L'Oreal To Enter 600 Second-tier Chinese Cities In Q2 2011

L'Oreal China will reportedly accelerate its deployment in 600 second-tier cities in China, of which half of these cities are with a population of over one million.

According to local media reports quoting Alexis Perakis, chief executive officer L'Oreal, after its sales in China reached over EUR1 billion for the first time in 2010, L'Oreal set a new goal for the Chinese market, aiming to exceed its major competitor Procter & Gamble in the Chinese beauty and skin care market.

Since the beginning of 2011, L'Oreal sales in China have increased by 17%, and its market share in China increased from 11.4% to 13% over the past year. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble's market share reportedly decreased from 19% to 17% in China.

According to Oru Mohiuddin, a skin care products analyst from the market research and analysis firm Euromonitor, L'Oreal's sales in the Chinese skin care market increased by 17%, which was much higher than the general market growth of 13%.

Over the past few months, the BB cream product under the Maybelline brand of L'Oreal has become a new favorite in China. Perakis introduced that they sold one BB cream in every three seconds on average in the Chinese market. He said during the past ten years, they sold products developed in other countries to the Chinese market; while in the next ten years, they will realize localized research and development in China.