Company: A.S. Watson Group
Company Description: Established in 1841, A.S. Watson Group is the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer operating over 16,000 stores under 12 retail brands in 28 markets, with about 130,000 employees worldwide. Every year, we are serving over 5.5 billion shoppers via our O+O (Offline plus Online) technology-enabled platforms.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year – Consumer Products – More Than 10 Employees
 Nomination Title: A.S. Watson Group
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated organization, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
https://youtu.be/2nNGh9ag1rk
- Briefly describe the nominated organization: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 181 words used.
Established in 1841, A.S. Watson was a small dispensary in Hong Kong as one the very first pharmacist in the city. Since then, A.S. Watson Group has grown from just one small dispensary into the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, operating over 16,100 physical stores and online 28 markets. It makes A.S. Watson one of the longest-standing companies in the world.
Over 180 years, A.S. Watson has been expanding its operations and diversifying its business in Asia and Europe. Currently, we are running health & beauty, luxury perfumeries & cosmetics, food, electronics, wine, and beverages business under 13 brands including Watsons, Kruidvat, Trekpleister, Rossmann, Superdrug, Savers, Drogas, The Perfume Shop, ICI PARIS XL, PARKnSHOP, FORTRESS, Watson’s Wine, Watsons Water.
In terms of past performance, A.S. Watson has been a consistently profitable company with a strong track record of growth and expansion. In 2019, we reached the milestone of 15,000 stores operating in 25 markets. In 2020, the company recorded a total revenue of USD20.3 billion and had 135 million members globally.
- Outline the organization's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 242 words used.
Despite the difficult business environment presented by the pandemic, we didn’t slow down our business growth. Here are our accomplishments:
- Expanding in New Markets
We entered into 3 new markets, namely UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, adding to a total of 28 markets. This has resulted in a global store network of over 16,150, representing a growth of almost 8%. Our global member base has increased by nearly 6% to 143 million.
- Strong Business Results
Despite temporary close of many stores due to covid restrictions and lockdowns, we recorded a revenue of USD21.6 billion, representing a growth of 6.3% growth compared to 2020.
- Successful Business Strategy
We advocated O+O (Offline Plus Online) platform strategy which has become the new standard for the whole retail sector. O+O is very different from the traditional strategy of O2O. It creates an integrated customers experience so that customers can shop across any channels, anytime, anywhere. The result of this strategy is O+O customers spend 3 times what an instore-only customer spends with us.
- Influential Women Empowerment
Under the leadership of Malina Ngai Watsons has launched The New Beautiful campaign which empowers women to be more confident. The brand has launched the Women in Medicine programme to elevate the status of women in the field of healthcare. The Group has donated 5,000 free corrective surgeries in partnership with Operation Smile, a global NGO which focus on medical care for cleft lips and palates.
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Despite the challenging business environment presented by COVID-19, A.S. Watson has demonstrated remarkable agility and resilience. Firstly, our expansion with addition of 3 new markets and the growth in global store network are significant.
Secondly, achieving 6.3% sales growth during COVID-19 was impressive. In view of temporary store closures and supply chain disruptions due to lockdowns, the significant revenue growth has beaten market performance and it’s a testament to resilience.
Thirdly, our business strategy "O+O platform strategy" is unique, which leverages our extensive physical store network and increases overall omni-channel sales across touchpoints, has redefined customer experience and cannot be replicated by other retailers.
Finally, the achievement of 5,000 corrective surgery enabled us to educate more female students to become surgeons which improves cleft patients' wellbeing.
We have risen in the ranking in Top 50 Global Retailers List 2023 by Kantar’s National Retail Federation by 9 places (From 25 in 2021 to 16 in 2023). This shows we are ahead of our competitors who have dropped in their rankings. The scoring system weighs our international retail revenues, further emphasizing our global success. Watsons is recognized as Asia’s No.1 Beauty and Personal Care Brand and ranked 6th in Campaign Asia’s Top 50 Brands in Customer Experience, proving we are a strong retailer not only winning the wallet of customers, but also their heart.
A.S. Watson’s success serve as an example showing that even during difficult times, it's possible to achieve significant growth while also prioritizing sustainability.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 7 words used.
Supporting materials – video and PowerPoint deck
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