[SHANGHAI] Chinese cosmetic brand Florasis is shifting the focus of its global expansion away from the US, underscoring how growing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing could shape the American ambitions of mainland consumer brands.
Gabby Chen, Florasis’ president for global markets, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday (Oct 14) that for now, the Hangzhou-based cosmetics maker is looking to Japan, South-east Asia and Europe.
“There’s been huge political changes for the global markets,” She said. “We shifted our strategy from the US market to South-east Asia, but prior to that, the US has remained very strong as our top global market.”
The brand has in recent years been a top-selling cosmetics brand on popular Chinese online marketplaces including Alibaba Group Tmall and TikTok’s Chinese app Douyin, and now ships to more than 100 countries.
Its products incorporate botanicals and ingredients drawn from traditional Chinese medicine. They are wrapped in packaging inspired by classical Chinese aesthetics, including carvings on lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes, that have boosted its appeal among mainland consumers drawn to domestic labels over costlier Western names.
Chinese consumer brands are continuing to push their global ambitions despite trade uncertainties. Companies from fashion retailer Urban Revivo, to Starbucks rival Luckin Coffee, and Labubu maker Pop Mart International Group, are still pushing into the US.
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Online retail giants Shein Group and PDD’s Temu continue to focus on driving US growth – despite losing a crucial tariff exemption that had helped them reach shoppers quickly and cheaply.
Florasis’ shift mirrors the broader changes emerging in China’s international trade.
The country’s exports rose higher than expected in September, even as shipments to the US plunged 27 per cent, while stronger demand from non-US markets including the European Union have help propped up growth.
The brand has leveraged that momentum to court global customers, building a following of more than a million people on TikTok and partnering with roughly 1,500 US-based influencers per year. The company remains “stable” in the American market, Chen said.
The company’s digital foray into the US is laying the groundwork for it to expand into new markets, though its rate of investment in the country is not currently growing, she told Bloomberg.
Chen added that the US remains the centre of Florasis’ social media exposure. “We are still working with a lot of influencers, still doing social media engagement,” she said. “There are many many things still going on, but we just didn’t keep putting in more and more.” BLOOMBERG
