Shiseido insists on being different

Japan Shiseido had already entered China more than 20 years ago, but it was not until last year that it set up a real Chinese headquarters in Shanghai and co-ordinated companies in China. In the eyes of Chinese consumers, Shiseido’s high status relies heavily on “voluntary stores” to promote its performance in China. Shiseido’s mavericks in China are based on considerations

Profit Center is China

After the beginning of autumn in Guangzhou, the weather still does not diminish its enthusiasm. At the Shiseido Beauty Center on the 5th floor of Tianhe City Square in the landmark shopping mall of Tianhe, Saiteng Tadao, dressed in a suit, accepted our interview. The joke has been flying more than 80 times in China since the beginning of the year. Saito Tatsuhisa has become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of China because it is his duty as the representative representative of Shiseido China.

It is not difficult to see Shiseido’s thriving expectations for the Chinese market during Saitama's busy business flight. If the 2005 annual report of Shiseido is turned over, the word “China” is full of meaning that it has shown China As the most critical profit market. In the past, this market was referring to the United States. When we asked Saito Tatsumi "When will China surpass the United States to become Shiseido's largest overseas market", he replied: "Maybe this year."

This year is indeed a key year for Shiseido. In February, the Shiseido Board of Directors convened a special meeting to appoint a younger Maeda Shinzo as the president; in addition to the “early retirement reward plan”, Shiseido presents itself to the industry as a pragmatic and international player. The determination of competition.

In the “Three-year Improvement of Profit Plan” that began in April 2005, the Chinese market was mentioned as an important position. “Expanding and Accelerating Chinese Business” has become the second of the four major reform projects, and the first one is “Reform Japan "Marketing Behavior", Articles 3 and 4 are "Adjustment Cost Structure" and "Reorganization Organization and Personnel Structure." According to its recently released fiscal year report, sales in China are increasing at a rate of as high as 33% each year. It is no wonder that the Chinese market has become not only the top priority in the Asia-Pacific region, but also the Shiseido global top priority market. .

Confident to win the competition

Faced with global competition, Shiseido, with its 133-year history, began an unprecedented and almost earth-shaking reform. Maeda's new mission is to upgrade Shiseido as a highly competitive global brand. At this time, Saitama Sato's mission to expand Shiseido's business in China has become even more urgent.

According to Saito Saito, the current Shiseido companies in China include Beijing-based Liyuan Cosmetics Co., Ltd., which is mainly responsible for the production of the Aupel Lai products; Zhuo Duozi CITIC Cosmetics Co., Ltd. in Shanghai is mainly responsible for the production of Za and other products; Shiseido Beijing. The Institute is responsible for research and development; DCH, a joint venture company in Hong Kong, is responsible for managing the Shiseido business in Sui, Hong Kong, and Macau. The Shiseido China Investment Co., Ltd., which was established last year, has become Shiseido’s headquarters in China in a true sense. Coordinating and promoting the operations of various companies and giving play to their respective functions is the umbrella of Shiseido’s umbrella corporate structure in China. Saito Tadao, who has been the Managing Director of Shiseido since 1999, is the head of this umbrella.

The large capacity of the Chinese cosmetics market has become the target market for many companies and brands. According to relevant data, by 2010, this market will have a total sales volume of more than 100 billion yuan. Who can more dig into this piece of cake, it is not only a rich income, but also the status of the industry. Faced with numerous competitors, including European and American and South Korean, and even Chinese domestic brands, Saito Tadao admits that there is no fear of competition, because they do not regard a specific brand as their own competition, but always put the customer close to the customer. Demand comes first. If you really want to talk about competition, that is, who can understand the customer the most in place, who is the strong competition.

Shiseido’s confidence in this area is sufficient, because they are Asian brands, and they understand the Asian market and their customers’ situation well. In addition to their research advantages, they not only study the characteristics of the Chinese skin, but also the Water quality, humidity, temperature difference, climate and other environmental factors have been studied for a long time, and the products can be close to the needs of Chinese consumers. Among them, Oupo Lai is the masterpiece of Shiseido's efforts in China. For the Chinese market, the only brand produced and sold in China is Shiseido's R&D product that lasted more than two years. Within a few short years after the launch of the market, Oupo Lai’s counters in China were Has reached more than 300, this brand also won the throne of China's best-selling joint venture cosmetics. It seems that Shiseido's "market-oriented" strategy is very successful. It is only one of the skins suitable for the Chinese people. Production and sales in China have reduced the cost and finally gained an advantage in the price level. This is also the way to win Opal. At this time, Shiseido took It seems reasonable to invest most of the money for advertising promotion to Opal, not to Shiseido.

Stores are promising

Compared to product strategies, Shiseido plans to expand cosmetics stores even more. This is the most crucial battle of Shiseido's 2008 "Three-Year Plan."

Prior to July 2004, customers had to purchase Shiseido products mainly through Shiseido counters and Opelai counters located in major department stores. However, with the establishment of Zhejiang Shiseido's first cosmetics store (also known as a voluntary store) in Zhejiang in July 2004, Shiseido’s channels for selling products began to widen rapidly.

Shiseido's specialty store is a way to sell Shiseido products by searching for existing cosmetics stores and signing contracts to create a section of the cosmetics store. Shiseido not only provides products to the shop, but also provides a series of trainings such as beauty knowledge, services, product display, etc., as well as regular visits to the stores and technical guidance, and strives to maintain the quality of such stores.

Shiseido has a certain market position and image in the cosmetics industry in China. Will it take so much energy to open up its stores to self-devaluation? Regarding this frequently asked question, Saito Tadao's answer is negative. “There are more and more Chinese consumers wanting to buy our products, but in China we used to only sell products at major department stores. In order to meet demand, we started to promote stores in second- and third-tier cities last year. So far, the number of specialty stores nationwide has reached more than 500, and in 2008 it will be 5,000 and account for half of Shiseido’s total sales in China.” He added, “Shiseido’s international products and Opal In the department store counter sales, the products of the store are produced and sold by Shiseido in Asia. There will be no conflict between the two.”

In fact, the form of the store was a system that Shiseido started in Japan in 1923. It has now become one of Shiseido's major sales channels. In 2003, the number of stores reached 25,000. The suspicion in China's implementation is because the overall quality of Chinese cosmetics stores is not high, and consumers have insufficient confidence in them. Saito Tadao is very sure: "We will choose to be consistent with our culture, philosophy, and enthusiastic to serve the customer's franchisee, in time, after our professional, systematic training, the quality of the store will have a rapid Improve the quality of the whole cosmetics store industry in China.

At this point, what Shiseido thinks is not so simple as seizing the market. Obviously, nurturing the market and increasing social identity have become the necessary measures and steps for its efforts to take root in China.