Popular skincare brand The Ordinary is launching its first standalone counter in the Southern Hemisphere in the new Farmers department store opening at Westfield Newmarket next week.

The launch marks the first step in The Ordinary’s plan to grow its bricks-and-mortar presence in New Zealand, where it primarily operates online.

The brand expects to launch more counters in Farmers stores across the country over the next two years, and to roll out an additional 11 gondolas in top-performing Farmers stores from September onwards.

“We are launching our very first The Ordinary counter in the Southern Hemisphere at the brand-new Farmers Newmarket store in Auckland, which we are thrilled to be involved in,” Cheryl Poon, director of Deciem Asia and Australasia, told Inside Retail New Zealand.

Deciem, whose tagline is “the abnormal beauty company”, is the Toronto-based parent company of The Ordinary and several other beauty brands, including Loopha.

“The demand for expert skincare advice and education is there, so it was a natural progression for us to supply that demand with a counter managed by our highly trained and skilled store ambassadors,” Poon said.

Farmers, which is Deciem’s biggest retail partner in New Zealand, also recently launched an “e-boutique” store for The Ordinary products with a focus on educating customers.

The brand has been available in New Zealand since 2015, when Deciem partnered with a distributor to place its products in beauty clinics and pharmacies.

The company ended the partnership in late 2017 in order to improve its e-commerce offer for customers in New Zealand, including allowing them to purchase products directly from the Deciem website at reasonable shipping rates and times.

Currently, about 10 per cent of the company’s daily orders come from New Zealand customers, which Poon said reflects the strong level of demand in the market.

The company expects the partnership with Farmers to grow its customer base, as more people become aware of The Ordinary brand.

“New Zealand is a big country with a small population,” Poon said.

“A partnership with Farmers, a national bricks-and-mortar presence, allows us to reach an audience that could be alienated otherwise if we were wholly online.

“It also allows us to share the passion towards science-driven, ingredient-focused skincare between our customers and in-store team more easily.”