The return of KIKO, the 'king of cost performance' of cosmetics

Accelerate investment in markets with rapid economic development such as Asia, India and the Middle East; Establish modern IT system and supply chain network; Strengthening e-commerce platform and other strategies may be the key for KIKO to return to the peak of the market.

On October 18, the Percassi family released a statement that it had purchased 38% of the shares of KIKO, an Italian beauty brand held by Peninsula Capital, a British private equity fund, and regained full ownership of its cosmetics group established in 1997. The transaction would be completed as soon as the end of this year.

So far, KIKO, the "king of affordable cosmetics" who has been "away" for more than four years, has returned completely.

According to public information, KIKO, a cosmetics brand, was founded in Italy in 1997 by entrepreneurs Stefano and Antonio Percassi. KIKO is known as the "king of cost performance" in cosmetics by consumers because of its bright colors, numerous color codes, good product texture and high cost performance. At present, KIKO has 700 stores in 14 countries, and has opened online stores in 35 countries.

In 2018, in order to alleviate the debt crisis, KIKO S.p.A, the parent company of KIKO, sold 33% of its shares to Peninsula Capital, a private equity fund. At the same time, KIKO started a series of reforms and transformations, such as signing a series of partnerships with Amazon, Tmall Global, Nykaa, Myntra, Trendyol and other international e-commerce platforms, and introducing franchise agreements.

At that time, the company said that the three focuses of its future work were: first, to invest heavily in Asia, India and the Middle East; Second, establish a modern IT system and supply chain network; Third, strengthen the e-commerce platform. According to its global plan, the company will invest 90 million euros (about 700 million yuan) in the next three years.

After preliminary adjustment, KIKO has changed. The sales in the first nine months of 2021 increased by 40% over the same period of last year, especially in the third quarter, the sales increased by 60% over the same period of last year (18% over the same period of 2019).

It is reported that besides KIKO, KIKO S.p.A also owns Womo, a men's care brand, and Bullfrog, a barbershop chain brand. The group is now affiliated to the Percassi Group. In addition to fashion and retail business, Percassi Group is also deeply involved in the real estate market. Antonio Percassi is also the owner of the Italian team Atlanta.

In fact, KIKO not only has a high reputation abroad, but also is popular with consumers at home. Before KIKO was settled in Tmall in 2018, the discussion of the brand in the overseas shopping channel remained high.

In 2018, KIKO, which is not developing well in the US market, entered the Chinese market and cooperated with Tmall to sell products online. At that time, Cristina Scocchia, CEO of KIKO, said that it was estimated that in the next three years, it would achieve 50 million euros in revenue in the Chinese market. At the same time, it was necessary to improve the digital business, try new retail technologies such as virtual makeup testing, and provide better shopping experience and customized products for Chinese consumers.

After several years of development, KIKO still has a place in the highly competitive Chinese market. From the KIKO Tmall flagship store, the two most popular categories of KIKO are loose powder and lipstick, with prices around 110-160 yuan. Among them, a popular dry and wet sunscreen powder has a monthly sales of more than 20000, ranking seventh in Tmall's praise list.

It is worth mentioning that KIKO still has a good consumer base on social platforms such as Tiktok and Xiaohongshu. KIKO's Tiktok store has 280000 fans, and its popular base makeup ranks second in the list of Tiktok e-commerce popular brands, with sales of 840000 yuan in 30 days.

After many ups and downs, back to the Percassi family's KIKO, facing today's more open and diversified Chinese market, what additional measures will be taken? We'll see.

2018年，在美国市场发展不利的KIKO进入中国市场，和天猫合作在线上销售产品。当时，KIKO首席执行官Cristina Scocchia表示，估计未来三年在中国市场实现5000万欧元的收入，同时要提升数字业务，尝试虚拟试妆等新零售技术，为中国消费者提供更好的购物体验和量身定制的产品。
经过几年的发展，KIKO在竞争激烈的中国市场，仍然占有一席之地。从KIKO天猫旗舰店来看，KIKO最为受欢迎的是散粉、口红两大品类，价位在110-160元左右。其中某款干湿两用防晒粉饼的爆品月销超过2万，该款产品在天猫好评榜上位列第七。