pan Yiling

Nowadays, Chinese beauty market is experiencing a great competition between Korean (K-Beauty) and Japanese (J-Beauty) products. Though some Korean beauty products like cushion compacts and CC cream are still in hot demand in China, Japanese beauty (J-Beauty)have recently begun to offer some fierce competition.

According to L2 New York research group, it was found that comparison with K-Beauty brands, J-Beauty brands experienced rapid increase of sales and digital visibility in 2017.

Moreover, in term of Korean brands, AmorePacific Corporation, which is the owner of Etude House, in the fourth quarter of 2017 had experienced loss down to 76%.The company singled out the lack of interest from Chinese consumers as the biggest reason for the decline.

J-beauty in China

J-Beauty brands which are “made in Japan” starting from such brands as SK-Ⅱ, Shiseido and Shu Uemura to the more niche labels such as Shiro, RMK, DHC,for decades they were combining the archetypal ethos,understated aesthetic, age-old beauty ceremonies and groundbreaking formulations by perfecting the poreless complexion Japanese women are well known for.

Unlike K-Beauty, which seemed to appear almost out of nowhere to many of those of us in the West, Japan has had a steady foothold in the Chinese market for decades.Many popular beauty products – cleansing oils, colorcorrecting cosmetics, essences, fibermascaras – can all be traced back to Japan.

In China, a rapid growth was achieved by such Japanese brands as Shiseido and SK-Ⅱ. In stark contrast to the poor performance of the K-Beauty industry, major J-Beauty labels such as Shiseido and SK-Ⅱ have achieved positive growth thanks to a kinder reception in China. A report by Nikkei Asian Review in mid-2017 revealed that Shiseido raised its annual profit expectations on the basis of strong China demand. In one of the interviews, Shiseido CEO Masahiko Uotani, mentioned that in terms of market share,the company is making a big progress and in this sense they are very optimistic about Chinese market.

Figure 1 shows that while stalwart K-Beauty brand Innisfree remains one of the top-mentioned brands on the app, it was one of the worst performers for year-over-year growth, along with fellow AmorePacific-owned brand Etude House. The Digital IQ score of AmorePacific’s overall portfolio shrank by 10% since 2016 thanks to decreased online buzz, and the conglomerate reported a year-over-year net profit decrease of 76.2% for Q4, citing the decline in Chinese tourism to South Korea.

Japanese brands including SK-Ⅱ, Dr. Ci: Labo,Fancl, DHC, Kate, and Pola were also among the most mentioned beauty products on RED, a popular Chinese app, according to the L2 report.

In addition to RED, Japanese brands also perform well on Baidu. SK-Ⅱdisplayed the highest Baidu Index growth of all brands tracked in L2’s study and ranked in the top five on the overall Baidu Index. Shiseido’s portfolio brands including Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beauté,and Aupres all saw above-average Baidu Index growth.Shiseido stated that its sales growth was driven by Chinese tourists purchasing products while visiting Japan and then continuing to buy in China once they got hooked.

Figure 1. Growth in beauty brand mentions vs. total 2017 brand mentions on RED

Most likely that Japanese makeup brands nowadays are focusing less on heavy eye makeup and dense fake eyelashes and more on the natural beauty. One of the basic key points are big, round eyes, rosy flushed cheeks,matte skin and shimmery highlighters. Such key points are totally different from Korean makeup styles. Japanese makeup is most likely focused on sweet looking, innocent and gentle or let’s say ‘princess’ looking appearance,behind it there is an idea about the khan in shining armor who will come to save and protect those maidens.

In comparison to Korean beauty, which is known for its fun packaging and of-the-moment formulas and colors, J-Beauty is centered around quality manufacturing,understated opulence, and groundbreaking science and technology. Japanese cosmetics are particularly advantageous in the development of small category and featured products. Many companies spend decades for one product. This has created the ingenuity ‘quality’ sign for Japanese products.

Today, consumers in China are more concerned about quality than ever, as they are “more demanding and pragmatic”, according to McKinsey & Company. They are willing to pay more for better quality products, and Japanese products are perceived to be higher quality.

