Ann: Cosmetics Joint Venture, page-136

I thought it prudent to have a quick look at the Chinese cosmetics market to get an idea of recent trends. This exercise might yield some insight to JATs possible intentions in the market. Jing Daily has a write-up on current trends and I highlight the following points:
· The cosmetics market is growing quickly, likely to reach $62 billion in 2020. Younger buyers are brand aware, are willing to switch brands, and they are seeking out niche brands (a plus for JAT if we enter the high-end market). They are not as loyal to a brand as the older generation tend to be.
· Chinese brands are popular, perhaps due to them understanding local consumer desires. JATs philosophy of carefully entering a market and adjusting products to meet local tastes is likely to benefit over the short to medium term; and long term if they continue to adapt.
· This one surprised me, but Chinese men spend an average of 2.2 hours grooming, compared to women spending 3.8 hours. Apparently, China is entering a ‘male beauty era’. It will be interesting to see if JAT is following this trend. I assume this is a trend in bigger cities, and perhaps someone with more local insight can comment further.
· The Korean K-Pop scene is waning in preference to local identity and individuality. Noting JAT is producing cosmetics in Korea (or at least looking at it), they need to be careful of blindly following this path, at least for China. Korean sales may indeed follow the K-Pop trends though.
· A lot of promotion is done via influencers and the like, which JAT seems to be tapping into already.
· Small packaging is the name of the game as people try out products before committing to buy larger volume bottles, pottles and poofy pads.· Cosmetic products designed for children is a growing market.
· Sports cosmetics -anti-odour, sweat etc are a big market.
· Natural cosmetics, especially skincare, are among the fastest growing markets.
· Cosmeceuticals, products combining cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, such as ointments and acne creams is a new and growing sector. This makes me think of some future tie-up between JATPharm and the JAT cosmetics arm of the company.

It will be interesting to see what products JAT bring to this market in the near future.