Global beauty brand Avon said it could post a single-digit growth in the Philippines this year despite rising inflation and other economic headwinds.
According to Avon Philippines General Manager (GM) and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Razvan Diratian, the reopening of the economy helped prop up the performance of the skincare and cosmetics industry.
“We are always looking to grow [faster than the market]. Double-digit, it will be a very good projection. [But] as far as I know at this moment, the market is moving [up] by just a single digit,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Avon’s National Sales Convention 2023 at the Winford Hotel Manila.
He said the market reopened as the pandemic situation eased in the second half of 2022. With the continued decline in the infection rate here and abroad the following year, the World Health Organization finally declared last May 5 that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.
“Beginning of the year, probably, most of the consumers [are] coming out of the pandemic. They are starting to spend more. It’s [still] possible towards end of the year to have a slowdown,” Diratian said.
“So I think, at this moment, the first and second half will play differently. But I’m not expecting a double-digit growth of the market. If market will catch up in the fourth quarter, we are ready to do it better.”
While the company is on a “wait-and-see” mode about the market’s movement in the fourth quarter, Diratian said 2023 is generally a “good year” for Avon it continues to hold on to the top spot in the direct selling market.
Avon, he said, is dominant in the fragrance, color, lotion, intimate apparel, and custom jewelry categories across its omnichannel platforms.
At the start of the holiday season, Diratian expects Avon’s business to accelerate further with the unveiling of its upcoming products, including new variants of its branded perfumes, Imari and Beyond the Moon, in October and December, respectively.
“For any cosmetics business, fourth quarter has quite a high contribution in the total sales. So the ‘ber months’ are extremely important. Actually, that’s one reason why most of our launches are happening right now and in the coming months,” Diratian said.
“It’s the gifting season for us, and this is something that is driving our strategy. So I hope 2023 will be even better.”
