Perfumes and cosmetics in Russia

Perfume and cosmetics industry in Russia

France is the largest supplier of perfumes to Russia, accounting for 37% of total imports of the cosmetics industry.

Moreover, perfume imports from France are three times higher than those of the second largest supplier to the Russian market, Poland.

Spain took third place with a share of 14%.

In terms of value, France is the largest supplier of perfumes and cosmetics to Russia, accounting for 53% of total imports.

The price of perfume imports in 2022 increased by 24% compared to the previous year.

The cosmetics segment includes:

Feminine hygiene, fragrances (perfume), hair care, makeup, men’s cosmetics (men’s care), oral hygiene (oral care), personal hygiene (including bath and shower, soap and antiperspirant and deodorant), skin care (including hand care, hair removal products and makeup removers apart from face and body care) and the sun care market.

Key beauty trends in 2023

The economic situation that has developed in Russia since February 2022 has no analogues in the history of Russian development, and the cosmetics industry is in a crisis due to Western sanctions.

It is worth noting that the demographics of the Russian cosmetics market are changing. The use of cosmetics is not exclusively the preserve of women. The male audience of the beauty industry is increasing, the core of which is also millennials. 47% of men of the new generation in Russia would like to increase the number of products they use in their daily grooming routine.

The largest perfume and cosmetics stores in Russia
“Rive Gauche”

“Rive Gauche” is a Russian perfume and cosmetics chain, occupying the third place in the perfume and cosmetics retail market after Magnit Cosmetic and L’Etoile.

“Rive Gauche” was founded in 1995 by Pavel and Larisa Karaban in St. Petersburg, and in mid-October 2008, it opened its first store in Moscow in the Pyramid shopping center on Tverskaya Street.

“Rive Gauche” has 190 stores in 40 cities of Russia, including St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Moscow, etc., uniting cosmetics and toiletries in these regions. In the stores of “Rive Gauche” you can buy everything from luxury brands to mass market products.

“Letual”

“L’Etoile” is a Russian chain of stores and retailers that sells cosmetics and perfumes.

“L’Etoile” is managed by Alkor & Co, which is owned by Letu Holding, located off the coast of Cyprus. In 2013, it was ranked 17th in the list of 30 leading retailers in Russia by revenue.

In 2018, “L’Etoile” included more than 840 stores with revenue of – 82.5 billion rubles. As of 2020, “L’Etoile” was the second largest cosmetics and perfume retailer in Russia after “Magnit Cosmetic”.

The first “L’Etoile” store was opened in Moscow in 1997, on the site of the famous Soviet-era Ruslan store on Smolenskaya Square.

In 2009, the first “L’Etoile” supermarket format was opened in Moscow in the Golden Babylon shopping center with an area of ​​1,600 square meters.

In February 2023, the company announced a rebranding, its brand name was changed to “Letual”.

“Wildberries”

“Wildberries” is an international marketplace for clothing, footwear, electronics, children’s goods, household goods and other goods in Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, Israel, Moldova, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

In 2021, the turnover of “Wildberries” increased by 93% and reached 844 billion rubles.

In 2016-2020 “Wildberries” was the largest online store in the Russian Federation.

According to Forbes, “Wildberries” ranked second among the 30 most valuable companies based on share price as of February 2, 2022. The company’s value was $ 7.635 billion.

On July 23, 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on Wildberries in Ukraine for a period of three years. Personal sanctions were imposed on the company’s founder, Tatyana Bakalchuk, her husband Vladislav, and company employees Andriy Ryashka and Alexey Kuzmenko. The Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tkachenko, explained that the sanctions were imposed due to the sale of Russian military uniforms and goods used for “Russian propaganda” to Wildberries. Wildberries said that the sanctions would not affect the company’s business, as its sales in Ukraine account for only 0.01%.

The business model of “Wildberries” is characterized as an online hypermarket, a global store or a marketplace (a marketplace with products from partner companies). The company cooperates directly with manufacturers of clothing, toiletries and official distributors.

The company employs 20 thousand people, of which about 500 are at the head office.

“Lamoda”

“Lamoda” is one of the largest online stores in Russia and the CIS. Since 2014, it has been part of the Global Fashion Group.

In 2011, the “Lamoda” online store was opened, and together with its own courier service, “LM Express”, it began operating in Moscow.

In November 2020, “Lamoda” launched the “Lamoda Planet” section, where they collected goods that adhere to the principles of conscious consumption. 2 months after the launch of the section, Russians have spent more than 50 million rubles on environmentally friendly, ethical and charitable goods.

“Gold Apple”

“Gold Apple” is a Russian chain of beauty stores headquartered in Yekaterinburg.

“Gold Apple” opened its first store in Yekaterinburg in 1996, measuring 40 square meters.

The first “Gold Apple” store was opened in the format of a “beauty supermarket” in 2004.

“Gold Apple” opened its stores in Moscow in 2017 and in St. Petersburg in 2019.

As of May 2022, the chain had 31 stores in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Khabarovsk, Saratov and Samara, and an online store in Belarus.

On July 9, 2021, the first retail store outside of Russia was opened in Minsk, Belarus, and on March 20, 2022, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The average selling area of ​​supermarkets in Russia is 1,500 square meters.

In 2018, the company opened an online store. In the fall of 2020, online store features were added to the Gold Apple mobile application. The online store offers more than 60,000 products from 1,500 brands, including 84 exclusive brands and brands with limited distribution.

Key and important factors for the presence of Iranian manufacturers in the Russian market

According to the initial research conducted on the perfume and toiletries industry in the large Russian market and considering the key factors:

High and consistent quality of manufactured products

Preferential tariffs on import duties of Iranian goods to Russia

Low export costs of Iranian products to Russia compared to Western goods

The proximity and proximity of Iran and Russia as a logistical advantage and the possibility of exporting Iranian goods to Russia by various methods such as land, rail and sea transportation in the shortest time and at low shipping prices

The absence of a large part of the market from famous Western brands

The possibility of rapid expansion of market share and access to the competitive and trade space in Russia

It can be said that there is a high economic justification for the entry of the esteemed company “Ponberiz” into the large Russian-Eurasian market, and the “Fardad” Group of Companies is proud to establish effective and successful joint cooperation in this direction.