‘Drive for success’: British luxury brand ELEMIS bets on omnichannel strategy to secure bright future in APAC

Founded in 1990, ELEMIS is a prestige skin care brand often found in luxury spas and hotels across the world. In January 2019, the high-end brand was acquired by French beauty manufacturer and retailer L'Occitane Group for $900m.

The brand has been expanding its global footprint, aiming to tap into the new beauty concerns growing from the changing lifestyles and stresses today.

“We have always believed that wellness is a huge component of one’s lifestyle and other brands are finally catching on to this idea. We have been championing the idea of skin wellness before it became a hashtag through our use of natural ingredients, luxurious textures and layering rituals,” ​said Marc Gallagher, chief brand and digital officer.

At the start of June, ELEMIS announced that it has partnered with SEA e-commerce platform Lazada, choosing to make an online-focused debut in Singapore and Malaysia.

“ELEMIS globally has embraced a digital-first strategy to drive for success. When we set our sights on opening in Singapore and Malaysia, it was a natural evolution to team up with South East Asia’s leading e-commerce platform Lazada to showcase our award-winning premium skin care line,”​ said Gallagher.

Aside from Singapore and Malaysia, the brand is also available through e-commerce in Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

According to L'Occitane’s latest results, the focus on its online businesses – especially during the global pandemic – has paid off well.

The Hong Kong-listed company reported that its online channels outperformed and ended the 2021 financial year with impressive growth of 69.2%, accounting for 37.4% of total net sales.

Comparatively, the online channels accounted for 21.7% of total net sales In FY2020.

‘Anchored’ in e-commerce

However, Gallagher emphasised that the company believes that an omnichannel strategy is the future of retail with e-commerce at the core of its business.

“​We are looking towards the future with a robust omnichannel strategy and with e-commerce being at the forefront to anchor our business. We are always experimenting with our digital propositions and exploring how we expand our digital partnerships.”​

Today, ELEMIS is available in China through a partnership with beauty retailer Sephora. Additionally, the brand made its first steps into SEA last year through brick-and-mortar locations in Indonesia and Thailand.

“​At a time when most brands were contracting retail presence, we were expanding to round out our omnichannel offering.  We continue to look for unique opportunities to showcase our reimagined retail strategy – merging the aesthetics and design of ELEMIS’s history with luxury and modernity at its core.”​

Having a physical brick-and-mortar presence will be essential for the brand to bring to life its vision for ‘modern retail selling and customer experience’​ to deliver a bespoke brand expression, elaborated Gallagher.

“​Our vision for ELEMIS is to be the number one British premium skincare brand in the world… ​As we look to expand our retail footprint globally, consumers should expect a unique experience that tailors our brand codes to regional shopping behaviours as the ultimate articulation of ELEMIS.”​