Latest figures - top 20 international beauty and personal care companies; consumer confidence lifts June retail sales; L'Oréal announces game-changing AR strategy with Facebook; and giving lip - QVC study digs deep.
Latest figures - top 20 international beauty and personal care companies
In 2017, the global beauty and personal care market spiked 5 per cent to US$465 billion. A fast rate of growth that is expected to continue. The figures are in for the strong performance of Europe, Asia and South America-based multinationals with Unilever retaining its number one ranking.
- Unilever - US$35.3 billion
- L'Oréal - US$29.4 billion
- Henkel (Schwarzkopf, Joico) - US$11.8 billion
- Kao Corporation (John Frieda, Jergens, Molton Brown) - US$9.5 billion
- Shiseido - US$8.9 billion
- Reckitt & Benckiser (Clearasil, Scholl) - US$7.9 billion
- Beiersdorf (Nivea, La Prairie) - US$6.5 billion
- LVMH (Sephora, Benefit, Christian Dior) - US$6.2 billion
- AmorePacific (Korean number one; Innisfree, Laneige) - US$5.3 billion
- LG Household & Healthcare (Korean number two; The Face Shop) -US$4.3 billion
- Avon - US$4.1 billion
- Chanel - US$3.2 billion
- Lion (Japanese personal care giant) - US$3.2 billion
- GlaxoSmithKline (healthcare; Sensodyne) - US$3 billion
- Kose (Tarte cosmetics and luxury Japanese skincare brands) - US$2.7 billion
- Natura (Brazilian number one and owner of Aesop) - US$2.5 billion
- Groupe Rocher - $2.2 billion
- Pola Orbis (Japan; owner of Jurlique and H2O+) - US$2 billion
- Puig (leading Spanish fragrance maker; owner of Penhaligon's and L'Artisan Parfumeur - US$1.9 billion
- Boticario Group (Brazil's number two) - US$1.7 billion // Clarins - US$1.7 billion
Consumer confidence lifts June retail sales
Both major Australian retail associations – the National Retail Association (NRA) and Australian Retailers Association (ARA) – welcomed the latest June trade figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The mid-winter month delivered retail growth of 2.87 per cent year-on-year. The increase shows greater strength in the market, giving retailers much needed assurance to invest in their business and execute product strategies, noted ARA executive director, Russell Zimmermann. NRA CEO, Dominique Lamb, concurred, adding that consumer confidence may be increasing.
The top performers were food retailing, clothing, footwear and accessories, with the latter three categories growing by 5.26 per cent. Food retailing also saw a satisfying result, growing 4.3 per cent in June as supermarkets made a comeback with their strongest growth figures since June last year, said Zimmermann. The rise in food retailing reflects a wider trend towards consumers spending on experiences, added Lamb. "Experiential retailing in general, which is highly focused on food, has exploded and it has been the foundation of all modern consumer habits".
Department stores produced an upswing of 1.77 per cent in year-on-year sales. Online retail turnover contributed 5.7 per cent of total retail turnover in June – a rise from 4.1 per cent of total retail turnover in the same period last year.
L'Oréal announces game-changing AR strategy with Facebook
Facebook kickstarted AR (augmented reality) in advertising last year with powerhouse beauty and fashion retailers and brands such as Sephora and Michael Kors. L'Oréal and Estée Lauder, in particular, have been ramping up their investments in technology to drive online sales and increase conversion rates. But the French titan acquired ModiFace, the Canadian AR specialist in March, and has announced a partnership with Facebook to roll out virtual testing for shoppers to "try on" colour cosmetics.
L'Oréal has focused on upping its global e-commerce sales for some time now in order to communicate directly with consumers and lessen its dependence on third-party retailers. The strategy has paid off and the multinational reports that 9.5 per cent of its global sales in the first six months of this year came from e-commerce – up for 5 per cent five years ago. The leading social media networks have become a major driver of Internet sales for L'Oréal, but purchases are re-directed to individual brand sites and online retailers.
The virtual testing technology will roll out first on Facebook-owned Instagram. Consumers will eventually be able to try on anything from foundation to eye shapes and shadows, says Lubomira Rochet, L'Oréal's chief digital officer. The first L'Oréal brands to be showcased will be NYX Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Lancôme and Yves Saint Laurent. Both Facebook and Instagram are banned in China and L'Oréal is already in talks with leading Chinese social media works to trial the ModiFace technology.
Giving lip - QVC study digs deep
QVC has sold 28 tonnes of lip products in just over 30 years. The US shopping channel flogs over one million lip products a year and surveyed over 500 of its regular customers on National Lipstick Day. The findings were very revealing, starting with the five leading factors women consider on the path to purchase – quality, not tested on animals, price, product ingredients with brand in last place.
The US lip market is worth US$668 million a year, reports the NPD Group. Lipstick remains the number one cosmetic in the world and 76 per cent of survey respondents started wearing it in their teens. Seventy four per cent 'fessed up to owning at least 10 lipsticks at any one time and 70 per cent were willing to spend between US$10 to US$20 to treat themselves. It should be noted that, unlike Australia, many prestige lipsticks in the US are priced just under or over US$20.
For all the hectares of beauty advice encouraging women to become divas with a swipe of bold red lipstick, over a third of the QVC respondents said they were reluctant to become scarlet women. Other colours women tend to shy away from are – orange/coral, purple, burgundy/maroon and hot pink. When they do love a shade, though, 27 per cent said they replenished their lip colour more than once a day. QVC's top lip brands are on the pricey side – IT Cosmetics, Doll 10, Laura Geller, Givenchy and bareMinerals.
Snippets from the Wires
- Laura Mercier is poised for a global re-branding. Parent company Shiseido is launching a new packaging logo with the tagline – Paris/New York – from January. The brand's pillar products – loose powder, tinted moisturiser and primer – are all in double digit growth, says global general manager, Alexandra Papazian.
- Ulta Beauty pulled off a coup earlier this year by securing Chanel Beauté. The number one specialist beauty chain in the US is moving further into the prestige space later this month. A cohort of luxury skincare brands, including Elemis, will debut to attract Millennial shoppers. The company recently opened 34 more stores and posted a 17.4 per cent increase in net sales in Q1 to US$1.5 billion.
- Many luxury lovers prefer a bargain. According to YouGov Affluent Perspective's Global Luxury Retail Report 2018, 56 per cent of all global luxury shoppers – "only buy luxury when it is discounted".
- Coty Luxury has previewed eight new scents from the Alexander McQueen brand. The super-premium collection will retail for approximately AUD$343 and include florals and orientals such as Celtic Rose and Luminous Orchid.
- Cosmoprof North America, held in Las Vegas in late July, was a record breaker. Visitor attendance was up 9 per cent over 2017 to 40,000. Brands and companies hailed from 56 countries – up from 45 a year ago.
