Market Trends

Despite difficult market conditions in the US, Rémy Martin’s 2023/2024 campaigns supported overall brand health and showed lifts across consideration and purchase intent. The brand teamed up with musician Usher for the ‘Life is a Melody’ campaign, resulting in a 22% increase in the promoter score. The “Sobremesa” campaign, focused on Hispanic cultural heritage, maintained the brand’s visibility in the eyes of a multicultural clientele. For LOUIS XIII, 2023 was marked by Baptiste Loiseau’s Cellar Master Tour in October in Miami and New York. The year also saw The Drop – a new campaign in collaboration with stylist LaQuan Smith, model Jasmine Tookes and Vogue France’s former editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld, and the sucess of the first pop-up LOUIS XIII boutique in Las Vegas at the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino.
In South America, performance was driven by four key markets: Mexico, Brazil, Barbados and Puerto Rico.

On an American spirits market that is still recovering post-pandemic, cognac and single malt have been the hardest hit by the slowdown. Only sales of tequila and Ready-to-Drink mixes have increased. Several factors are behind this. Inflation has hit people’s purchasing power and non-essential spending, and premiumisation has slowed down, even if the underlying trend of “drinking less but better” remains the long-term goal. Following the peak in consumption that followed the pandemic, consumers have started to moderate their drinking or even abstain altogether. Ready-to-Drink spirits mixes have captured market share, resulting in retailers experiencing financing difficulties reducing their inventory significantly. The economic slowdown has also hit the luxury segment: only 2.5% growth is expected for 2024 – it has been affected by inflation and uncertainty in a year that will see people go to the polls. Geopolitical tensions may also affect the number of journeys that US luxury sector clients make. However, there is growing interest in unique experiences that provide people with opportunities to disconnect from everyday life.

In South America, the Group’s performance should continue to be driven by Mexico and Brazil, where sales of spirits are seeing strong growth (liqueurs and gin in particular). This should mean excellent opportunities for Cointreau and The Botanist.

Performance in China was notable, despite the slower than expected recovery. 2023-2024 saw two-digit growth, driven by the VIP programmes in particular which helped bolster customer loyalty, and by the captivating personalised experience, which helped support the strong growth enjoyed by our stores. China Retail launched its visual identity in the new Plaza 66 store in Shanghai – the Group’s biggest store in the world, which has an exclusive Psyché salon.

Against a backdrop of falling spirits sales (except for baijiu), Rémy Martin and Bruichladdich continued to enjoy growth in 2023-2024. In the D2C (direct to consumer) category, Rémy Martin’s flagship stores stood out on the Tmall and JD platforms, and were recognised for the strongest annual growth and for having the best stores in the “beverages” category. Regarding key accounts, the Group developed its TikTok channel and took part in a number of the platform’s major promotional campaigns. This generated significant growth in terms of volume relative to the previous year. Finally, the collaboration with the Jiuxian group as part of an anniversary campaign in August boosted sales of Rémy Martin XO.

The Chinese luxury market is back on an even keel, and this can be partly attributed to the purchasing behaviour of wealthy customers, who were heavily impacted by the economic measures slowdown. These customers are increasingly after personalised and experiential shopping experiences. To fit out VIP salons and roll out activation campaigns, luxury brands are continuing to set up in retail areas. And to maintain ties with consumers on a limited budget, they are innovating in marketing and CRM.

Nowadays, e-commerce is a major distribution channel for the Group and the APAC region. Customer knowledge, achieved by leveraging data, is key for dealing with the economic slowdown and the very stiff competition on the spirits market. To understand consumer needs and meet them as closely as possible, our e-commerce teams are working on harvesting, integrating and analysing customer information, aggregating data from the Tmall and JD platforms with content from the Rémy Cointreau customer data platform. This data will be used to better understand the behaviour of the most loyal customers, establish a long-term dialogue with them and boost sales.

Travel Retail’s recovery in 2023-2024 is down to robust global performance, driven by retailers and bolstered by the launch of Club Exception, exclusively for the Travel Retail circuit. Despite the limited number of Chinese people travelling again, the APAC region registered solid sales of Rémy Martin XO and LOUIS XIII, emphasising the appeal that the Maison continues to have across the region. Thanks to a number of activation operations featuring its cocktails, Cointreau increased its sales in the APAC region as well as Europe. St-Rémy also performed well in APAC and AMEI, buoyed by the launch of St-Rémy Signature in Travel Retail. And finally, The Botanist enjoyed strong growth, particularly in APAC and in Europe, thanks to the launch campaign and activation of The Botanist Hebridean Strength.

The COVID-19 pandemic bedded in changes in people’s purchasing behaviour in the world of duty-free and gave impetus to digitalisation. Consumers are increasingly making purchases online and using click-and-collect. They also want an increasingly customised experience and the whole “spirit of the place” concept which provides them with local products and exclusive editions so they can connect at their destination is more and more important. Through various bespoke selections depending on destination, Rémy Cointreau is striving to meet these requirements. Strategic merchandising, immersive activations, tasting experiences and brand ambassadors which embody narrative, heritage and expertise enable the Group to bolster its ties between its brands and its customers from all over the world, creating unforgettable experiences and memories for them.