Asia Personal Care & Cosmetics Market Guide 2016

Hong Kong. Other leading U.S. skincare brands in Hong Kong are Estée Lauder, Kiehl’s, Neutrogena,
Clinique, Nu Skin, H2O+, Artistry (Amway’s), Usana, Elizabeth Arden, La Mer, and Skinceuticals. In the
nail color sector, the U.S. brand OPI dominates in the nail salons. P&G’s hair products, and the Gillette
brand of razor blades are the market leaders.
Other emerging personal care product markets for U.S. companies, include feminine hygiene products
such as sanitary napkins, tampons and cotton wipes, as well as personal deodorants which are growing
at 20% to 40% annually.
Local importers frequently cite the need for foreign suppliers to adapt the packaging and size to local
tastes. American suppliers should also try to package higher-end potent skincare products in glass jars
or bottles to enhance their product image. A local personal care chain store prefers to stock Japanese
products on their shelves as they are attractively packaged, especially important given limited shelf
space in most Hong Kong stores. This chain store also commented that the Japanese suppliers were
willing to adapt packaging to suit the display configurations of their stores.
The strength of U.S. cosmetics and toiletries is in skincare and hair care products for both professional
use in spa and hair salons as well as mass-market hair products. Extensive brand-building activities and
competitive pricing of U.S. mass-market hair product suppliers like Procter & Gamble, Johnson &
Johnson, and Colgate-Palmolive contribute to the success of the U.S. as the market leader in this sector.
Manufacturing of these products, however, is mostly in China or other Asian countries. For professional
skincare products, Hong Kong consumers prefer U.S. products for their technological advances in
product formulations and manufacturing. These made in America products are also perceived as being
very safe and many local distributors will advertise that their products are USFDA approved, even
though the US FDA does not approve cosmetics products for sale in the U.S.
Currently, the HK$ is pegged at 7.8 to the US$ and has fluctuated little since the inception of the linked
rate policy in 1983. Therefore many Hong Kong importers and distributors prefer to buy products from
the U.S., as the prices of US products are stable vis-à-vis the Hong Kong dollar, as global fluctuations in
the value of the US dollar do not affect the exchange rate.
Competitors
France supplied US$882 million or 14% of Hong Kong’s cosmetics and toiletries imports in 2015,
including US$665 million of make-up and skincare products and US$196 million of perfumes and toilet
waters. Imports of higher-end French brands of make-up and skincare products and perfumes will likely
decline as the mainland Chinese tourists, many of whom are bargain hunting,, switch to lower-priced
perfumes and Korean brands of skincare products. French perfumes, cosmetics and skincare products
will remain popular with Hong Kong consumers, who continue to place a premium on the long traditions
of quality among these products. Popular French brands in Hong Kong include L’Occitane, Lancôme,
Clarins, Biotherm, Chanel, Lóreal, Christian Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, Vichy, YSL, Avene, Darphin,
Decleor, and Rene Guinot.
Import of cosmetic, personal care and skincare products from South Korea are experiencing double-digit
growth for the past few years and in 2015, the increase was 63% resulting in South Korea surpassing US
as Hong Kong’s fourth largest source of imports. Make-up and skincare products accounted for 8% or
US$495 million of the total cosmetics and toiletries imports. The rise in Korean cosmetic product sales