mild, Za; Personal Care—Senka, Tsubaki, Sea Breeze; Professional—Shiseido and Joico; Technology—MatchCo. (acquired in 2017).

New Products: Pico cosmetics, IoT*1 skin care, Giaran (acquisition), Amazon Alexa Skill.

Comments: Sales rose in every market topping one trillion yen and operating income more than doubled. By category, prestige brands such as Shiseido, Cié de Peau Beauté and Nars, accounted for 42% of sales. Cosmetics (Elixir, Haku and Prior) were next at 30%. Fragrances, like Dolce & Gabbana and Issey Miyake, represented 11% of sales; and personal care (shampoos, body care) was 9%. Finally, professional products were 5% of sales. By business segment, Japan represented 42.9% of sales; followed by China (14.3%), Americas (14.0%), EMEA (12.8%), Asia Pacific (5.4%), travel retail (4.4%), professional (4.3%) and other (1.4%). Last October, Shiseido sold Zotos to Henkel.

Like many other players in the International Top 30, Shiseido puts its plans for the future in writing. To speed up sales growth, the company is accelerating digitalization and developing new businesses, and generating new value through innovation.

The new 3-year plan, Vision 2020, calls for sales topping ¥1.2 trillion (CAGR 8%), with operating income over ¥120 billion and return on investment of 14% or higher. Plans for Japan include domestic and international agendas. For Japan, it means focusing on three skin-related core brands; expanding and enhancing contact points; and attracting the young and the second baby-boomer generation. Inbound strategies include: cross-border marketing; multiple touch points; multilingual support at stores; an increase of 10% or more vs. the previous year.

In China, the plan calls for accelerating the growth of the prestige business, expanding into tier 3 and tier 4 cities and reinforcing e-commerce. The end game is to boost sales 4% or more (like for like) year-after-year. For the cosmetics business, 2020 means reinforcing Aupres’ sustainable growth; improving profitability of Za and Pure&Mild; and expanding brand awareness for Elixir and Anessa.

In the Americas, Vision 2020 means lifting digital sales; aggressive growth of makeup brands; strict control cost and resource allocation to deliver better profitability; and adapting the team in size, skill and agility to embrace the future. The goal should boost CAGR 2%, according to Shiseido.

EMEA’s Vision 2020 plan is to expand fragrance growth; reinforce Shiseido brand equity in skin care; enhance the company’s presence in makeup; and optimize integrated organizations for a CAGR +9%. Plans in Asia call for expanding contact points with consumers through omni-channel acceleration, establishing a cosmetics/personal care brand portfolio, and accelerating e-commerce growth. As in EMEA, the goal is to create a CAGR of +9%.

Finally, through 2020, Shiseido aims to become a top 4 player in the travel retail business, making the moves necessary to boost compound annual growth of 20%. To get there, Shiseido will drive multi-brand growth with the addition of IPSA, Laura Mercier and other brands; advance travel-centric, innovative marketing; and expand sales through retail excellence capabilities.

Looking even further ahead, Shiseido’s goal is to become a top 3 player in the global prestige cosmetics market by 2030, with net sales of more than ¥2 trillion and operating income over ¥300 billion.

These efforts come as economic conditions in Japan continued to slowly improve and consumer spending was up on improvements in employment, according to Shiseido. The domestic cosmetics market was bolstered by the underlying recovery trend as well as increased demand from the growing number of overseas visitors to Japan. In international cosmetics markets, overall growth in Europe was slow, as the growth conditions vary from country to country. The Americas experienced slow expansion, while China and other Asian markets continued to record steady growth.

In January, 2018, Shiseido resumed its acquisitions, purchasing the Second Skin technology of Olivo Laboratories, LLC. Olivo’s patented technology creates a flexible artificial skin which delivers immediate skin rejuvenation results.

In the first quarter, sales increased 12.8%. The prestige category achieved significant global growth, and Shiseido said it actively engaged in cross-border marketing aimed mainly at Chinese consumers throughout Asia. Sales were up in nearly every region: Japan (+17%), China (+124.8%), Asia-Pacific (+16.1%), EMEA (+11.7%) and travel retail (44.3%). The Americas posted a decline, falling 1.1% and sales in the professional segment tumbled 55.4%. For 2018, Shiseido expects sales to rise 2.8%, operating income to jump 11.9% and net income to soar 137.4%.