Watsons Malaysia continues Asia expansion with opening of 700th store in MY

Health and beauty retailer Watsons has opened its 700^th store at the KSL Esplanade Mall complete with new augmented reality services, a dedicated haircare pillar along with sustainability initiatives to better serve its customers and support its business growth in Asia.

The new store which spans over 4,00 square feet will be the largest Watsons store in the prime district of Klang and celebrates the opening of over 1,400 new Watsons stores across Asia in the last three years, according to a statement by the brand.

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“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Watsons Malaysia has grown from 535 stores in 2019 to 700 stores now,” said Dominic Lai, managing director for A.S. Watson Group in a statement by the brand. 

“Loyalty members have also risen from 5.7 million in 2019 to 7.2 million members to date, signaling 1.5 million new members in a short period of time," Lai added. 

To enhance the online plus offline shopping experience, the new store features StyleMe, an augmented reality-powered virtual makeup try-on service that allows customers to experience new products as professional makeup artists provide them with personalised recommendations.

“As the leading health and beauty retailer, Watsons will continue to innovate and adapt to meet customers’ evolving needs and strive for excellence in providing unparalleled Offline Plus Online (O+O) customer experience,” Lai continued.

The KSL Esplanade Mall store is also the first to feature a dedicated haircare pillar that showcases exclusive hair and scalp care ranges from Korea, Japan and the US, while also having pharmacists and healthcare professionals to readily provide health screenings to its customers.

It also boasts multiple new additions to its physical store that include a dedicated bay for beauty supplements, a display for exclusive Korean beauty products, an e-stamp corner for the redemptions of items and a dedicated lane for Watsons Elite members.

In promoting sustainability, Watsons has introduced a Sustainable Choices refill station for its own Natural line to encourage customers to refill used bottles and aims to achieve an 80% savings in plastic.

To further show Watsons’ commitment to the environment, customers can get a RM5 Watsons voucher for every recyclable bottle returned to its recycling bin.

"With a deep sense of purpose and a steadfast commitment to help customers look good, do good, feel great, we will continue on this growth journey with our customers and together, create a better future for all,” Lai added.

This news comes after it was revealed that Watsons is planning to open over 300 new stores in China this year, further strengthening its O+O platform strategy.

According to the company, Watsons has continued to accelerate its O+O platform strategy during the past three years of the pandemic with nearly 850 physical stores opening in mainland China as the market shows a gradual recovery and an improvement in customer sentiment.

During the pandemic, Watsons renovated nearly 440 stores in over 300 cities in mainland China to improve customer experience.

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