Launched 21 years ago in England, Lush continues to grow worldwide and once again this year affirms its weight in the ethical cosmetics market with a growth of 26 % (figures as of June 30, 2015).

An international brand with handcrafted products

Present in 49 countries with its 933 stores, the brand has managed to seduce a large public by offering handmade products made from fresh ingredients combining innovation, efficiency and ethical scope. Indeed, Lush thinks its activity in a way that takes into account the protection of human rights, the preservation of nature and the defense of animals, being notably very committed against animal testing. This year, the brand has achieved a consolidated turnover of £574,000,000 (+€741m), representing a growth of 26 % compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the stores have increased their turnover by an average of 46 % over the last two years. This performance was made possible thanks to a strong and solid presence in buoyant markets such as England, the United States and France, but also with an interesting dynamic in developing markets such as Brazil, which was recently established. Lush has also donated £5,000,000 (€6,472,000) to associations and groups around the world through its various solidarity channels: products, activist campaigns, investment funds.

A multi-channel strategy to serve the customer

The very essence of the company, which was built on a first mail order business called Cosmetics to Go, Lush is developing its business around a multi-channel strategy allowing it to offer more and more possibilities to its customers in terms of purchase but also access to information about its products and ethical campaigns. In only two years of intense development, Lush has achieved a 36% growth in its online turnover this year, representing £26,000,000 (almost 34 M€).

A human challenge

This positive growth can also be explained by the considerable human resources deployed to bring the brand to life every day and offer a unique customer experience. On the one hand, the exclusively manual work of employees in 7 factories around the world to manufacture the 124 million units produced this year* (49 % vs. last year) - a commitment that requires an organization unique in this sector. On the other hand, a real investment in the reinforcement of the training of each employee in order to allow everyone to feel at ease in the business, both in relation to the products and their formulation, as well as to the ethical struggles of the brand. For several years, Lush has been present in many rankings related to customer service and in 2015, the company was ranked in the top 10 of Which? magazine for its "Customer Service Awards" ranking.

A brand that breaks with the traditional world of beauty

For 21 years, Lush has been breaking the codes of the traditional cosmetics market by proposing products that break new ground in terms of their appearance, their formulation and their solidarity approach. The brand is constantly inventing, manufacturing and proposing new product categories such as solid toothpastes or solid products sold without packaging, thus becoming more environmentally friendly. It is also a question of innovative formulations created to banish preservatives by replacing them with natural ingredients that are just as effective, but also of the implementation of solidarity actions and collaborative systems to guarantee the use of rare quality ingredients from fair trade in order to support small local producers around the world...

And in France?

France is one of the leading markets in Europe. The brand, which has been present in the country since 2005, recorded a turnover of €28,790,000 (compared to €19,700,000 last year), of which €2,890,000 came from online sales only.