Shiseido’s geographic balance has shifted considerably over the past year—so much so that China could soon challenge Japan as the beauty company’s biggest region for sales. In the 1st quarter of 2021, China’s growth of 47% has propelled it to just under $600 million, closing in on Japan’s sales of $687 million.
We started working with Shiseido in 2014 when the company had suffered almost a decade of quite flat sales and declining profitability. We worked with the new CEO then to develop a strategic plan embracing consumers worldwide using a matrix model across brands and regions to transform the company into a true global beauty care company from Asia. Over the past 7 years, Shiseido increased business outside Japan to 60%, helped by double-digit growth in China, EMEA and travel retail and the company’s stock price has increased by more than 450%.