Amorepacific, the Korean beauty giant, has partnered with China Duty Free Group (CDFG) in a bid to boost its travel retail business.
The partnership will see Amorepacific and CDFG support each other's mutual growth through new stores and the expansion of new brands in the rapidly changing duty free market, as well as investing in marketing and digital transformation to offer an enhanced experience to its local customers.
In particular, it will focus on the Chinese province of Hainan, which is said to be recovering quickly from the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic with triple digit sales growth, and will see the companies develop a team tailored for the Hainan market to meet customer demand.
Saehong Ahn, President of Amorepacific, said: "Amorepacific is keenly observing the rapidly changing travel retail market and lifestyle of travel retail customers all around the world.
"Thus, it is responding in both online and offline retail channels to provide the best quality service and product.
“This partnership with leading global travel retailer CDFG will help us better understand Chinese customers, boost synergy between both companies and raise our brand awareness in the Chinese travel retail market with strong growth potential."
The partnership builds on Amorepacific and CDFG's existing relationship, with four of the K-beauty giant's brands – Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree and Primera – operating more than 80 stores through CDFG's retail network.
Charles Chen, CDFG President, added: "We are delighted to enter into our strategic partnership with Korea's no1 beauty company Amorepacific.
“We are pathfinders in the Chinese travel retail industry and in particular, through close cooperation with Amorepacific over the past ten years for Hainan tourism and economic development, we have grown into the largest travel retailer in China and a leader in the global travel retail industry.
“We are looking forward to continuing our strong partnership with Amorepacific for better customer experience in the field of beauty and lifestyle."
While the duty free market has struggled in recent months as Covid-19 travel restrictions impact customer spending, the Chinese travel retail sector is forecast for growth thanks to high domestic demand and support from local authorities, according to CDFG.
Today, the company operates more than 240 duty free stores across China through partnerships with almost 1,000 global brands.