Shiseido Group, a leading cos¬metics brand based in Japan, has made Thailand a hub for expanding the group's flagship brands in the Southeast Asia market.
The company has strong ambitions to beat Elca (Estee Lauder) to become the leader in the cosmetics and skincare market in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia within three years with its Shiseido, Cle de Peau, Beaute and NARS brands.
Yamada Masato, who became the managing director of Shiseido (Thailand) in May, said the Thai market had high potential. Yesterday, the company rolled out its new retail cosmetics counter.
"I will make efforts with Shiseido [Thailand]'s team members to make Shiseido one of the Asian giants in Thailand," he said.
Masato said the key goal set by Shiseido headquarters in Japan was to make the Shiseido Group a leading player in the cosmetics market in Southeast Asia. Thailand would play a vital role in achieving this as it is an important cosmetics market and because of its central location in the region.
"We will focus on flagship cosmetics brands within the Shiseido Group, which are Shiseido, Cle de Peau, Beaute and NARS, with a clear target to become the leader in Thailand's cosmetics market within three years in term of corporate share," he said.
"Shiseido is already the leader in the departmentstore channel. However, in terms of corporate share, the company is in second place behind Elca, while L'Oreal is third," Masato said.
He said the company would put more focus on penetrating the "masstige" market, which has been recognised as potential customers with high spending power and demanding quality goods. These "masstige" consumers have an average monthly income of between Bt35,000 and Bt80,000 and represent about 17 per cent of the total population of Thailand.
He added that another 5 per cent of the Thai population were "prestige" consumers, who have an average monthly income of Bt80,000 and above.
"Despite being challenged by political turmoil, Thailand has been recognised by the company as a big potential cosmetics market with tremendous business opportunities. This is because Thailand itself is quite outstanding in terms of economy, social habits, fashion and geography. We, Shiseido, will more aggressively expand our business in Thailand," Masato said.
"We anticipate Thailand's overall economy to improve significantly in the second half of this year as the government has projected this year's GDP [growth] to reach between 3.9 and 4.5 per cent. Foreign tourists are also coming back to the country. The company expects to grow by double digits every year for the next three years," Masato said.