Kao Group’s mass-market makeup brand KATE will close its Tmall and Douyin official flagship stores on 1 April 2026, the company announced in customer notices this week. The move stops direct online sales through the two biggest domestic platforms; orders placed before 1 April will generally ship within 48 hours, and online customer service will remain available until 30 April to handle returns, refunds and points redemption requests.
The shutdown applies only to KATE’s China online flagship operations: Kao says the decision is an “optimization” of its Chinese online channels and will not affect other Kao brands in China or KATE’s overseas Taobao store. Consumers holding loyalty points or stored balances were told they can apply for redemption by 31 March, with stored-value refunds to be processed centrally. KATE’s Tmall shop had more than 2.3 million followers and an active base of about 30,000 repeat customers; its most popular item, a three-colour eyebrow palette, had been favorited over 600,000 times.
KATE was launched in 1997 by Kanebo and became part of Kao after the latter’s 2006 acquisition. Positioned as a high-value, affordable Japanese brand, KATE established a foothold in China via Watsons in 2010 and opened a Tmall flagship in 2014. Its closure from two major Chinese e-commerce channels highlights the pressures facing foreign mass-market cosmetics in the country’s crowded, price-sensitive marketplace.
The retreat also fits within Kao’s broader strategic shift. Under the K27 mid-term plan published in 2025, Kao signalled a tilt toward premiumisation, prioritising higher-end and locally developed brands in China such as Freeplus (Furifulansu) and Curel. Kao’s cosmetics division reported ¥261.6 billion in net sales for fiscal 2025, up 6.9% year-on-year, with Asian sales rising 16.2% to ¥45.3 billion — but the group appears to be reallocating resources to segments it deems higher-growth or higher-margin in China.
KATE’s withdrawal is not an isolated case. Since 2023, a string of foreign affordable makeup labels — including Revolution Beauty, Revlon’s Chinese online presence, LA Girl, NYX and others — have scaled back or closed official online stores in China. Factors behind these exits include fierce competition from domestic upstarts, high marketing and platform costs, and shifting consumer tastes toward either premium international names or highly localised homegrown brands.
For consumers and China-based sellers, the decision will reverberate through distribution and influencer channels that built around KATE’s affordable positioning. For Kao, the change reduces the company’s exposure to promotional pressure on mass-market platforms and frees investment for brands targeted in its China localisation push. It also raises questions about how international fast-fashion cosmetics will balance scale and profitability in a market now dominated by local competitors and sophisticated platform economics.
In practical terms, the shutdown means KATE’s most visible retail presences on Tmall and Douyin will disappear, yet the brand remains in China through other Kao operations and third-party channels. The episode underscores a broader industry recalibration: foreign mid-tier brands are being forced to choose between heavy investment to localise and compete, repositioning upmarket, or retreating from direct-to-consumer online platforms in China.