Kosé’s duty-free sales in China rose from JPY 0.9 billion to JPY 2.3 billion between July and September, up 144.4 percent on a year earlier. Its online sales in China barely moved. The Japanese beauty group, Kosé Holdings (コーセーホールディングス), set out the figures in its third-quarter results presentation on 10 November 2026.
Unit: %
July-September 2026 vs July-September 2025, yen basis, before revenue recognition standard · Source: Kosé Holdings, 10 November 2026
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| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Duty-free (travel retail) | 144.4% |
| Offline | 29.9% |
| Online (e-commerce) | 1.3% |
Hainan demand and a completed operator merger drove the jump
Kosé gave two reasons for the duty-free surge. Demand on Hainan Island recovered, and the integration of duty-free operators was completed, allowing their business to restart.
The comparison base was also low. China travel retail brought in JPY 0.9 billion in July–September 2025, the smallest of the four quarters of that year, against JPY 1.8 billion and JPY 2.4 billion in the first two.
Strip out the yen’s movement and the growth is smaller but still steep. Sales at the unit Kosé labels Kosé China TR rose 118.9 percent in local currency in the third quarter, compared with 145.6 percent in yen.
Online sales were flat at JPY 1.8 billion
Kosé’s e-commerce sales in China came to JPY 1.8 billion in the third quarter, level with a year earlier when rounded, for growth of 1.3 percent. That followed increases of 38.8 percent in the first quarter and 19.4 percent in the second.
Offline sales held their pace. They rose 29.9 percent to JPY 1.3 billion, in line with the 29.8 percent gain of the second quarter. The company said high-end DECORTÉ products took a larger share of offline sales and that it had succeeded in winning new customers.
Kosé China’s local-currency sales fell 6.6% in Q3
Kosé China, the subsidiary that handles online and offline sales in China but not travel retail, grew 7.8 percent in yen in the third quarter. In local currency its sales fell 6.6 percent.
Unit: %
Year on year, local currency, Kosé China (online and offline, excluding travel retail) · Source: Kosé Holdings, 10 November 2026
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| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | -1.9% |
| Q2 2026 | 7.4% |
| Q3 2026 | -6.6% |
| Jan-Sep 2026 | 1.1% |
Over nine months Kosé China added JPY 1.1 billion of sales, up 14.5 percent in yen and 1.1 percent excluding currency effects. The company credited its AQ line, led by the AQ pore serum oil, for the increase.
The wider Asia region grew faster. Sales there rose from JPY 29.8 billion to JPY 37.9 billion in January–September, up 26.8 percent, or 17.9 percent excluding currency effects. Travel retail outside the Panpuri business added JPY 4.1 billion of that increase.
Inventory control in duty-free, livestreams on the mainland
For DECORTÉ in the fourth quarter, Kosé plans to tighten control of market inventory in its China duty-free business. On the mainland it will push higher-priced products, using its own livestreams and what it calls “second KOLs”.
| Channel | Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2025 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Q3 change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online (e-commerce) | 18 | 25 | 31 | 37 | 18 | 18 | +1.3% |
| Duty-free (travel retail) | 18 | 28 | 24 | 33 | 9 | 23 | +144.4% |
| Offline | 10 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 13 | +29.9% |
Group sales for the nine months reached JPY 249.4 billion, up 3.7 percent, or 0.9 percent excluding currency effects.
