S.Korea's Shinsegae Int'l secures domestic sales rights of Laura Mercier

South Korea's major retailer Shinsegae International said on Monday that it would acquire the exclusive domestic sales rights of Laura Mercier, a French luxury cosmetics brand famous for its color cosmetic items, and launch the business on January 1 next year.

Laura Mercier is a luxury makeup brand introduced in 1996 by French makeup artist Laura Mercier. Under the philosophy of "beauty is not generic. Quite often, the thing that makes you memorable is the thing that makes you different," the company offers a variety of products for natural skin expression, including makeup, skincare, body products, and perfume.

The brand has moved into more than 40 countries around the world, and sales in Asia, with Korea at the center, account for close to 20% of the total global sales. In Korea, the brand's items are sold through exclusive outlets in 14 department stores, duty-free shops, Chicor stores nationwide, and major online malls. Its flagship items include "loose powder," eye shadow "ginger," and "amber vanilla body cream" in powder form.

Shinsegae International plans to expand Laura Mercier's domestic online, offline, and duty-free business in earnest and increase its brand recognition.

In addition to the sections in its own department store chains, the company plans to expand its offline bases by sequentially entering other major department stores by the end of next year.

Given the demand for overseas travel is increasing at a rapid pace lately and Korean Wave tourism is being resumed, the company is aggressively entering duty-free shops to increase sales. In addition, it decided to open a separate brand section in its own online store S.I. Village and strengthen digital marketing promotions targeting customers in their 20s and 30s.

An official of Shinsegae International said, "We will vigorously grow our business on the back of Laura Mercier's brand power and our brand management know-how," adding, "We will keep discovering new brands in the fashion and beauty areas, seek new businesses, and secure new growth engines."

Write to Jeong-Cheol Bae at bjc@hankyung.com