L'Oreal USA sales up after two-year dip
A billion extra customers needed over the next ten years
The US arm of the L'Oréal group has reported a 6% rise in sales to €4.8bn in 2010 after two years of sales downturns. The company now has a 13% share of the US market, in second position behind Procter & Gamble.
President Jean-Paul Agon said in New York that the aim is to acquire a 20% share within ten to 15 years. He added that the aim of doubling L'Oréal's current market share was perfectly realistic given that it had the cosmetics brands needed to achieve it in all segments of the market.
Agon went on to say that the US market was "highly strategic" as it was the most important cosmetics market in the world.
L'Oréal has been in the US since 1953. More recently the US arm was forced to cut jobs with the advent of the economic crisis. The company also shed Shu Uemura, Biotherm and Helena Rubinstein because, Agon explained, they are excellent brands but not competitive enough in a highly competitive marketplace.
L'Oréal has preferred to focus its efforts on Lancôme and Kiehl's in the US rather than operate on several fronts at once. The company, which is spending over $1bn on promotion (2010), now needs to rake in a billion extra customers over the next ten years.