Clarins Targets Asia Pacific Travel Retail with Double Serum Foundation

Clarins' Travel Retail Focus

Clarins General Manager Katalin Berenyi highlighted travel retail's critical role for the brand, describing it as a primary channel for consumer discovery and acquisition. Speaking at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes, Berenyi explained that travel retail is a significant global business for Clarins, which operates through 28 subsidiaries in over 50 countries.

The family-owned company maintains a long-term, consumer-centric approach, adapting to market shifts by developing region-specific assortments and unique concepts.

Berenyi reiterated the founder Jacques Courtin-Clarins' principle from over 70 years ago: "Success is simple: listen to consumers and give them what they want," emphasizing the need for intuition beyond stated feedback.

Double Serum Foundation Drives Growth

A central element of Clarins' travel retail strategy is the Double Serum Foundation, which extends the brand's core skincare franchise into makeup. This product launch, described as Clarins' largest and most widespread makeup activation in travel retail, aims to meet consumer demand for complexion products with skincare benefits.

Berenyi noted the product's dual-chamber technology, which delivers a fresh mix with each pump, as a complex innovation adapted from the ninth generation of Double Serum. The Double Serum Foundation has seen success across various markets globally, excluding the USA where it is launching now, with its visibly hybrid nature appealing to current beauty preferences.

Evolving Exclusives and Asia Pacific Expansion

Clarins is also evolving its travel retail exclusives (TREX) beyond traditional value sets, focusing on distinctive offerings and personalized advice. The brand sees emerging opportunities in cruise retail and the broader Asia Pacific region.

For instance, Clarins celebrated a refreshed Extra-Firming Cream range with a large-scale experiential campaign at the cdf Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex in Haitang Bay. This campaign included hotel takeovers, yacht experiences, and lifestyle collaborations designed to draw shoppers to the boutique, illustrating the brand's dynamic approach to engaging travelers.

Implications for Asia's Beauty Market

Clarins' strategic emphasis on travel retail, hybrid product innovation, and region-specific activations in Asia Pacific suggests a continued focus on this dynamic market. For Asian beauty brands and retailers, this emphasizes the need for integrating skincare benefits into makeup products and developing unique, experiential retail concepts beyond traditional product displays.

The brand's success with the Double Serum Foundation demonstrates consumer interest in visible "skinification" in color cosmetics. Companies aiming to capture the traveling consumer in Asia should consider personalized services and localized product assortments, similar to Clarins' approach in Sanya, to drive engagement and sales.