The rise of A. S. Watson
THE A. S. Watson Group was established in Hong Kong in 1841. It is the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, which has developed multitudinous amounts of partnerships with strategic brands such as Unilever.
A.S. Watson serves over four billion customers at its 14,400 stores in 24 markets. It has over 130 million members under its loyalty programmes. This and its years of industry knowledge and business know-how has seen many successful collaborations and partnerships flourish.
Due to its global customer base, A. S. Watson has accumulated data insights, digital tools, resources and expertise, which allow for valuable information in terms of segmentation and analytics, all much needed to optimise results for brands to succeed.
It is these “tools” that have helped Unilever successfully launch TRESemme, a hair care brand that was already known across global markets, but new to China.
The partnership between the two “giants” A. S. Watson and Unilever, bridged a connection and reached out to over five million shoppers. It continues to grow and develop.
Unilever TRESemme global hair care brand director Berengere Loubatier shared his delight on the partnership with A. S. Watson in bringing the brand to China and its people. The company now enjoys an assembly of stores and copious amounts of customer data and market insights.
Said A. S. Watson Group’s Group COO Malina Ngai: “Our forwardthinking approach and access to new technologies and data allow us to talk directly to over 130 million loyal customers across the globe. This, coupled with the expertise of our global retail brands, allow us to work collaboratively with business partners to really maximise opportunities and give our customers the products they want.”