Who still shops at Watsons?

Results: China lags as Europe keeps growing

CK Hutchison (长江和记实业), whose retail arm is anchored by Watsons (屈臣氏), reported its 2025 results showing a clear split: the retail division grew overall, but China and Europe moved in opposite directions. China revenue was down about 2% year‑on‑year, same‑store sales fell 1.8% and store count dropped 7%, while Western and Eastern Europe both posted healthy gains — Western Europe revenue +10% with same‑store sales +3.9% and store growth +2%; Eastern Europe revenue +20%, same‑store sales +4.1% and store growth +7%. Who still visits Watsons in China? Fewer than before.

Why China is different: pre‑shopping moves online

The story is not just about cosmetics fads. It is about where purchase decisions now happen. Industry data show China’s omni‑channel cosmetics market reached ¥1,1042.45 billion in 2025, with online taking ¥7,217.73 billion — 65.36% of the total and growing faster than offline. Analysts at Accenture reportedly find 43% of Chinese consumers habitually browse and buy online (vs 32% globally), and 51% prefer a blended online–offline experience. When discovery, comparison and discount hunting happen on apps before a consumer ever walks into a store, a network of physical outlets built to serve in‑store traffic faces a new kind of pressure.

Stores are being repurposed; industry is choosing different exits

It has been reported that Watsons in China is converting some outlets into “back‑of‑house” fulfilment centers to handle online orders and instant delivery, acknowledging that store value is now distributed across many functions rather than simply walk‑in sales. The retail pain is not unique to Watsons: Shanghai Jahwa (上海家化) disclosed losses at its Sephora (丝芙兰) joint ventures — Sephora (Shanghai) revenue ¥5.501 billion with a ¥352 million net loss; Sephora (Beijing) revenue ¥1.035 billion with a ¥147 million net loss. And it has been reported that Sasa International (莎莎国际) now generates over 80% of mainland revenue online and is exiting the remaining mainland physical stores.

Europe’s resilience and the bigger picture

Europe’s inflamed shoppers show a different pattern: online growth exists, but many consumers still use stores to compare, secure discounts and walk away with goods immediately — a behaviour that preserves in‑store economics for chains there. This divergence highlights a larger point for Western readers: China is not merely “more online than Europe” — its consumption chain structurally front‑loads discovery, comparison and purchase online. Add inflationary pressure, changing cross‑border sourcing and evolving regulatory and logistics dynamics, and you get a retail landscape where store count, same‑store growth and profit contribution are no longer tightly coupled. The question for chains now is less “how many stores” and more “what must each store do?”