Thailand's beauty market is expected to grow between 10-20% this year after a significant drop during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to L'Oréal Thailand.
Patrick Girod, chief executive of L'Oréal Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, said the company expects the overall beauty market in 2023 to grow at a higher rate than last year when demand for beauty industry products grew by 9.5% from a year before to 149 billion baht.
The market is expected to grow between 10-20% for the next several consecutive years because Thai consumers value their skincare routine and enjoy trying new innovations.
"The Thai beauty market is expected to fully recover this year driven partly by an improvement of the tourism business which will help boost local beauty consumption," he said.
According to Mr Girod, the firm is committed to investing in Thailand which is considered one of L'oreal's strategic markets. This year, the firm set its sights on becoming the market leader in dermatological cosmetics and fragrance products, the only two categories where they rank second in the market at present.
"The dermatological cosmetic market is explosive worldwide and in Thailand in particular after Covid-19. Derma cosmetic remains a small portion of Thailand's skincare market, therefore it has huge potential to grow,'' he said, adding that the business of dermatological products, including brands such as La Roche-Posay, Vichy and CeraVe, has doubled in size in less than three years.
Reflecting its mission to pioneer health and beauty by providing life-changing and sustainable dermatological solutions worldwide, L'Oréal Active Cosmetics was renamed L'Oréal Dermatological Beauty in February of this year.
L'Oréal Thailand has also experienced significant gains in the perfume category since the end of last year through Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Lancôme, and Giorgio Armani, all under the Luxe Division.
In addition to derma cosmetics, the fragrance market in Thailand is booming. To increase sales of fragrance and derma products, the firm plans to expand its portfolio in these two categories.
Despite the significant drop in the beauty market during the pandemic, Mr Girod believes the market in Thailand is dynamic and sophisticated, with a huge potential for growth.
Thailand is considered an important market for L'Oréal, ranking in the top 20 countries worldwide and in the top five in the Sapmena (South Asia Pacific – Middle East – North Africa) zone along with India, Indonesia, Australia, as well as Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The country is also a pilot market for three L'Oréal brands: L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, and Maybelline New York. Local teams work closely with the global team to provide insights for developing products that will cater specifically to Thai consumers in the future.
"Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, we achieved double-digit growth in 2022 and gained market share across all product categories. We confront challenges every day due to changing consumer demand, competitors, and inflation, but we remain confident that they will grow faster than the market," he said.