The company recently announced the China launch of The Ordinary, a brand it gained through its acquisition of DECIEM, which was completed in June 2024.
The Ordinary is well-positioned to meet the rising demand for efficacious and high-quality skin care in China.
“The Ordinary’s ingredient and efficacy driven innovation concept, minimalist, transparent approach to skin care aligns well with Chinese consumers’ increasing preference for effective, good cost-performance products,” said Allie Rooke, Clean Beauty Asia CEO and China market expert.
She highlighted the success Estée Lauder has experienced by rebranding Clinique slightly in the Chinese market.
“Last year Estée Lauder did a rebranding to its OG derma brand Clinique and launched a China-tailor-made line Clinique CX with focus on post-medical beauty skin care. This can be seen the first step of its strategy shift in skin care. The grand launch of The Ordinary is the second big move.”
However, the brand will face challenges in China, said Rooke.
Firstly, she highlighted the intense competition from its long-standing competitors as well as newcomers – especially local Chinese brands on the same price tier.
Secondly, Estée Lauder would need to keep up with the pace of innovation in the Chinese market.
Additionally, the brand would have to work out how to “keep balance between unique brand personality and mass marketing communication,” she said.Lastly, Rooke said the brand would be susceptible to the Sino-US trade war should it escalate.
A strategic move
This was a strategic move under new chief executive, president, and director Stéphane de la Faverie to tackle the ongoing challenges in China which have deeply affected its skin care revenues and its performance in Asia Pacific.
“By segment, the challenging prestige beauty landscape in China forced Estée Lauder to rethink on the brand portfolio strategy,” said Rooke.
“Comparing with its number one competitor, the L’Oréal Group, Estée Lauder’s brand portfolio in China is not that balanced with much heavier weight in the prestige segment, which cannot cater to the current market very well. The big market share growth is L’Oréal Paris in China is a good example.”
Rooke added that Chinese beauty consumers today have more interest in cosmeceutical skin care products as they perceive them to be more efficacious.
“Chinese consumers are becoming more sophisticated and their needs in skin care becoming more diverse and targeted. In recent years dermatological, medical and high efficacy have been the most popular concepts in skin care,” said Rooke.
“The big success of SkinCeuticals, CeraVe from the L’Oréal Group, and C-beauty giants such as Giant Biogene, Bloomage Biotech are the best proof of consumers’ interest. Estée Lauder has been slow in this area and must catch up to capture market share.”
Rooke estimated that the firm will have completed the regulatory requirements for six to eight SKUs for The Ordinary’s grand launch.
She expects best-sellers such as the Soothing & Barrier Support Serum, a vitamin B12 serum known as the pink serum by fans, to be part of the launch.Under DECIEM, The Ordinary entered China via cross-border e-commerce since 2019 and has since gained a huge fan base in China, Rooke highlighted.
“There have 64,000 followers and over 40,000 posts of it on REDNOTE. Its official flagship store on Tmall Global has over 334k subscribers.”
Rooke estimated that the firm will have completed the regulatory requirements for six to eight SKUs for The Ordinary’s grand launch.
She expects best-sellers such as the Soothing & Barrier Support Serum, a vitamin B12 serum known as the pink serum by fans, to be part of the launch.
