Luxasia: The name behind big luxury brands’ presence in Apac, from Hermes to SK-II
The distributor plans to expand its reach, adopt more technologies
[SINGAPORE] When you pick up a bottle of Hermes perfume at a department store in Singapore or reach for SK-II skincare at a boutique in Malaysia, you’ll likely see Luxasia Group listed as the distributor on its packaging.
Established in 1986, the privately owned omnichannel distributor has helped more than 120 global luxury brands set up in 15 markets across the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on South-east Asia. Many of its partnerships span decades.
“When we are representing a brand… we are the brand in market,” said Luxasia group CEO Satyaki Banerjee, who took the helm in this July after more than nine years with the company.
From marketing campaigns to setting up and selling at counters, brick-and-mortar stores and online marketplaces and websites, Luxasia runs luxury brands’ businesses “end to end”.
The group employs more than 3,300 people globally, with teams of 200 to 500 in each of its top 10 markets.
Over the last eight to ten years, its revenue has grown 12 to 15 per cent per annum.
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Long-term transformation
The Luxasia of today is the product of an ongoing transformation journey, said Banerjee.
In 2016, its management set out to professionalise the organisation.
Luxasia needed to go digital. This included integrating back-end digital competencies and modifying its enterprise resource planning (ERP) setup.
On the front end, Luxasia launched its e-commerce arm, which has since been spun off as Leap Commerce. This has grown into a leading e-commerce enabler, with half of its business not linked to Luxasia’s main business, said Banerjee.
The group also looked at scaling and diversification. Present in 10 markets in 2016, it expanded into more – notably Australia and India, which are now “at scales which are comparable to the other markets”.
Beyond its footprint, Luxasia wanted to diversify its products, within and outside the luxury beauty segment.
Originally a distributor of designer fragrances, it intensified its focus on other beauty categories.
Today, designer fragrances remain the top contributor to the business, though at under 40 per cent. Skincare accounts for more than a quarter of revenue, while niche fragrances and make-up each contribute double-digit shares.
Luxury lifestyle – where Luxasia is adding brands beyond beauty, such as Lego – is also “closing towards a double-digit share of business”.
While this may seem like a split from its core business, Banerjee pointed out commonalities such as the target consumers and go-to-market channels.
While the components of the business have shifted, they are all growing, the CEO added. “(We have) a much more balanced portfolio, which allows us to be robust as we invest for the future.”
Best of both worlds
In 2016, Luxasia embarked on these changes with a five-year plan, dubbed LX21. Its next mid-term plan, LX24, spanned three years; Banerjee explained that the shortened duration was in line with the world’s rapid pace of change.
He described Luxasia as “a group of entrepreneurial islands” in 2016, transforming to an “MNC (multinational corporation)-lite” in 2024.
At the end of its current three-year journey, LX27, he wants to achieve “the best of both worlds”.
This means keeping its entrepreneurship and agility, but with “the excellence, the transformation mindset, the ability to invest in technology that a professional set-up (has)”.
Banerjee said Enterprise Singapore’s Scale-Up programme, which supports high-potential local companies to scale, helped Luxasia to define its LX27 plan.
In the programme’s latest run, which concluded this March, Luxasia sought help for exploration of technology and “intense modelling” of growth scenarios.
The programme provided a chance to learn from other organisations that were scaling and transforming, as well as for the leadership to “step back”, speak to shareholders, figure out what to achieve, and chart a path.
Bigger and better
Banerjee intends to focus on four areas: “content”; technology; people and mindsets; and partners.
First, he plans to scale Luxasia. This includes looking at “when and where to really go hard in certain markets where (it sees) opportunities”, while retaining and growing market share in luxury beauty.
The company chooses markets where it is certain it has a “right to win” – the ability to succeed due to a sustainable competitive advantage. This is why it does not operate in the “established, mature” markets of Japan and South Korea.
It plans to return to China – a market where it paused operations – when it has “a very clear view of how to play to ensure (it has) a right to win”.
India, meanwhile, has “huge room for growth” based on beauty consumption per capita, and there are increasing access channels for distribution, such as galleries. And in Indonesia, the economy is expected to have a “long-term growth story”.
“Most of our markets… are high-growth markets,” said Banerjee. “So I want to be growing double digits in almost all our markets.”
Luxasia is also on the lookout for brands to bring on board, whether these are entering new regions, growing their presence or looking to change partners.
In 2001, Luxasia opened escentials, a platform to showcase niche fragrances.
“We started working with some of the best-known niche brands,” Banerjee said, citing Diptyque and Byredo as examples. “A lot of them have become bigger brands.”
While escentials continues to carry products from these heavyweights, it constantly adds new brands which “could be big tomorrow”.
There are now eight physical escentials stores and four online ones across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with an upcoming opening in Indonesia. Banerjee plans to grow this to 20 shopfronts in the mid-term, in new and existing geographies.
Luxasia will also explore how to build the luxury lifestyle segment into a business pillar, with “quite a few” products to launch in 2026.
While it intends to work with about 12 to 15 brands here, compared to over 100 brands in beauty, these partners would be “very strong in their own category”, said Banerjee.
Tech and people
Second, Banerjee wants to further the company’s technological advancement. Luxasia is running pilots to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools for Leap Commerce, in areas such as financial and operational analyses as well as legal reporting.
It is also considering how AI tools and automation may be applied consistently across markets, and upgrading its ERP system to support the integration of new technologies.
Third, Banerjee wants to nurture growth and learning mindsets; finally, he wants to build partnerships, with open lines of communication.
Building trust and rapport will be necessary on both fronts, especially as the operating environment changes, he said. He noted that luxury beauty has had a tough 18 months, not least due to global uncertainty.
Still, India has seen “phenomenal” growth, Indonesia continues to grow, and the Philippines “has held its own”. By product segment, skincare – which dominates the Asian market, as the largest beauty category – has suffered, but fragrances have been resilient.
How the near future will unfold is unclear, but “pockets of growth” remain, the CEO said.
In turbulent times, people look for partners who think long-term and can be trusted, he added. “And I think that’s a big sweet spot for Luxasia.”
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