Retail channels
On November 30, Superdrug, a veteran British skincare retailer, officially announced the launch of Superdrug Marketplace, a third-party e-commerce platform, and signed contracts with more than 300 brands.
Recently, PureH2B, a subsidiary of Robust Medical, announced that it will close all offline stores before December 31, 2022, focusing on online business. PureH2B is a collection store brand founded by Robust Medical in 2019, covering multiple categories such as beauty and personal care, food, home, and sports. At present, there are only four stores left in Shenzhen, Wuhan and Chongqing, while WeChat Mini Programs will remain open.
Investment firm Silverwood has acquired a 19.8% stake in international beauty retailer Lush for around £217 million. Prior to this, Silverwood also acquired a 90% issued stake in Japanese skincare maker Sonotas Holdings.
A few days ago, European beauty retailer Douglas released its fourth-quarter financial report, showing that total sales in 2022 reached 3.65 billion euros, an increase of 17% over the previous year and an increase of about 6% from before the epidemic. The company added that operating profit rose by €18.2 million to €45.8 million in the fourth quarter and adjusted EBITDA rose to 5.7% from 3.7% in the previous year. Of this, the e-commerce segment contributed around €1.2 billion, doubling online sales compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Authoritative release
On November 29, the General Department of the State Food and Drug Administration issued a notice on publicly soliciting opinions on the Provisions on the Supervision and Administration of Enterprises' Implementation of Cosmetics Quality and Safety Subject Responsibilities (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the Draft Comments). The Draft Opinions clearly explain the responsibilities and obligations of cosmetics responsible entities, key positions in quality and safety, and exemptions from administrative penalties, and the public consultation period ends December 9.
On December 7, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Guidelines for the Enforcement of Absolute Advertising Terms (Draft for Comments) to solicit public comments. The Draft mentions that absolute terms refer to terms such as "national", "superlative" and "best" as stipulated in Article 9(3) of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China. The issuance of this enforcement guide will also make a detailed division of absolute terms used in advertising content, and will no longer be one-size-fits-all.
Brands and industries
Recently, fragrance brand ELOREA completed a $2 million seed round led by CJ Investment, a subsidiary of CJ Group, the parent company of Korean beauty retailer Olive Young. Previously, the brand raised $750,000.
Recently, Indonesian beauty brand ESQA raised $6 million in its Series A financing, led by Unilever Ventures, the venture capital arm of Unilever, with the participation of East Ventures, a well-known Indonesian investment fund.
Recently, Shenzhen Tiantu Investment Management Co., Ltd. has passed the hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and disclosed the information set after the hearing after November 29, with JPMorgan Chase and Huatai International acting as joint sponsors.
Recently, Chinese cross-border brand management company "Jingtong Enterprise Co., Ltd. Able View Inc. (hereinafter referred to as Able View)" announced that it has entered into a business combination agreement with Hainan Manaslu Acquisition Corp., a Nasdaq special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with the United States, which is expected to complete a backdoor listing in the first half of 2023, and the equity valuation of the combined company is expected to be approximately US$400 million.
Recently, according to Adobe, a retailer's website sales data tracking and analysis company, during this year's "Black Friday", US consumers spent a record $9.12 billion on online shopping, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year.
On Thanksgiving, the day before Black Friday, consumers spent $5.29 billion online, also a record high, up 2.9% year-on-year.
According to user data, Taobao Tmall body care GMV data collected from October 2021 to October 2022 shows that the total GMV of body care from November last year to October this year was about 7.815 billion. In the past year, the monthly GMV has hovered between 300 million and 900 million, and last November's direct increase was several times higher than usual, and last November's sales reached 1.683 billion. GMV in October this year increased by 41.2% year-on-year to 935 million compared with October last year, indicating that the demand for body care market is rising steadily.
In the 2022.10MAT body care subcategory, body cream/cream accounted for 78.58%, and body care oil accounted for 6.45%.
Recently, Revance Therapeutics announced that the FDA approved the anti-wrinkle injection Daxxify for marketing. Daxxify is a next-generation neuromodulator containing stable peptide formulations and highly purified botulinum toxin type A, and is the first approved long-acting peptide formulation neuromodulator currently on the market.
Data show that the scale of China's light medical cosmetology market has increased from 30.8 billion in 2016 to 77.3 billion in 2020, with a growth rate of 150%, and non-surgical aesthetic medicine accounted for 49.9% of China's medical cosmetology market in 2020, and it is predicted that the proportion will further expand to 63.7% by 2030.
Recently, Indian DTC beauty brand Ayurveda raised $15 million in its Series A financing, and well-known Indian actress Kajal Aggarwal participated in this round of financing.
On November 26, Japanese beauty device brand Yameng announced its main financial data report for May to October 2022. During the reporting period, Yameng's consolidated net profit increased 62% year-on-year to 4.5 billion yen, 1.6 billion yen higher than previously expected and a record high. Operating income rose 27% to JPY 26.5 billion, 4.5 billion yen higher than previous expectations.
