Shiseido is #10 on our Top Global Beauty Companies 2024 Report.
 
Below is a look at the company's 2023 highlights, recent acquisitions, best-selling brands, and latest innovations.

#10  Shiseido
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
www.shiseido.com

Beauty Sales:

$6.9 Billion

Key Personnel:

• Masahiko Uotani, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Kentaro Fujiwara, Executive Officer, President and COO
• Yoshiaki Okabe, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Chief Brand Officer for Shiseido Chief Executive Officer, China Region
• Tomoko Tagami, Chief Corporate Communication Officer

Major Products & Brands:

Prestige, Premium, and Inner Beauty brands including Baum, Benefique, Clé de Peau Beauté, Dr. Dennis Gross, Drunk Elephant, Effectim, Gallinée, Inoui, Ipsa, Issey Miyake, Nars, Narciso Rodriguez, Serge Lutens, Shiseido, The Ginza, Tory Burch, Ulé, Zadig&Voltaire;

Anessa, Aqua Label, Aupres, D Program, Elixir, Haku, Integrate, Majolica Majorca, Maquillage, Prior, Revital, Sidekick, Urara, Inryu, Shiseido Beauty Wellness.

New Products:

• Shiseido Revitalessence Skin Glow Foundation
• Nars Light-Reflecting Prismatic Powder
• Elixir Anti-Aging Cream
• Narciso Rodriguez All of Me
• Inner Beauty (new division)
• Sidekick men’s moisturizers
• Drunk Elephant Dive Right in Gift Package

Comments:

Although overall net sales dropped 8.8%, sales in Shiseido’s largest market, Japan, climbed 9.4% due, in part, to improved tourism to Japan. Growth there was led by Clé de Peau Beauté and Shiseido brands. The Elixir brand also performed steadily, buoyed by the renewal of an anti-wrinkle cream as well as the launch of an anti-aging cream designed to boost skin firmness by leveraging a unique technology based on advanced dermatological science and research, approaching the multiple causes of loose skin.


Elsewhere, sales in Shiseido’s China region fell 4% due to the effects of the company’s shift from a growth model primarily driven by large-scale promotions to a more sustainable growth model, which focuses on value-based brand and product communication tailored to consumer needs. And although brands like Shiseido and Clé de Peau Beauté continued to be the drivers of growth during the first half of the year, that growth was offset by the unfavorable impact of consumer pullback on purchases of Japanese products due to the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant as well as the weakening sentiment toward China’s economy.

Business in Shisiedo’s Asia Pacific region returned to growth, and South Korea and Southeast Asia delivered strong results. Overall, Nars and Shiseido continued to drive growth. As a result, net sales dipped just 1.1%.

In the EMEA region, Narciso Rodriguez delivered strong growth, benefiting from the success of the newly launched All of Me. Nars and Drunk Elephant also performed well; however, net sales fell 8.9%.

And despite strong interest in Drunk Elephant and steady growth from Shiseido and Nars, the company’s Americas business saw sales spiral down 20%.

Shisiedo’s Travel Retail business also suffered losses of 19%

To help increase investments in brands, innovation, and people, Shiseido launched SHIFT 2025 and Beyond, a three-year, medium-term strategy that’s structured to boost operating margin to 6% in 2024 and 9% in 2025. The longer-term goal is to attain a core operating margin of 15% by 2029.

2023-2024 Highlights:

In October, the company opened its first standalone store in Mumbai, India. The boutique, which opened with Shiseido’s Indian distributor Baccarose, brings Nars into the country for the first time.

In December 2023, Shiseido acquired DDG Skincare Holdings LLC, a company offering dermatologist-led, science-based prestige skincare under the brand Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare.

In July 2024, Shiseido announced it had entered into a long-term fragrance partnership with Italian luxury fashion house, Max Mara, giving Shiseido the ability to develop, produce, market, and distribute fragrances under the Max Mara brand.

And, at the end of July 2024, Shiseido announced that its current CEO, Masahiko Uotani would retire at the end of 2024. Taking his place will be Kentaro Fujiwara, who will assume the title of CEO on January 1, 2025.

Looking Ahead:

In Q1 2024, Shiseido’s net sales rose 3.9%, despite elevated global economic uncertainty, rising prices, and the sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen against major currencies.

In Q2 Shiseido reported a 1% drop in shares following its first-half earnings due to restructuring costs and a slumping demand in China due to unfavorable purchasing behaviors.