Estee Lauder vows to bring innovation, novelty to China

Global beauty house The Estee Lauder Companies vows to "bring innovation and novelty" to Chinese customers through the China International Import Expo, which is a barometer of market readiness, according to Fabrizio Freda, the company's president and CEO.

"We appreciate the response from the audience at the CIIE as an early indicator for how brands and products resonate in the market," Freda told China Daily in a written interview.

Participating in the annual fair for the third time, the United States cosmetics giant is no stranger to using the CIIE for new product debuts in China, a country Freda called "our second home market and largest international market".

For instance, two luxury fragrance brands -- Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle and Kilian Paris -- made their premium appearance during the second CIIE in 2019. The pair then staged formal launches in the Chinese market in the following year.

"China is usually the first market in the world for many brands to launch new store concepts," he said. At this year's CIIE, the company introduced over 250 new products ranging from new fragrance lineups to makeup collection and serum products from its brand portfolio in China.

The company registered a double-digit organic sales increase in the Chinese mainland in the quarter ending in September, according to Freda, and achieved strong double-digit growth compared with the previous one or two years. Sales also recorded double digits in nearly every channel in China, per the company's quarterly earnings report.

"We remain excited about the growth potential in China," he said. "The long-term fundamentals of the market remain intact and we have the agility and the ability to serve Chinese consumers wherever they buy -- online, in travel retail or in brick and mortar."