Body and home cosmetics brand Rituals continues to gain momentum in the U.S. and with the appointment of Miami-based Essence Corp. last year, is also making a big push in travel retail in the Americas.
In a meeting with TMI during the Orlando Summit, Rituals Director Travel Retail Neil Ebbutt, said that the brand is now in 60 markets in travel retail, including in duty free, with stand-alone stores, shops-in-shop, cruise & ferries, hotels and airlines, with more in the pipeline.
In North America, Rituals now has 11 stores in New York, and will have 22 throughout the country by the end of the year. In the wholesale channel, the brand is now in 40 POS with Macy’s as well as in select Lord & Taylor and Ulta stores, which gives it excellent exposure, and is distributed throughout the U.S. on Amazon.
Business is growing so well that the company has set up a dedicated U.S. team. Travel retail is managed from the Amsterdam headquarters, working with Essence Corp. in the market.
Travel retail sales were up 44% in the region, said Ebbutt, and the goal is even higher for this year. Business is also growing strongly in Asia, including with DFS in Macao, and Rituals is opening a domestic office in Hong Kong.
Rituals’ Asian-inspired products continue to be the driving force behind the brand, and in April the company introduced four new Travel Exclusive sets from its best-selling collections – enhancing the brand’s presence at all touch points of the traveler’s journey.
The new Travel Exclusive sets are available at different price points to the brand’s existing selections, which underlines the importance of variety within Rituals’ Travel Exclusive offer.
Three Mini Travel Sets are available from The Ritual of Sakura, The Ritual of Ayurveda and The Ritual of Happy Buddha collections. Each set contains a Body Cream (70ml) and Foaming Shower Gel (50ml) in security-friendly sizes.
Namasté
In addition to the mini sets, the Ritual of Namasté Travel Exclusive Face Care Bag contains four key products from the Namasté range to cleanse, remove make-up and moisturize. The products are housed in a clear, reusable zip-close pouch with gold trim. The set is available at stores operated by Heinemann, Eckerö Line, Viking Line and Lagardère Travel Retail.
Rituals Director Travel Retail Neil Ebbutt, commented: “The introduction of our new Travel Exclusive sets is an important part of our ongoing strategy to reach consumers at all touch points on their journey. By offering our best- selling Rituals in a travel-friendly format, customers are able to try and become familiar with our products which allows us to build loyalty and drive repeat purchases from across our lifestyle product offering.”
Rituals relaunches Karma range
Rituals, has also relaunched The Ritual of Karma collection ahead of summer to include new products suited for holiday travelers.
Inspired by ancient Hindu belief, The Ritual of Karma was designed to help customers radiate positivity by living with good intent. Enriched with organic white tea and holy lotus, the range includes body care, including hair care, Hair & Body Mist and two products for the feet, a full selection of sun care products and home collections containing Fragrance Sticks, a Kitchen Set, a Scented Candle and Garden Incense Sticks – all packaged in a new, brighter turquoise color for summer.
The full Ritual of Karma range – body, sun, home – launched in Rituals standalone stores on April 1st. Best sellers from the body range will be available in shop-in-shops and sun care products will be in select duty free stores that have dedicated sun care areas.
