(Yicai Global) June 2 -- Watsons China, a leading health and beauty retailer in Asia, plans to open 300 new stores this year to further strengthen its offline plus online platform strategy, according to its chief executive officer.

The Hong Kong-based firm will target first-tier cities and continue investing in the O+O retail model to offer more products popular among young consumers, Kulvinder Birring said at a Watsons' forum held this week.

Watsons China opened nearly 850 outlets in the Chinese mainland during the past three years and intends to open more this year because of the market's gradual recovery post-Covid and improving consumer sentiment, it noted on April 13. The firm had a total of 3,900 stores in 500 cities as of the same date.

College students are a key consumer segment Watsons China seeks to attract this year, said Nie Wei, general manager of the firm’s customer growth and procurement department. The focus will be on stores located less than three kilometers from schools, covering 15 million college students, Nie added.

Last year, the number of outlets operated by Watsons China declined for the first time, falling 8.2 percent to 3,836. Revenue shrank 23 percent to HKD17.6 billion (USD2.3 billion). 

Connectivity between online and offline channels is already a big trend this year, according to Nie. Watsons made a few attempts on digital platforms in 2016 before expanding to more online platforms in 2018.

Editor: Martin Kadiev