How TikTok is Reshaping the Perfume Business

How TikTok is Reshaping the Perfume Business

Bloomberg

Thu, September 17, 2026 at 6:14 PM GMT+3

• IPAR +1.60%

Interparfums CEO Jean Madar explains why tariff uncertainty isn't slowing the company's US ambitions, how TikTok and e-commerce are transforming the way consumers buy fragrance, and why men's scents could be one of beauty's biggest growth opportunities.

00:00 Speaker A

Joining us now is Jean Madar, Inter Parfums CEO. They are a global fragrance company headquartered in France and Europe, with you France, rather, with US sales accounting for 32% of your business.

00:13 Speaker A

Um, and Europe, US, the biggest parts of your business. Jean, what would it mean to you after having navigated so many trade headwinds already over the years to have another leg in dispute with both Canada and the EU?

00:27 Jean Madar

Uh, dispute is part of uh uh business life. Uh in the last uh years, we went through this uh tariff uh craziness. And uh the the most important thing is not to take uh decisions too fast because uh things are changing so fast. So you need to sit down, relax.

00:46 Jean Madar

What two things that we did is um, as we sell in 120 countries, we cannot manufacture in 120 countries. Uh but basically, uh we have decided to uh manufacture more in the US products that are sold in the US and as you understand, manufacture in Europe, France and Italy, uh things that we sell there.

01:05 Jean Madar

But uh it's not that simple uh and it creates a lot of uh uh uh uncertainty and uh consumers uh at the end pay for uh pay for this.

01:21 Speaker B

Does it make the US market less desirable? That level of uncertainty that you're talking about. I think about the the importance of it, obviously the market that you you have here, but but it's a headache. I think it's what you're you're trying to say.

01:34 Jean Madar

It's a headache, but it doesn't make the market less uh uh interesting. Uh the US is definitely uh the largest uh uh uh in the world and also underdeveloped, underpenetrated. So there is still uh a lot of uh uh growth in the US as compared to uh Europe, for instance.

02:00 Speaker A

That that that's I think that would surprise a lot of people by the way.

02:02 Jean Madar

Yes, it would surprise a lot of people. people will think that the market is very developed in the US. No, at the contrary, a lot of people still do not wear frag especially men's.

02:11 Speaker B

Uh-huh. I'm not talking about your personality David. No, no, no, no, no.

02:14 Speaker A

Wait, but hang on Jean, it feels like there's this weird

02:15 Jean Madar

the men's the men's market is growing at a very fast pace.

02:17 Speaker A

Well, but what's going on with that? It feels like we're in this weird moment where it's like influencers are, I know your team sent through a story of people are like spraying themselves a hundred times, bringing me back to my high school days of people drenching drenching themselves in Axe body spray.

02:27 Speaker B

It's like a bath.

02:28 Speaker A

Yes. Like I feel PTSD just thinking about what what's going on with with men's fragrances right now?

02:35 Jean Madar

Number one is uh the development of e-commerce,

02:40 Speaker B

Uh-huh.

02:40 Jean Madar

uh which is totally uh uh uh crazy in the sense that we have seen uh high double digit growth uh for sales from platforms like Amazon and Tik Tok. Tik Tok became the third uh largest uh uh uh platform to sell uh uh fragrance.

03:00 Jean Madar

And what is uh counter-intuitive is, how can you buy a fragrance on e-commerce without smelling it?

03:07 Speaker B

Can't smell it, yeah.

03:08 Jean Madar

We've spent millions and millions of dollars uh creating uh samples, testers, having uh uh our beauty advisor spray on the aisle so people can and then we have now people buying without smelling. Why? Because we're able to tell a story. Story of ingredients, story of uh uh emotional experience. and this is what people want want to want to hear.

03:36 Jean Madar

When it comes to men's, a lot of men are buying uh our our fragrance on uh on e-commerce platform.

03:44 Speaker B

Let me ask you about the the resonance of luxury brands in the context of of perfume. So looking at from this ola factory sense, I I can spot if somebody has an expensive bag or a jacket, it's evident to me. When do we reach the point at which that's something that's evident to people sort of what what scent they are wearing? I'm sure you're able to detect it immediately.

04:00 Jean Madar

Uh, sometimes, not not always. Um, that's true that when you wear a fragrance, uh there's no tag. You cannot see

04:12 Speaker B

No evident luxury brand.

04:13 Jean Madar

No evident no evident luxury. And uh that's why fragrance is the entry price point of the luxury world.

04:23 Speaker B

Interesting.

04:24 Jean Madar

For less than $100, you're going to enter the world of Van Cleef and Arpels fragrance uh that we make uh or

04:33 Speaker B

Cheaper than a necklace.

04:34 Jean Madar

uh a little bit less expensive than a. And and and but for uh for a very reasonable uh uh price, you are going to enter the world that uh uhm if it was not for a fragrance, you could not you you you could not buy buy a product uh uh from Van Cleef or uh uh but Van Cleef is on the very high end.

04:54 Jean Madar

But we sell also a lot of a lifestyle fragrance. We make uh products for for Abercrombie, for Guess, for uh coach. Uh these are of course uh uh more affordable. and uh believe it or not, this fragrance have a signature. Some people will say, oh in the in the elevator for instance, people will will notice, will recognize and say, oh, I smelled this before.

05:20 Jean Madar

And and and consumers want to be uh noticed, recognized.

05:26 Speaker A

Uh-huh. And maybe that's the difference why an LVMH is down this year, it fell out of the top 10 of biggest companies in Europe and while why your shares are up 35 year percent year to date. With that, I mean you do new license deals often with fashion houses.

05:39 Speaker A

Sometimes you acquire a brand outright. That 35% gain, does that give you some more currency to go out and do deals and anything you have your eye on?

05:46 Jean Madar

No, we don't look too much at the price of the stock. Uh what is important is the growth of a company and uh because fragrance is the fastest growing segment of beauty, uh we have a lot of people coming to us uh uh and they would you like to do a a license with us. Uh for instance, a company like ABG of Authentic Brand uh uh approached us after they they they made an investment on on Guess, uh because we do Guess fragrance.

06:12 Jean Madar

And uh and we have decided to to be the the partner of David Beckham uh in two, three years from now, partner of other brands. So, people are attracted by uh Interparfum because of our track record, uh and because also uh uh we have been doing exclusively fragrance for 35 years.

06:33 Speaker A

What does David Beckham scent? Is it like football pitch grass?

06:37 Jean Madar

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. David Beckham has nothing to do with. No, David Beckham is a is a fantastic celebrity. David Beckham is a royalty. in in in UK and and in the world. But we are not uh David Beckham fragrance for us will start in in a couple of years.