Amyris brands hit “record” sales during Black Friday and China Singles’ Day despite lockdown protests

29 Nov 2022 --- As the world’s biggest shopping days come to a close, Amyris is sharing that its brands’ sales in its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel reached record levels during Black Friday week, (18th to 26th November). Biossance takes the spotlight as the top-selling brand, expected to achieve its first month of US$20 million in retail sales – in combination with Black Friday and China Singles’ Day on November 11. Amyris expects to see growth in retail despite COVID-19 rules constraining Chinese shoppers.

“Consumer demand for clean, sustainable health and beauty products continues to be strong. Our omnichannel strategy supports this demand and the continued growth of our consumer brands,” says John Melo, president and CEO at Amyris.

Moreover, beauty, which includes cosmetics, skincare and haircare, remained resilient and showed growth during this quarter and holiday season, shares Amyris. The company’s third-quarter report highlights that revenue increased by 98% compared to last year’s quarter, amounting to US$46.6 million.

E-Commerce drives sales
Despite the COVID-19 lockdown constraints in China, Amyris’ Biossance performed well in sales during China Singles’ Day. The company shares that Biossance’s sales represent consumers across retail and online e-Commerce channels, including its DTC channel.Biossance takes the spotlight as the top-selling brand (Credit: Biossance).

E-Commerce generated 76% of its November month-to-date sales during Black Friday week, shares the company. A survey by Global-e warned British retailers to expect an underwhelming Black Friday after it found 48% of UK consumers are shopping online from international retailers to find better deals in the US and China.

“Amyris consumer brands delivered record DTC Black Friday week revenue, which was 71% of November month-to-date DTC consumer revenue. Our DTC channels typically represent approximately 45% of our total consumer revenue, with 55% being generated from brick-and-mortar retail,” comments Melo.

Following Biossance, JVN haircare, Rose Inc. color cosmetics and MenoLabs menopause supplements were the top three selling brands. Their combined DTC revenue grew by more than 400% compared to last year’s Black Friday week.

“Besides our readiness for the holiday shopping season, we continue to be very focused on Barra Bonita’s output to deliver our strongest ingredient product revenue this quarter and on executing the previously announced ‘Fit to Win’ margin, cost and cash actions,” continues Melo.

Is it post-COVID-19?
In addition to the well-performing DTC sales, Amyris anticipates a strong performance from its brick-and-mortar retail compared to the previous year’s quarter – when consumers returned to stores after the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as parts of the world are cooling COVID-19 rules, the Chinese government is enforcing the Zero-COVID policy, which imposes stricter measures three years into the crisis. The World Trade Organization says that China has 144,205 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of November 21.

Shanghai is tightening entry rules as the authorities grapple with a spike in cases, reports Reuters. Moreover, it shares that restrictions have been heightened for public venues, such as shopping malls and restaurants.

As a result, public protests against the Communist Party-imposed lockdown constraints and censorship are rising. In videos circulating online by CNA, angry protesters are seen being beaten by police as they hold white sheets of paper as a symbol of defiance.The Chinese government is enforcing the Zero-COVID policy, which imposes stricter measures three years into the crisis.

Attention to China
The increasing constraints in China have not spared other beauty players. 

Estée Lauder Companies previously reported net sales of US$3.93 billion for its 2023 fiscal first quarter, a decline from US$4.39 billion in the prior-year period. The company blames COVID-19 restrictions in China, which have posed a more significant challenge than expected.

Similarly, Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO at L’Oréal, said that the summer did not exactly turn out as they had hoped due to stricter lockdowns and the complete lockdown of Hainan in August. “The Chinese market growth for the full year will not be what we expected.”

“Several factors temporarily impacted the performance of L’Oréal Luxe in the third quarter. Nevertheless, the division reaccelerated in September and reached record market share in mainland China in the third quarter,” says Hieronimus.

In attempts to strengthen its presence in Asia, L’Oréal, in collaboration with Hotel Shilla and Anchor Equity Partners, launched Shihyo, a luxury beauty brand featuring 24 herbal ingredients infused with fermented rice water and ginseng water.

By Venya Patel