It’s no wonder that RéVive is making a major play for expansion in China, the fastest growing market for the luxury skin care brand. RéVive has had a strong foothold in Asia for many years. They are a top selling brand at the retailer Joyce in Hong Kong and have an established presence in Taiwan with seven counters and the brand’s only freestanding store with a treatment room. As consumer demand increased in mainland China, RéVive entered that market in 2019 through different online platforms, such as Taobao, Little Red Book, and Alibaba’s Tmall, via cross border e-commerce. That (CBEC) business has been growing substantially, and SKP, the biggest luxury department store in China, approached the brand and launched RéVive in-store cross border in September of 2023 in four SKP Select locations.

At each SKP Select store, the brand has a physical shop-in-shop, where the customer can see, feel, touch, and try RéVive products, and then buy them via cross-border fulfillment. In April, the brand opened a physical marketing pop-up shop in front of the Beijing SKP, where consumers could experience the world of RéVive and try best sellers and hero products such as Rescue Elixir Anti-Aging Oil. “Results have been exceptional. In the first four days of launching the pop-up, we generated numbers well beyond what we expected to generate for the entire month,” says Elana Drell Szyfer, CEO of RéVive. “What we’re seeing globally post-pandemic is that the consumer wants a physical experience. Seeing a brand come to life and being in that brand’s environment is important to consumers globally, but you see it at a heightened level in Asia, and definitely in China. This pop-up model drives brand awareness and affinity, which also drives revenue, and brings traffic into SKP.” Consider it a mega win-win for both the retailer and the brand.

This strong entrance into SKP has not only grown sales in China, but also created booming brand awareness and ever-increasing demand for RéVive throughout Asia. So much so that DFS Group Ltd., the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, asked the brand to partner up in March of this year. They entered 12 doors in DFS duty free stores in Hong Kong (bolstering their existing business with Joyce Beauty and SKP Select) and launched in Macau, a whole new location for the brand. “We can also sell through general trade in these locations, because we don’t need the health permits that are mandatory for general market trade in China,” says Szyfer. “We doubled the distribution in the region via DFS, and since we launched with DFS our brand sales at Joyce have grown, not declined.” It seems that a rising tide is lifting all boats, and this varied distribution strategy is working to everyone’s advantage. Building more brand awareness clearly drives growth to all retailers. “There’s something about validating the brand for consumers if you see it in more of the right touchpoints, and meet the customer where she is. For us, the omni approach has proven to be accretive, and that is the goal,” says Szyfer.

There’s a delicate balancing act between increased brand awareness that strengthens consumer demand and too much visibility that softens it. “In Asia, there’s a sweet spot between exclusivity and brand awareness, and that’s one of the big drivers of RéVive,” says Szyfer. “We haven’t been widely distributed and have been available in select retail spaces and yet we are a proven skincare brand with a 25-year-old history.” The other key component of the brand’s success? RéVive ticks all the boxes of what the consumer in China wants, and brand loyalty is through the roof. “They value legacy and founder brands with history, and also love science, performance, and clinical formulas. We have this unique positioning, filling all of those consumer needs as a luxury + doctor skincare brand. And what’s interesting is that the Chinese consumer has gravitated toward some of our most expensive products. They are willing to pay a higher price if they see a positive difference in their skin, and there’s a real global acceptance of the efficacy of our formulas.”

What’s next for the brand in China? “We are in the process of registering our products with the National Medical Products Administration in China for general market trade because the multiplier of revenue is 5 to 10 times higher once your brand is available in general trade,” says Szyfer. “The opportunity for growth is huge, and we anticipate that by the end of 2025 all of our products will be registered.” The brand is also leaning into their visibility on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, as well as creating and strengthening partnerships with livestreaming content creators. Livestream shopping is a skyrocketing trend in China. According to eMarketer data, over 373 million digital consumers in China made purchases through livestreams in 2023. They forecast that total sales will rise from $562.62 billion in 2023 to $843.93 billion in 2025. “You can generate big numbers in a short period of time. We collaborate with livestreamers who sell our products cross-border, and these influencers are very conscious of their credibility and only align with brands and hero products that they believe in,” says Szyfer.

RéVive’s innovative strategy in Asia is propelling the brand to continued growth in China, and world-wide. “The interesting piece is that when you’re focusing on high growth in one particular region—in this case, greater China—it has a far-reaching effect. Chinese consumers travel within Asia, and to the States, and the UK, which is why the DFS partnership is so important for us,” says Szyfer. “Because of social media, there’s a set of taste makers that a luxury consumer looks to, and as brand awareness in one area of the world becomes greater, it acts as a megaphone for growth opportunities in multiple places.” The bottom line: The brand’s modus operandi is innovation, for the product line and for expansion. “We think about innovation through the lens of our varied distribution channels and a very omni approach. There’s a significant opportunity for growth if you’re hitting the luxury consumer where they shop, and in Asia that has expanded with e-commerce, duty free, and livestreaming—and we have to meet our customer where she is.”