Download our report on C-beauty brands’ market strategies
The beauty sector in China developed steadily in recent years, but most notably, has been the rise of C-beauty brands. China had become the world’s second largest beauty market in 2019. The sales of skincare products accounted for more than half of the beauty market in China. The total retail sales of the beauty sector in China reached 299 billion RMB in 2019.
This China beauty market report was created in partnership with Double V. Consulting.
The beauty market was hit hard by COVID-19, but quickly recovered, annual beauty sales only slightly decreased. Cosmetics’ sales volume in China declined by 29.9% in February 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. However it had recovered by April. During the outbreak, people consumed and talked more about skincare products than cosmetics.
Marketing strategies employed by these C-beauty brands include
Private traffic, which is funneling consumer traffic to platforms where brands have more control over the messages and data, such as WeChat groups managed by virtual KOCs.
Live-streaming, including collaborations with KOLs but also featuring more authoritative figures such as dermatologists.
Targeting “skintellectuals” through ingredient-based marketing and scientific messaging.
Co-branding with IP from a variety of industries, such as national monuments and KOLs pets.
Leveraging traditional Chinese elements, colors, and other aspects of Guochao marketing in product packaging.
Important stats for rising C-beauty brands
While C-beauty brands have gained more recent momentum, foreign cosmetics brands have historically taken a larger market share; in 2018 they took 70% of the cosmetics market.
Learn even more about the C-beauty market from our Daxue Talks interviews with Miro Li
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