Rituals boss Raymond Cloosterman on why the luxury brand is keeping its focus on physical stores

At a time when the global luxury market is suffering from softer consumer demand, Rituals is one brand going against the wider trend, reporting growth “across all countries and across all channels” in 2023. 

While cosmetics giant Estée Lauder reported an 8% decline in organic net sales and announced a 3% to 5% reduction in its global workforce, Rituals posted a 22% increase in global net sales to €1.7bn (£1.45bn) for the full year of 2023.

So how is the luxury skincare and wellness brand outgrowing the market if consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending? 

Rituals founder and chief executive Raymond Cloosterman, who set out to build a lifestyle brand of his own in 2000 after working at Unilever for 13 years, says he himself is surprised at the brand’s impressive numbers. 

“We ourselves are also a little bit surprised by the healthy growth,” Cloosterman reflects over a phone call from his office in Amsterdam. “The philosophy of the brand really resonates at the moment. Our whole concept of mindfulness and wellbeing is very strong out there today.

“And secondly, I think more and more people are discovering the quality of the products and fragrances, which I would say are at a fair price point. It’s accessible luxury, and that is a part of the market that is growing in many industries.” 

Retail stores are key to growth

Cloosterman says that Ritual’s real strength lies in being what he describes as a “truly omnichannel brand.” 

“What we tried to do is build a luxury brand that operates through four channels. There’s the standalone retail of approximately 1,100 stores that are company-owned. We also operate some 4,000 concessions in luxury department stores and perfumery stores around the world. Next to that, we have an important travel retail business and a digital business.

“So, it’s a truly omnichannel brand. All four channels are contributing to building the brand.” 

Of the four, the largest driver of Rituals’ sales comes from its retail stores arm.

Cloosterman says: “We want all those channels to work together. And that is what makes our business model unique. So we are interested in opening stores where many retailers are closing stores and we are investing heavily in our digital community.” 

The next step in Rituals’ growth journey is capitalising on the momentum seen in physical retail. Cloosterman is confident in sharing the brand’s ambitious target of opening nearly “one new store every working day” with 220 stores in Europe and 30 stores in Asia this year.  

As the majority of the retailer’s growth came from its European home market last year, the continent continues to be a priority for the retailer going ahead. Cloosterman says Rituals is “still very much a European beauty company.”

Asian ambitions 

“The traction we have in countries like Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Poland, we really want to explore that further. And then the second priority is Asia. So we’ve said, ‘Okay, we feel comfortable with our results in Europe to now move out to another continent.’ And for us for the next 10, 15 or 20 years, that’s Asia.” 

However, Cloosterman is cautious about the effects of growing too much too quickly in an uncharted territory. 

“We started carefully because we want to learn and understand first. Last year, we opened around 20 stores in Southeast Asia. This year, we’re planning to open another 30 stores in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and cities like Shanghai and Nanjing in China.”

Closer to home, Cloosterman accepts that Rituals had a rough start in the UK, but is confident that the brand has now irrevocably turned a corner. 

”The first 10 years in the UK were pretty tough, but in the last four or five years in the UK and Ireland, we’ve seen very strong performance and we’re growing very fast.” Rituals is set to open 25 new stores in 2024 as it continues to expand its UK footprint.

Looking ahead, Cloosterman has set big targets for the brand starting with continuing its double-digit growth and crossing the  €2bn threshold in sales this year.

“In the long term, we’d like to take both the brand and the business to the next level. Our ambition is to become the number one wellbeing brand in the luxury beauty industry.”