15 million Australians read magazines reports Roy Morgan; booming beauty sector lifts global travel retail to $US64 billion; over 70 per cent of Australians shop via mobiles; and the Aussie population poised to spend $48 billion over the festive season.
15 million Australians read magazines reports Roy Morgan
The publicity spotlight has been trained so firmly on social media that it's easy to forget that the majority of the population – 77.8 per cent – read magazines. According to the latest data from Roy Morgan Research, the audience reach of magazines has lifted to just over 15 million across print and online through websites and apps. Six of Australia's leading 15 publications have increased their readerships over the past year, says the researcher.
Food and entertainment is the nation's number one category – up 6.3 per cent to 6.138 million readers (30.7 per cent of the population). Mass women's magazines still exert a major influence with a readership of 3.36 million (16.8% of the population). We love our houses and their surroundings, too. Home and garden magazines are the fourth most-read category, accessing 2.93 million readers (14.7% of the population).
Women's fashion magazines enjoyed significant growth over the past year, says Roy Morgan Research. Combined category gains totalled 7.4 per cent over the past 12 months to 1.23 million (6.2% of the population). The three publications that experienced the biggest uplifts in readership were Frankie (+20.6%), Elle (+22.2%) and Vogue Australia (+1.5%).
The strong performance of magazines that cater to audiences interested in specific areas provides an example for other magazines dealing with stagnating readership and struggling to implement a successful cross-platform strategy to grow their digital audiences, says Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research. "The biggest advantage established magazines have over digital upstarts is name-recognition and the brand trust which the magazine has built up over years".
Booming beauty sector lifts global travel retail to $US64 billion
Duty-free shopping celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Way back then the epicentre of the industry was a small shop selling liquor at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Today, the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) exhibition and conference in Cannes attracts 12,000 visitors and the global travel retail business is worth $US64 billion a year.
Perfumes and cosmetics now account for 33 per cent of worldwide travel retail sales and the Asia/Pacific region is the leading player with a 38.6 per cent market share. The beauty boom has been extraordinary in recent years, fuelled by the K-Beauty wave, the Millennial craving for colour cosmetics and the broadening of the perfumes and cosmetics category to include haircare, men's grooming and dermo-cosmetic skincare.
The number of passengers taking to the skies in 2016 reached 3.8 billion and global travel retail has become one of the most important "shop windows" for the cosmetic industry. Duty-free discounting has even become something of a back story. Many products are now launched first in key airports servicing the big spenders of the travel retail world – notably Chinese, Russian, American, Japanese and Middle Eastern travellers.
Travel exclusives such as the Jetsetter Collection from NARS have become commonplace. Lancôme recently introduced Virtual Mirror, an augmented reality app, in travel retail. Chanel has introduced pop-up stores in international airports from Los Angeles to Taipei and Tokyo to showcase its latest fragrance – Gabrielle. While curated lineups which appeal to different markets such as Shiseido's Beauty of Thailand promotion in Bangkok to attract Chinese tourists are another fast-growing trend.
Over 70 per cent of Australians shop via mobiles
The term m-commerce isn't as widely used as e-commerce but it should be says PayPal. The annual m-commerce index from the global online payments system reveals that 72 per cent of Australians surveyed shop via their mobiles. Nearly half (48%) do so once a week – up 36 per cent since last year. A hefty 25 per cent say they prefer to use smartphones over other devices for buying online – an increase of almost 40 per cent over the past 12 months.
But Libby Roy, PayPal Australia managing director, warns that businesses have not kept up with this seismic shift in buying patterns. "Over the past year, we've seen Australian consumer frequency and preference for mobile purchases growing significantly. However, despite almost three-quarters of Australian consumers transacting via mobile, 49 per cent of Australian online businesses are still not optimised for mobile payments".
If they need further incentive, Alibaba, the Chinese online giant, kickstarted its annual Singles Day shopping binge late last week. Shoppers from over 190 countries spent $US8.6 billion in the first hour with 93 per cent of purchases transacted through mobiles.
Australians poised to spend $48 billion over the festive season
In spite of sluggish retail sales in August and September, the National Retail Association (NRA) predicts that Aussies are gearing up to spend $48 billion in a pre and post Christmas spending spree. Retailers are certainly hoping that the industry body is right as they gear up for the biggest selling season of the year.
All the signs are positive, says NRA CEO Dominique Lamb. Retailers are busy hiring extra staff to cope with the stampede and they have introduced sophisticated technologies to track changing consumer needs. Personalised service will be high on the agenda as today's savvy shoppers seek out an immersive experience – not just a quick grab and run when choosing gifts. A major plus for the cosmetics industry which has invested heavily in events, in-store entertainment and customisation. "Stores with physical and online partners have been using better data analytic tools this year ahead of the busy period to better assess their channels and streamline their e-commerce portals", notes Lamb.
Snippets from the wires
- Total Face Group (TFG), Australia's largest group of non-invasive cosmetic clinics, has bought the Artisan Cosmetic and Rejuvenation Clinic in Brisbane, its fourth outpost in Queensland. The acquisition takes TFG's national network to 15 clinics.
- Estée Lauder has opened its first standalone store in continental Europe. Located in Via Dante in Milan, customers can peruse major Lauder brands such as Jo Malone, La Mer and Tom Ford, in addition to the core namesake lineup.
- Speeding up the development time of new beauty products to capture the heat of a trend moment has become a major consideration in the makeup category. L'Oréal Asia recently tracked consumer data on Instagram across India, Indonesia and Thailand in a bid to uncover the latest colour cosmetic micro-trends in the three booming Asian markets. The multinational checked 5.2 million social media posts and pinpointed 28 micro-trends in makeup. Longterm R&D and products that go the distance remain the core of L'Oréal's launch calendar, but quick-to-market products could become nice little earners.
