The world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, AS Watson Group, is celebrating an exciting milestone – the opening of 3,800th Watsons store in Mainland China.
Apart from reinforcing of the Group’s leading position in the sector in Mainland China, it is also an important marker in Chinese culture as 3 and 8 are considered lucky in Chinese, representing vitality and prosperity. This new store opening is part of the Group’s rapid global expansion at the rate of one new store every seven hours.
By responding quickly to changing consumer needs and trends, we’re able to adapt in order to stay relevant as we expand. This new store in Mainland China is one of 1,300 we’re opening globally this year – on average 1 new store worldwide every 7 hours! That’s the depth of our commitment to not just keeping retail alive, but ensuring it thrives.
Dominic Lai
Group Managing Director
AS Watson Group
The new Watsons store opened on 21 November and is located in the city of Kunming. This is the largest city in Yunnan Province, a region that experienced GDP growth of 8.9% last year. The store itself spans over 2,000 square feet, and is designed to provide customers with an exciting and engaging shopping experience through a wide range of Watsons offerings.
But the growth of Watsons in Mainland China is about more than expanding the physical network. It’s about deepening the relationship we have with our 65 million members. The loyalty programme has recently been expanded, with the launch of our Elite Card VIP programme, which ensures that our 10% highest-spending members enjoy the most premium privileges, such as complimentary make-up and skincare services, exclusive invitations to meet celebrity KOLs, and even accommodation and culinary offers at 5-star hotels. The customer reaction to this scheme has so far been overwhelmingly positive.
The spending power of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers is increasing in Mainland China, and Watsons is rejuvenating its business model to best meet these young people’s needs and expectations. Offering engaging, digital-enabled experiences is an important element of adapting to their shopping and lifestyle preferences.
The landmark 3,800th store in Kunming is equipped with “StyleMe 2.0”, an AR (Augmented Reality) technology that offers different mix-and-match trendy looks. This service is offered alongside a personal makeup session with professional in-store makeup artists. We also offer “Scan & Go”, allowing customers to use the Watsons app to scan a QR with their mobile phone rather than waiting at a cashier to pay. With younger consumers in mind, we are also adapting the product range, driven by the customer insight that young mainland customers are keen to frequently try something new.
Recent additions to the range include hot Korean beauty salon brand CLIV and BRTC, American social media cosmetics brand wet n wild, Mainland China’s social media-led beauty brand Judydoll, and the dermatological skincare range co-created by Shiseido and AS Watson Group, d program Urban Damage Care.
Watsons China uses the latest retail technologies to enhance the customer experience, combining online and offline (O+O) platforms to deliver not just an efficient and exciting interaction, but one tailored to the individual.
A pioneering “One-to-One Beauty Consultation Service” via the Enterprise WeChat platform has been launched. Customers can add store staff as WeChat friends, who then become their personal beauty consultants. They can seek for advice from store staff at any time, from anywhere. If a product is not available from a customer’s nearest branch, store staff can help them order the item and customers can opt for speedy “Click & Collect”, or “1-Hour Flash Delivery” service. Customers can also use the platform to make an appointment for a Skin Test or SPA experience.
Given the rapid growth of the health and beauty segment in Mainland China, Watsons is continuously upgrading its stores and services by staying at the forefront of innovation and retail technology.
In addition to upgrading stores, Watsons China plans to launch its “Cloud Stores” in Q1 2020. Each of our 3,800 stores will have its own online Cloud Store, which enables customers to shop digitally, not just from their nearest store but also from across the entire Watsons China network. If a product is exclusive to certain branches, customers of other stores can order via the Cloud Store and choose the delivery service they prefer.
We will continue to introduce state-of-the-art retail technologies, enabling popular partner brands to better meet the demands of our customers, and at the same time rejuvenating the Watsons image and positioning so that we become our customers’ most-loved brands.
