ID :
23353
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 10:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23353
The shortlink copeid
L'OCCITANE HAS BIG PLANS FOR M'SIAN MART
By M. Saraswathi
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- L'Occitane, a well-known skin care and well-being brand among beauty buffs with a passion for nature, has not felt any slowdown in business despite the current bearish sentiment.
In fact, it has bigger plans for the Malaysian market and the region
as it sees tremendous growth potential.
Hailing from Provence, France, L'Occitane opened its first boutique in
Suria KLCC, a shopping mall here, in 2003. Now, there are 14 boutiques in
Malaysia.
"By end of L'Occitane's fiscal year ending March, 2009, we will have 15
boutiques in Malaysia and over the next three to five years we can open another
five or 10 boutiques," said its Asia-Pacific president Andre J. Hoffmann to
Bernama in an interview.
Being an ambitious company, L'Occitane would also want to be among the top
five natural-based skin care and well-being brand in Malaysia from the top 10th
position now.
Similarly, the number of its boutiques in the Asia-Pacific region, which
includes New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and India, will also expand to
between 310 and 315 by end of March 2009 from 275 as at end of August.
L'Occitane, he said, has a set of stringent criteria that it looks into
before opening a boutique, among others, location of the malls in which it plans
to open its new outlet.
"First, is obviously geographical coverage. We need to have the demand for
our products. We want to make sure we have the right environment, visibility and
traffic," he said.
L'Occitane also looks into financial perspective of the boutique,
especially a return on its investment, he said: "We will only move forward to
open a
store only when the location meets all the criteria."
Asked on the investment needed to set up a boutique, Andre said it
varied from one country to another but on the average it would be between
US$1,000 and US$2,000 per square metre.
"L'Occitane in Malaysia is quite special as the business grew sharply.
From 2004 to 2008, sales are up by between 40 and 45 per cent every year," he
said.
Sales in the region, which represents about 40 percent of the brand's
global sales, increased between 40 and 45 percent from 2004-2008, "so, Malaysia
is in line with the region's trend."
On its customer profile, Andre said 70 percent of its business in
Malaysia is repeat business with loyal clients via its exclusive membership,
while the remaining is walk-in customers, a healthy balance.
As for in Asia-Pacific, he said, repeat business accounted for between
60-70 percent throughout the region, with Malaysia on the high-end.
Among reasons for good demand for L'Occitane products are people
are more interested in natural ingredients, he said, adding that "there is a
marked shift to organic and quality products which L'Occitane is strong
at."
Besides, nature always has a competitive edge over science and
technology.
In the United States and Europe, organic food are more expensive than that
produced by using pesticides and chemicals.
"Consumers are prepared to a premium to organic food and in L'Occitane
products ingredients are traceable. We can tell consumers where exactly the
lavenders we use in the essential oil are sourced from," he said.
Even the papers and paper bags used by L'Occitane comes from wood grown in
sustainable forest, said Andre.
In fact, he said, even at the current economic environment, L'Occitane has
not experienced any slowdown in sales, be it in the Asia-Pacific region or in
Malaysia.
"I've to say all businesses are affected during times of economic crisis or
recession but with the type of growth we are experiencing in Malaysia and Asia-
Pacific, we've not felt the crisis at all, on the contrary with are getting new
customers."
"(Probably because), even when the economy is really bad, you still need to
take bath," he said in jest.
Though L'Occitane has an upper hand in nature-based skin care products,
it doesn't take for granted and continuously invest in research and development
(R&D) to further improve its existing products and introduce new ones.
L'Occitane invests between 2.5-3 percent of its global sales in
R&D.
L'Occitane, he said also conducts trainings and skin care workshops
to create awareness about skin care to its consumers.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- L'Occitane, a well-known skin care and well-being brand among beauty buffs with a passion for nature, has not felt any slowdown in business despite the current bearish sentiment.
In fact, it has bigger plans for the Malaysian market and the region
as it sees tremendous growth potential.
Hailing from Provence, France, L'Occitane opened its first boutique in
Suria KLCC, a shopping mall here, in 2003. Now, there are 14 boutiques in
Malaysia.
"By end of L'Occitane's fiscal year ending March, 2009, we will have 15
boutiques in Malaysia and over the next three to five years we can open another
five or 10 boutiques," said its Asia-Pacific president Andre J. Hoffmann to
Bernama in an interview.
Being an ambitious company, L'Occitane would also want to be among the top
five natural-based skin care and well-being brand in Malaysia from the top 10th
position now.
Similarly, the number of its boutiques in the Asia-Pacific region, which
includes New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and India, will also expand to
between 310 and 315 by end of March 2009 from 275 as at end of August.
L'Occitane, he said, has a set of stringent criteria that it looks into
before opening a boutique, among others, location of the malls in which it plans
to open its new outlet.
"First, is obviously geographical coverage. We need to have the demand for
our products. We want to make sure we have the right environment, visibility and
traffic," he said.
L'Occitane also looks into financial perspective of the boutique,
especially a return on its investment, he said: "We will only move forward to
open a
store only when the location meets all the criteria."
Asked on the investment needed to set up a boutique, Andre said it
varied from one country to another but on the average it would be between
US$1,000 and US$2,000 per square metre.
"L'Occitane in Malaysia is quite special as the business grew sharply.
From 2004 to 2008, sales are up by between 40 and 45 per cent every year," he
said.
Sales in the region, which represents about 40 percent of the brand's
global sales, increased between 40 and 45 percent from 2004-2008, "so, Malaysia
is in line with the region's trend."
On its customer profile, Andre said 70 percent of its business in
Malaysia is repeat business with loyal clients via its exclusive membership,
while the remaining is walk-in customers, a healthy balance.
As for in Asia-Pacific, he said, repeat business accounted for between
60-70 percent throughout the region, with Malaysia on the high-end.
Among reasons for good demand for L'Occitane products are people
are more interested in natural ingredients, he said, adding that "there is a
marked shift to organic and quality products which L'Occitane is strong
at."
Besides, nature always has a competitive edge over science and
technology.
In the United States and Europe, organic food are more expensive than that
produced by using pesticides and chemicals.
"Consumers are prepared to a premium to organic food and in L'Occitane
products ingredients are traceable. We can tell consumers where exactly the
lavenders we use in the essential oil are sourced from," he said.
Even the papers and paper bags used by L'Occitane comes from wood grown in
sustainable forest, said Andre.
In fact, he said, even at the current economic environment, L'Occitane has
not experienced any slowdown in sales, be it in the Asia-Pacific region or in
Malaysia.
"I've to say all businesses are affected during times of economic crisis or
recession but with the type of growth we are experiencing in Malaysia and Asia-
Pacific, we've not felt the crisis at all, on the contrary with are getting new
customers."
"(Probably because), even when the economy is really bad, you still need to
take bath," he said in jest.
Though L'Occitane has an upper hand in nature-based skin care products,
it doesn't take for granted and continuously invest in research and development
(R&D) to further improve its existing products and introduce new ones.
L'Occitane invests between 2.5-3 percent of its global sales in
R&D.
L'Occitane, he said also conducts trainings and skin care workshops
to create awareness about skin care to its consumers.
-- BERNAMA
