Growth on a paws for Aesop in China
Aesop has pointed its in-store sink ritual at pets. Free washes, treats, a Polaroid, a short piece of fiction, all built around "Animal," a pet cleanser it has sold for 27 years.
A Narrowing Base?
Most brands entering China's pet economy, RMB 312.6 billion in 2025, arrive with new merchandise and rented credibility. Aesop is reactivating something it already owned.
But when I see luxury brands making a play for the pets business, it signals to me that the market for luxury is narrowing... fewer customers being relied on to buy more. That has been the case in China for several years now. Its not uncommon for the top-5% of customers for some luxury brands to account for 80-90% of sales value.
Is the pet-focused approach something that signals a narrowing of the customer base OR does it in-fact allow them to connect with a wider set of customers (with a new access point)?
L'Oréal paid roughly $2.5 billion for Aesop in 2023 and named China a priority for acceleration.
