About Eau Thermale Avène
Eau Thermale Avène is a French skincare brand founded in 1990, widely recognized as a "sensitive-skin care specialist." It entered China in 2003 with multi-format chain stores including department-store counters, Watsons, and pharmacies — using the Avène member program to guide consumers to safer, more specialized skin care.
The challenge
Around 2009 Avène began digitalizing store management. The brand needed an omnichannel offline retail platform that addresses the differences across department counters, Watsons stores, and pharmacies, while integrating with the brand CRM for live data exchange. The system had to be simple to operate, quick to train staff on, supported 365 days a year, with reliable retail data capture and sustainable after-sales service.
The Pekon solution
Pekon partnered with Avène in 2009 to deploy a new-retail digital management solution, capturing live offline store data and synchronizing it with the brand CRM. Avène subsequently adopted additional Pekon products including Pekon Smart Qiwei Guide Assistant and Pekon Cloud Store — Cloud Store in particular helped the brand grow online sales counter-cyclically during the pandemic.
Outcome
- Fine-grained store digitalization. Pekon combined software and hardware to enable private-domain operations and online transactions per store — and drove overall sales growth through the pandemic.
- Store-branded online malls. Pekon Cloud Store gave each Avène store its own online mall — SKU, promotion, and inventory fully linked; store-level promotions configurable; social-sharing mechanics that drive traffic from WeChat groups and Moments back to the store.
- Empowered BA private-domain operations. The Qiwei guide-assistant product enabled multi-channel member recruitment and fine-grained engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Pekon Cloud Store help Avène stores grow online?
Pekon Cloud Store gives each Avène store its own online mall — SKU, promotion, and inventory fully linked. Stores can configure their own promotion mechanics; WeChat groups and Moments are leveraged for social-driven traffic that drives meaningful online sales for each store.
How does the Pekon Qiwei Guide Assistant power BA private-domain operations?
It supports multi-channel member recruitment with fine-grained engagement. Private-domain customers are linked one-to-one with stores; BAs can tag and segment members, run online follow-ups, send coupons, hold 1-on-1 conversations, and place orders on behalf of customers.
Which retail formats does the Pekon-Avène solution cover?
Pekon's retail management platform covers department-store counters, Watsons, and pharmacies. The system is simple to operate, quick to train on, and supported 365 days a year — ensuring accurate retail data capture across every format.
