Thailand's OPNP to capitalise on colour cosmetics sector

Manufacturer and distributor of Oriental Princess beauty products, OP Natural Products (OPNP), expects sales will rise by 14% to baht 2.1bn this year, according to ceo Pasana, who added the better than expected first quarter sales of baht 634m were well above the target of baht 520m. The company appreciates the current economic downturn has affected customers and made them become more careful with their spending, therefore ONOP plans to attract them with a variety of promotions this year. The company's marketing budget will remain at baht 300m.

In an interview Intratip said: "We plan to invest baht 90m to add 31 new outlets, bringing its total to 272 nationwide. And as our outlets already cover all parts of Bangkok, we aim to expand aggressively to upcountry to increase our sales.” Upcountry sales in 2007 were 46% of the total baht 1.85bn, up 40% in 2006 and 30% in 2005.

The company will introduce 300 products this year, about half of them make-up products, which saw 56% sales growth last year. “We believe that continuously introducing new products to the market will help to boost our sales, especially cosmetic products, since customers tend to buy cosmetics based on the variety of choice. If they like the colour, they will just buy it. They don't always stick with brands,” Intratip added. “Last year, make-up rose to 30% of OPNP's total sales, compared to 20% in 2005, helped by new product launches, and we expect this to reach 35% this year, while the proportion of skin care products is forecast to drop to 35% from 40% as the company shifts promotion to cosmetics.

The Oriental Princess brand is positioned as a midmarket brand to customers wanting to shift to higher end brands but at affordable prices.