Beauty e-tailer Feelunique is taking new strides into the Asian market, inking a retail deal with e-commerce platform Secoo to launch a branded cosmetics store in its site.
Set to launch in Q4, the partnership will give Feelunique access to Secoo’s 20 million members.
Feelunique’s CEO Joel Palix said: “I am hugely excited by the offering we will jointly bring to Chinese consumers demanding high-quality international beauty brands from a trusted retailer.
“With Secoo’s base of 20 million members spending on average US$500 per order, this is an exceptional opportunity to accelerate Feelunique’s penetration of this large and growing beauty market alongside a distinguished luxury e-commerce platform.”
Meanwhile Secoo’s founder and CEO, Richard Li, hopes the collaboration will fulfill the company’s strategy to better understand the beauty market in China.
He said: “With Feelunique’s wide product selection and strict quality guarantee, we are confident that we are well positioned to capture emerging online opportunities in China and augment value for customers.”
Additionally, Feelunique is preparing to open a new distribution hub in Hong Kong next month to accommodate the anticipated influx of sales.
China already accounts for 20% of Feelunique’s annual sales; it currently ships orders direct from the UK but, with a new distribution hub, it hopes to improve its distribution strategy.
Palix added: “The rise of China’s middle class and its appetite for luxury and niche beauty brands is setting China on a course to become the biggest beauty market in the world.
“With a distribution hub in Hong Kong from next month we will be able to dramatically enhance our offering in terms of choice, brands and customer experience.”
He continued: “By localising distribution, we will be able to lower shipping costs and compete on a different scale in this market by making Feelunique accessible by a much larger potential customer base in China.”
The hub will also be run in partnership with supply chain solutions firm Seko Logistics.
Its COO Asia, Tony Barnes, said: “We are excited to be working with Feelunique, providing logistics for their distribution hub in Hong Kong.
“We look forward to working with them to take this to the next level and grow our business together in the region.”