Recently, to this official announcement of the new makeup brand "Yanyi". Yanyi and Zhiben are both independent brands, but they both belong to the same company, which means that Zhiben's parent company, Chengmu Group, has officially entered the field of color cosmetics.
Recently, Guangzhou Larami Information Technology Co., Ltd., an agent operator of beauty brands such as "Avène" and "Beyoncé", received feedback from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on the IPO. The feedback mainly included a total of 29 questions, including normative issues, information disclosure issues, issues related to financial and accounting information and other issues.
On November 23, Shanxi Jinbo Biomedical Co., Ltd. issued an announcement that the company applied to resume the review of public offering of shares and listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange.
On December 4, Shanghai Chicmax Cosmetic Co., Ltd., a Shanghai company from Shanghai, disclosed its prospectus after passing the hearing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, or will soon be listed on the main board of Hong Kong. It earlier filed a prospectus on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 5.
According to customs statistics, in the first 11 months of this year, the total value of China's imports and exports was 38.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% over the same period last year.
Among them, beauty cosmetics and toiletries imported 34,427.9 tons in November, down 14.26% compared with the same period last year; The import value was 12.57 billion yuan, down 11.54% year-on-year. From the month-on-month trend, the tonnage of imports has been on a downward trend since August, and the amount of imports that have been growing this month has also declined. Among them, tonnage decreased by 3.4% month-on-month and value decreased by 16.4% month-on-month.
On December 1, luxury e-commerce group Farfetch updated its forecast for fiscal 2023 GMV of US$4.9 billion and is expected to double to US$10 billion in 2025, but the group's third-quarter performance was poor, with total GMV falling 4.9% year-on-year to US$967 million, gross margin of 44.9%, and after-tax loss of US$275 million, and capital markets are pessimistic about new expectations.
Recently, KENZO issued a store closure announcement, announcing that its official Tmall flagship store will be closed at 23:59 on December 30, 2022. The announcement said that after the closure, KENZO will continue to serve consumers in the Chinese Sephora channel.
According to British media "Industry" reported on December 6, The Ordinary, an affordable beauty brand known for its "cheap big bowl", announced that it will stop producing all its brand's makeup products in the new year.
According to news, American niche hair care brand Dae Hair has received $8 million in Series A financing. The financing was led by Verity Venture Partners, with participation from Digital Brand Architects, Whitney Port, Aimee Song, Christine Andrew and existing investor Willow Growth Partners.
Recently, the Fengxian District Administration for Market Supervision released an administrative penalty information, showing that Nuxin (China) Daily Health Products Co., Ltd. was fined 3.7 million yuan for "engaging in direct selling activities without approval", including 3 million yuan of illegal sales proceeds and a fine of 700,000 yuan.
On December 14, facial service provider Heyday announced it had raised $12 million in funding, led by Level 5 Capital Partners. This round of funds will be used for franchise business, including marketing investment and back-end services. At the same time, Heyday will also invest in its first private label products, which are expected to be used exclusively in Heyday services by the second quarter of 2023.
On December 14, Bai Xinglong, a cosmetics packaging materials manufacturer, was listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange under the stock code (833075), issuing 12,314,850 shares (including over-allotment) online at an issue price of 11.8 yuan per share.
Coty Group announced agreements with several banks to initiate a hedging program of approximately $200 million share repurchase, which will take place in fiscal 2025, and expects strong free cash flow growth.
A few days ago, Kao Group launched the men's grooming brand "UNLICS". It is worth noting that UNLICS is the first new brand launched by Kao Beauty Brands, a beauty division of Kao Group, and the first beauty brand of Kao Group to focus on male consumers.
According to the official website of the Food and Drug Administration, Dong'a Ejiao Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Yanzhiya Sino Food Co., Ltd. respectively completed the filing of new raw materials for "donkey milk powder" and "bird's nest peptide".
On December 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released retail sales data for consumer goods in November 2022. In November, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,861.5 billion yuan, down 5.9% year-on-year; From January to November, the total retail sales of consumer goods were 3.9919 billion yuan, down 0.1% year-on-year.
In terms of cosmetics-related data, in November, the total retail sales of cosmetics were 56.2 billion yuan, down 4.6% year-on-year; Total retail sales of cosmetics from January to November were 365.2 billion yuan, down 3.1% year-on-year.
According to users, Q3 makeup resumed, Taobao Tmall in the third quarter segment of the market with the highest market size is still facial makeup. Among them, the more eye-catching category perfume/perfume products rose from 1.234 billion yuan in Q2 to 1.932 billion yuan in Q3, an increase of 56.56% month-on-month, in addition, the market share of perfume exceeded 20%, second only to the lipstick category, and the overall market size rose rapidly.
A few days ago, the country's largest beauty salon chain brand "Beautiful Garden" passed the hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it is only one step away from ringing the bell to go public. This means that Meiyuan has successfully won the "first share of beauty salons". According to the prospectus, Meilitianyuan now has 352 stores with a total revenue of 5.4 billion yuan in 3 and a half years, ranking first in the traditional beauty service industry in terms of revenue in 2021.
