Vichy spent 27 years building Taiwan — and left in 4 months

Vichy, the French pharmaceutical skincare brand owned by L'Oréal, entered Taiwan in 1996. Over 27 years it built a presence across department-store counters, pharmacies, and online retail, becoming a recognised name in medical-grade skincare. On January 31, 2024, L'Oréal announced that Vichy would withdraw entirely from Taiwan.

The exit was swift. From May 2024, Vichy began closing all physical retail points and its Taiwan website. Membership point accumulation stopped on July 1. Points redemption ended on September 1, 2024, marking the complete withdrawal. Consumers were informed that no products would be available for purchase after May except through remaining inventory.

L'Oréal gave 'strategic adjustment' as the reason — industry observers interpreted this as the brand's sales volume in Taiwan no longer justifying the operating costs of maintaining a full market presence. The Taiwan market for premium skincare had become intensely competitive, dominated by Japanese, Korean and Western brands that had invested more aggressively in local marketing and distribution. Vichy's medical-pharmacy positioning, successful in Europe, failed to differentiate it enough in a market where consumers already had access to multiple well-known medical-skincare brands.