Sephora owner, LVMH snaps up Singapore based start-up Luxola
Luxola.com, which has rapidly become a serious contender in online cosmetics retailers in Southeast Asia, was bought for an undisclosed amount which the company CEO, Horowitz-Burdick says will enable the brand to take its 'vision forward' with 'greater market reach'.
The e-commerce retailer launched just over four years ago and specializes in masstige and luxury international brands.
"Investing in Luxola is a unique opportunity to penetrate the online beauty market and accelerate Sephora’s growth in Southeast Asia,” Anne-Véronique Bruel, president of Sephora Asia told regional publication Tech in Asia.
E-commerce in Asia is a valuable investment for international players - if done in the right way. Recognising the challenges in this arena, beauty retailer Sephora also turned to e-mall, 'Jingding' recently, to extend its reach.
According to Bruel, the partnership is a global first for the retailer and will offer Jingding shoppers exclusive and new cosmetics.
Online investment
On hearing the news of the deal, analysts like 'MarketWatch' reckon things haven't been easy for Sephora since setting up its website in 2013, as its struggling to compete with other cosmetic retailers like Jumei.
According to Sephora Asia president Bruel, another benefit of that partnership will be cracking down on counterfeiting, which accounts for up to 20 per cent of China's cosmetics market.
JD.com claims that it has focused on creating a business model that helps to 'ensure authenticity' and that the combination of direct sales where it controls the sourcing process, to a limited number of sellers allows it to have greater quality oversight.
This didn't go unnoticed with the beauty retailer; "We’ve seen the effort by JD.com that they value authenticity," Sephora China e-commerce VP, Helen Zhou said in a recent interview with Fortune magazine.
