Last year, the Dutch cosmetics brand Rituals sold nearly a quarter more products, generating a turnover of 1.1 billion euros. In five years’ time, Rituals will hit the ceiling in Europe regarding sales, so the cosmetics brand is now turning its attention to Asia.
Striving towards a twofold
Despite the Covid pandemic, Rituals saw its turnover increase by 24 percent last year from 889 million to 1.1 billion euros. This milestone makes founder Raymond Cloosterman keenly look towards the future: the Dutch cosmetics brand is looking to Asia for further growth. “We think we can double, maybe even triple, in the next five to ten years”, he says.
In five to seven years, the chain, which now nearly counts a thousand stores, will run out of steam in Europe. So in the next ten years, Rituals will focus on Asia, Cloosterman told Dutch newspaper Financieel Dagblad. The retailer already has five stores in Hong Kong, with another six scheduled to open this year. The first store in Singapore or Malaysia is also scheduled to open this year. The brand will enter China through Tmall Global.
Cloosterman is also looking at other services and concepts, using the Amsterdam House of Rituals as a test lab. The chain tries out luxurious bedding, lets customers create their own perfumes and fragrance sticks and experiments with technological gadgets. For example, customers can get a half-hour brain massage with soothing music. Cloosterman is also working on an app with yoga routines, among other things. Biometric bracelets may be added later.
Green promises
At the same time, Rituals is focusing on sustainability. The brand already had a sustainable image, but Cloosterman wants to confirm it objectively by obtaining a B Corp certification. To receive this certification, the cosmetics label promises to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent for products by 2025 and by 10 percent for shipping. By 2023, products must consist of 90 percent natural ingredients, and some of the products will be refillable.
Every three years, the targets get verified by the American B-Corp. The Dutch company currently scores 90 out of 200 points. Nevertheless, Cloosterman does not believe that all responsibility rests on the shoulders of companies. Recently, Rituals was criticised for using stereotypical oriental marketing and collaborating with anti-vax influencers. “All these dilemmas should not be the responsibility of companies”, he says. “The world gets very complicated this way.”