Unlike Korea, where products can be churned out the minute a trend starts to take off, J-Beauty is much more interested in careful refinement and longevity. “Beauty is not thought of as expendable in Japan – everything is carefully contemplated to create products that are timeless, efficacious and luxurious. While Japan is seen globally as a leader in innovation on both skin care and color, they are not trend-driven.

Japan has always been a solid value and – despite some up and downs – an endless inspirer and creator of beauty products innovations for China.

Chinese consumers are more and more attracted by cosmetics products. They have many expectations regarding skin and body cares because they want to use healthy goods. In addition, cosmetics brands have to tailor their strategy to Chinese girls who shift their cosmetics consumption’s behavior concerning seasons because they prefer lightening their skin. That’s why, Japanese cosmetics products are attracting further Chinese girls. Indeed, brands cosmetics in Japan have huge products’ diversity in order to satisfy a large audience.In addition, Chinese consumers are very connected and use e-commerce platforms so that unearth any offers or promotions concerning their favorite products. Then,they prefer buying online because they need to have their community’s advice and be ensured about good’s quality they purchase. That’s why, cosmetics brands overseas,especially Japanese ones, take the opportunity of this attractively and pass through these platforms in order to get more awareness and e-reputation.

The Japanese beauty business has also benefited from the growth in Chinese tourists, following limits imposed on travel to Korea by the Chinese government and a surge of enthusiasm for the Olympics in 2020. Japanese beauty exports are tipped to exceed $2.75 bn this year.

K-beauty in China

Icy political relations with China after South Korea launched its THAAD missile defense system last year is thought to be partly responsible for the dip in K-Beauty brands’ performance. The number of Chinese visitors to South Korea plunged to around 4 million last year, down from 8 million the year before. In the same year, Japan saw a 15% jump in Chinese visitor numbers, which reached 7.35 million for the year. With fewer Chinese tourists traveling to South Korea, sales fell across categories in duty-free stores and boutiques previously full of Chinese consumers. But the travel ban can’t fully explain K-Beauty’s decline in China.

It also seems that K-Beauty’s branding and marketing approach has gone awry.

Korean beauty brands typically promote the idea that women need to be forever young and look like innocent young girls. As it was mentioned before, Korean makeup is more about straight and bright lip colors and full eyebrows, it is more referred to the desire of Korean girls to look more outstanding and having the opportunity to get a brighter impression. The most interesting fact is that full and straight eyebrows is the main key point for Korean beauty, which is reflected in the willingness of Korean girls to look more natural, and in addition almond-shaped eyes over rounded eyes. In terms of their lip colors, they have shades of just bitten lips or just like flower petals.

That’s a concept that is increasingly dismissed by welleducated women in the country.

“K-beauty brands like to use celebrities who have done a lot of cosmetic surgery that indicates a value proposition about women that I cannot agree with any longer as I am getting older,” said Rita Chen, 29, a Londonbased Chinese woman who works in the finance sector.Chen said that starting in 2016, she has consciously and gradually switched all of her beauty and skincare products from K-Beauty to J-Beauty brands.

Summary

As Yoshiaki Okabe, Shiseido group’s corporate officer, puts it: “K-Beauty is driven by trends, it meets those tentative needs of the consumer which are hot or of the moment, whereas J-Beauty is something far more sustainable, authentic and eternal.” While J-Beauty can’t possibly compete with the entrepreneur culture of Korea,which has the manufacturing speed and efficiency to bring cutting-edge trends to market quickly, K-Beauty can’t compete with Japan’s far more delicate and intricate beauty rituals, their obsession with beauty (Euromonitor reports that Japan has the highest per capita spend on skincare and cosmetics) and their long-term investment in technology.

In 2018, all lights are green and Japan’s influence should be noticeable in the entire industry,” said centdegrés China’s Matthieu Rochette Schneider.However, it doesn’t mean the K-Beauty industry will go into free fall. Some high-end, luxury Korean brands such as Hera and Sulwhasoo, are bucking the trend and expanding in China last year, a sign that foreign beauty brands in China are moving towards the higher-end to stay competitive.