Shanghai Jahwa Group steps into the online world with its virtual store

Shanghai Jahwa Group, China's leading cosmetics company, has launched its first flagship store online, announced plans to roll out new personal care products and rebranded its logo.

Chairman Xie Wenjian said a new range of brands would be in stores this fall and were part of the group's five-year plan to expand growth and boost revenue.

Xie took over running the group late in 2013 and has targeted 12 billion yuan ($1.88 billion) sales revenue by 2018. That would make Shanghai Jahwa one of the top five players in China's personal care market.

"Launching new products is going to be a major engine driving our growth," Xie said at the company's biannual new produce release conference on Thursday.

Sales from newly introduced products now make up between 14 percent and 15 percent of the Shanghai Jahwa's revenue.

By 2018, that is expected to rise to 20 percent.

During the first half of this year, the group's revenue was 3.21 billion yuan, an increase of 14.03 percent compared to the same period last year.

In a move to push growth, Shanghai Jahwa has launched a flagship store on Tmall, the business-to-customer retail platform, which is part of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

"This flagship online store marks our strategic partnership with Alibaba," Xie said.

While Jahwa's brands are available at more than 95 percent of the country's 3.9 million retail outlets that sell personal care products, the company is banking on attracting younger customers that shop online.

Internet sales could reach 20 percent of overall revenue by 2018, the group reported.

Jahwa has also changed the color of its logo from the original pink, which was considered too feminine, to the red used on porcelain during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

"We have something old (China's traditional medicine), something new (the e-commerce), and something red," Xie said.

Since July, foreign cosmetics companies, such as L'Oreal Group, Estee Lauder Co Inc and Shiseido Co Ltd, have all cut retail prices to boost sales.

While this might hit Shanghai Jahwa in the short term, Xie is confident that sales of the company's major brands will hold up well in the long term.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn