Watsons, the nation’s largest cosmetics and drugstore operator, said yesterday it would spend NT$500 million (US$15.6 million) to open 30 new stores and refurbish 220 existing stores next year, as it expects the economy to pick up steam.
The company plans to increase its number of outlets from the current 400 to 500 by 2012, Watson’s Personal Care Stores (Taiwan) Co managing director Krish Iyer told a media briefing.
The investment target for next year is one of the highest in recent years, compared with the company’s budget of between NT$200 million and NT$300 million for the Taiwanese market during the past three years, he said.
Watsons, which entered the Taiwanese market in 1987, opened eight new outlets and remodeled 180 this year.
“We want to offer a better shopping experience and launch new product lines to the customers,” Iyer said.
Although the domestic economy is expected to recover gradually next year, consumer spending sentiment is expected to be similar to this year — people tend to shop around for value-added deals and want their money’s worth, he said.
Watsons is confident it would be able to enlarge its customer base by opening more outlets next year, Iyer said.
Revenues are forecast to grow by double digits next year, while this year’s sales should show single-digit growth from last year, he said.
Competition in the cosmetics and drugstore market is heating up as more convenience stores and hypermarkets are offering similar product lines at cheaper prices to lure consumers, which has been lackluster during the financial crisis.
Data released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Nov. 23 showed that October revenues for sales of pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetics goods had grown 10.9 percent year-on-year to NT$15.2 billion.
However, total sales for the first 10 months of the year were down 0.2 percent to NT$130.7 billion, the data show.
Meanwhile, smaller player Cosmed (康是美), owned by President Drugstore Business Corp (統一生活事業), said it opened 25 outlets this year, bringing its number of stores to 300.
The company expected to have double-digit growth in sales this year, Cosmed public relation official Clare Liu (劉琬怡) said.
Cosmed sells 236 own-brand products, and its healthcare products, which make up 40 percent of the own-brand items, are its core strength, as they are hard to imitate, she said.
One of its biggest sellers is My Health Diary (我的健康日記), a vitamin brand co-developed with local drug firm Yung Shin Group (永信藥品).
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