Mr Simon Kwok, Chairman & CEO

“We aim to provide a well-rounded service to customers, not only with the sale of products but also as a ‘beauty’ solutions provider,” said Mr. Simon Kwok, Chairman & CEO of Sa Sa International. Sa Sa’s beauty consultants offer highly personalised beauty consultancy for customers and total beauty solutions for a wide range of beauty-related problems. “In the current economic environment, it is even more important for us to bring to our customers exactly what they want, according to their needs, budget
and preference.”

Sa Sa’s market leadership reflects its innovative retailing format based on choice and convenience, as well as the professional services of its well-
trained beauty consultants. Sa Sa’s market share has reached 30 percent in the cosmetics market in Hong Kong.

Sa Sa was ranked the largest cosmetics specialty store in Asia, and one of the top five retail groups in Hong Kong in the 2008 Retail Asia Pacific’s Top 500 Awards, organised by Retail Asia in collaboration with Euromonitor and KPMG.

Sa Sa boasts a comprehensive product range and it keeps introducing new brands to Asia every year, strengthening its brand portfolio. It recently included Nuxe, Annayake, Caudalie, Collistar, and In Essence in its extensive range.

Service is key
Sa Sa has a highly trained pool of beauty consultants who boast extensive product knowledge and outstanding customer service skills. Newly recruited beauty consultants receive over 150 hours of training (lasting six to eight months) and stringent assessments before becoming qualified. The company offers continuous training that enables its professionals to regularly update skills and knowledge.

The service excellence is made possible by a three “S” system: Standard, System, Supervision, through which the company achieves consistency and excellence in service with clear and stringent customer service standards, a well-established training system and efficient supervisory mechanisms. In fact, Sa Sa’s service excellence is widely recognised by professional bodies and Sa Sa’s beauty consultants have won an impressive range of industry awards. Sa Sa won the 2007 and 2008 Service and Courtesy Award – Junior Frontline Level and Supervisory Level under the Beauty Products/Cosmetics Category organised by Hong Kong Retail Management Association.

 Sa Sa serves a wide customer base, encompassing teenagers and senior citizens. As more and more men are using skin care products, Sa Sa has introduced more men’s products recently, with a dedicated men’s corner in most of the shops.

The best at the big '30'
In 2008, the Sa Sa Group celebrated its 30th Anniversary. The party took off with a corporate branding campaign that celebrated its 30th anniversary, including a new corporate TV commercial and shop promotions and a lucky draw targeted at customers. The new corporate TV commercial gave Sa Sa an image lift, making it look refreshing, young and passionate.

Charity is also an important element in its 30th Anniversary celebrations. Sa Sa initiated the “Making Life Beautiful” Beauty Ambassador Training Programme, together with charity organisation Po Leung Kuk. Sa Sa volunteer trainers conducted a series of makeup, body care and hair care courses to senior volunteers of Po Leung Kuk, who can in turn give colour to other senior citizens’ lives.

As always, Sa Sa has touched the wider world in a socially responsible way, contributing to society by supporting various charity and community programmes.

In addition, Sa Sa has made an effort to increase its retail branding, through innovative publicity activities such as the Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2008 – and for the fifth time running, Sa Sa was named the official cosmetic specialty store for Miss Hong Kong Pageant.

The 2008 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Day was one of the most significant and popular race meetings of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which took place on 12 October 2008. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Group sponsored the Ladies’ Purse Day.

Global network
The Group has a strategy of consolidation and expansion for its retail network that spans the region, including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, as well as mainland China.

The Group has focused its energies on China. Apart from the multi-brand Sa Sa stores, single-brand beauty counters and stores under exclusive brands, Sa Sa is also preparing to build up a distribution network via wholesaling to local distributors.
- Remo Notarianni

PHILOSOPHY
We believe in being passionate, enthusiastic and staying focused. We are willing to learn, improve and be innovative. When we encounter problems, we remain positive, solve problems with patience and willpower, and treat them as an opportunity to learn from, so we can turn a ‘crisis’ into an ‘opportunity.’ And each opportunity has created a success for the company, making great moments into milestones for the Hong Kong cosmetics industry, that continue to make Sa Sa an important part of the world of cosmetics

FAST FACTS

2008
• Sa Sa was presented with an Outstanding Chain Store award by Hong Kong Business magazine for the fifth consecutive year in 2008
• Sa Sa is the largest cosmetics retail chain in Asia and one of the top five retail groups in Hong Kong, as ranked by 2008 Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Retailers ranking by Retail Asia magazine, KPMG and Euromonitor
• Sa Sa receives the "Judging Panel-Grand Prize", Personal Care section, for the second year in The Hong Kong Corporate Branding Award 2008 and Outstanding Corporate Brand Marketing Award, jointly organised by Ming Pao and Department of Marketing of the Chinese University of Hong Kong