L’Oreal to target ‘sixth continent’ with new travel retail division

22-Nov-2013 - Last updated on 22-Nov-2013 at 11:42 GMT

L’Oreal has announced the creation of an expanded group Travel Retail Division to target the ‘sixth continent’ of worldwide travelers.

The new venture, Group Travel Retail Division Worldwide, was announced this week and will include the L’Oreal Luxe brands, as well as Active Cosmetics, Professional Products, Consumer Products and The Body Shop.

Travel Retail Division will be headed by Barbara Lavernos, managing director of the current Travel Retail Group.

At a press conference, L’Oreal chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon commented: “Travel retail is a key channel for winning over one billion new consumers. This market, present around the world, could be considered a ‘sixth continent.’”

“L’Oréal already has extensive expertise and strong relationships with client retailers, and has high ambitions for the future of the channel.”

Lavernos comments

New director Ms Lavernos, who also discussed the importance of L’Oreal’s travel division at a media conference in Hong Kong earlier this year, commented on the reorganization to The Moodie Report: “Today is a recognition of the importance and the strategic value of travel retail.”

“There is no doubt in the eyes of the top management of L’Oreal, travel retail is seen as one of the biggest, most dynamic markets and providers of additional consumers for the future.”

Bringing cosmetics to a billion new customers

The new enhancements to the division forms part of L’Oreal’s strategy for targeting consumers in emerging markets, with the cosmetics giant restating its oft-repeated strategy to attract a billion new customers over the next decade.

Travelers represent a potentially huge market, numbering 4.8bn in 2013 and expected to grow to more than 11bn by 2030. L’Oreal already has a substantial share of this trade, with over 21% of the market share in 2012.

L’Oreal's spokespeople stated concerning the change: “Travel retail…plays an essential role in this strategy as it is a dynamic market. The democratization of travel, especially in emerging countries, has led to an increased number of consumers searching this channel for a full selection of products that correspond to their beauty aspirations.”