On December 22, 2022, Shanghai Shangmei Cosmetics Co., Ltd. was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code "02145.HK", offering 36.958 million shares worldwide. Shanghai Mei shares opened at HK$25.20 per share, with a total market value of HK$10 billion.
According to the "2022 Big Engine Beauty White Paper" released by Big Compute and Euromonitor Euromonitor, in 2021, among the various sub-categories of skin care in China, the top three categories in market size are cream lotions, essences and masks, of which the cream and lotion market size reached 95.63 billion yuan, the largest skin care category.
On December 20, professional beauty brand "NYX" launched its new Spring 2023 collection on Roblox. The collection can be interacted with in the "NYX Professional Makeup Home" located on the platform iHeartLand. Users will have the opportunity to collect limited-edition cosmetics for their game characters while exploring the house, which features a peacock DJ.
According to BEAUTY PACKAGING, a jury in California recently ordered Natura & Co.'s Avon Company to pay punitive damages of $10.3 million (about 71.7962 million yuan) to a 76-year-old female consumer, Rita Chapman.
A few days ago, Revlon, a US cosmetics group on the verge of bankruptcy, issued a statement saying that it has reached a restructuring agreement with major creditors, will transfer ownership of the company to its lenders, and provide $44 million to unsecured creditors, as long as a buyer with a high bid high enough to repay nearly $3 billion of debt appears, but the agreement will not take effect until it is approved by a US bankruptcy judge on April 3 next year.
Recently, Japanese daily chemical giant Lion King launched a new DTC fragrance brand By me, users can customize the scent of fabric softener and clothing spray according to their preferences, while the website provides "by me AI diagnosis" to recommend scents for people through a unique algorithm.
Recently, the British investment company "Silverwood Brands" announced the acquisition of Japanese cosmetics manufacturer "Sonotas", respectively acquiring 90% of its "Sonotas Holdings" and 100% of "Sonotas Corporation".
According to the "Online Makeup Market Review in the Third Quarter of 2022", the market size of facial makeup in Q3 increased from 4.062 billion yuan in Q2 to 4.404 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 31.7% of the entire makeup market, becoming the largest category in the Taobao Tmall makeup market in the third quarter. According to iResearch's "China Beauty and Skin Care Industry Investment Research Report", China's facial makeup market will grow steadily with a growth rate of more than 6% in the future, and it is expected that the market size will exceed 45.2 billion yuan by 2025, further consolidating the market position of the Red Sea.
Recently, the Tianyancha App shows that the operating status of the well-known Korean cosmetics brand THE FACE SHOP has been changed from existence to cancellation, and the reason for cancellation is the merger or separation of the company.
Recently, Chongqing Dengkang Oral Care Products Co., Ltd., the parent company of Cold Acid Ling, updated its prospectus and intends to be listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
E-commerce platforms
According to data from Kuaishou E-commerce 116 Heart Shopping Festival, during the 116 period (October 20-November 11), the number of e-commerce short video orders increased significantly, with a year-on-year increase of more than 515%. The number of buyers increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and the number of search orders increased by more than 70% year-on-year. Among them, the fast brand performed outstandingly, with GMV increasing by more than 80% year-on-year.
On December 19, Alibaba announced its interim report for fiscal year 2023. It was disclosed that for the first six months ended September 30, 2022, Alibaba's revenue was RMB412.731 billion, up 2% year-on-year. During the reporting period, the company achieved an operating profit of RMB 50.080 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%. Net loss was RMB2,169 million, compared to a net profit of RMB46,212 million for the same period in 2021.
Since its launch in September, shopping site Temu has seen a sharp rise in popularity in the United States. The e-commerce platform, which sells ultra-low-priced goods made in China, has made Shanghai-based parent company Pinduoduo the latest Chinese company to succeed in the U.S. market.
International conglomerates
On November 28, L'Occitane released its interim results. For the six months ended September 30, 2022, net sales of €901 million, an increase of 29.3% year-on-year; Profit attributable to shareholders was 61.832 million euros, an increase of 3.2% year-on-year; Basic earnings per share amounted to €0.042.
Recently, P&G's pure beauty brand Snowberry closed its official Tmall store, and platforms such as JD.com and Taobao also began to sell discounted products, and its official Weibo account was last updated in August 2021, and the brand may have withdrawn from the Chinese market. According to reports, Snowberry was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2018, entered the Chinese market in 2019, and had sales of nearly 30 million yuan in 2020.
According to news, the Japanese high-end skin care brand TAKAMI acquired by L'Oreal Group last year is about to officially enter the Chinese offline market, and will open three consecutive stores in Chengdu SKP, Hangzhou Wulin Yintai and Hangzhou Hubin Yintai IN77 from December 30 to January 1 next year, expanding its business territory from online to offline.
Tax Free Dynamics
On December 21, according to Haikou customs data, from December 13 to 19, the amount of duty-free shopping on Hainan's outlying islands exceeded 100 million yuan for seven consecutive days, and the duty-free consumer market on outlying islands gradually "picked up". According to statistics, from January to November this year, Haikou Customs supervised a total of 32.2 billion yuan in duty-free sales on outlying islands, 45.94 million pieces, and 3.9 million shopping tourists.