Changing tack: Beauty PR adapts; Amazon beauty and personal care sales increase 70 per cent; preventative, safe and clean beauty sales set to rise says Mintel; and green shoots in Chinese beauty market.
Changing tack: Beauty PR adapts
There's only so many feel-good messages, tips on at-home pampering and keep in touch messages beauty PRs can send out during the COVID-2019 crisis. Myer, which has the largest department store footprint and is the dominant player in the prestige beauty market, has temporarily closed its stores. Face-to-face launches and even meetings are off the table for the duration and leading companies such as Coty and Estée Lauder are running skeleton staffs at their Australian HQs.
Fortunately, communications have undergone a ground-breaking change over the past decade. People are having virtual dinner parties, playing trivia and much more via Zoom and Skype. Virtual deskside "one-to-ones" have become saviours for beauty PRs in the US to communicate with beauty editors and influencers, many of whom are working from home. L'Oréal Australia was forced to cancel its Sydney event for CeraVe and is hosting a livestreamed panel discussion centred on the brand this Thursday.
Overseas, Sally Hansen and Eylure, for example, are developing virtual launches and client meetings. Ingenuity and and becoming more creative are vital and not only to stay in touch. Major brands worldwide are experiencing more influencer-driven sales and the shut-down of nail salons and other personal services, here and overseas, has prompted more YouTube tutorials and other online learning as more consumers resort to DIY manis and pedis and colouring their hair at home.
There's been a run on sales of Clairol Nice & Easy Root Touch Up in Australia in recent weeks - online and in-store - to name one example. The more popular blonde and light brown shades are extremely hard to track down and the websites of majors such as Chemist Warehouse and Priceline are out-of-stock. Pharmacies and supermarkets have an 80 per cent market share of the home hair colourant market in Australia.
Beauty brands are fielding more enquiries from social media influencers and print publications for more relevant and creative content. Personalities that people trust are proving their worth as brand ambassadors -in Australia and overseas - during these trying times. With new launches likely to slow down, beauty PRs have to adapt a more sharing and caring approach rather than the hard sell.
Amazon beauty and personal care sales increase 70 per cent
Patrick O'Quin, President of the FEBEA, the French trade association for perfume and cosmetic companies, encapsulated the importance of the beauty industry recently. Far from being frivolous products, a significant part of what the industry produces plays a vital role in our daily lives from haircare through shower gels and skincare products, he noted.
Amazon agrees and its new shipping restrictions in the US classify beauty and personal care products as essential. Categories that the online titan regards as non-essential are no longer replenished in its warehouses.
According to Envision Horizon data, total sales at Amazon in the US increased 65 per cent in the week beginning March 16th, by contrast to an average week. The beauty and personal care category spiked even higher at 70 per cent over the same period.
Ulta and Sephora, the top two specialist beauty chains in the US, closed all their stores recently. According to early reports, luxury, prestige and indie beauty brands are re-assessing their attitude towards Amazon. Moving online may not be a silver bullet but it could be a lifeline for now, especially as prestige beauty sales in the US had already flatlined in 2019.
Preventative, safe and clean beauty sales set to rise says Mintel
Crises often fast-track trends that are already in place. According to Mintel, the global market research and insights firm, beauty and haircare products viewed as preventative and safe will see a major rise in demand. Not only for the foreseeable future but also when the COVID-2019 curve has flattened.
Consumers worldwide have rushed to buy hand sanitisers, pain relief and immune-boosting vitamins and supplements. But the novel coronavirus outbreak is impacting the way consumers approach beauty and personal care products, especially when they assess ingredient safety, cleanliness and shelf life, says Clare Hennigan, senior beauty analyst at Mintel. The researcher points out the strong knock-on effect from increased hand-washing to the hand cream category is set to spur increased sales and premiumisation in the sector.
Hennigan believes that the clean beauty trend will escalate. "What started as a natural ingredient trend has snowballed into a movement incorporating elements such as safety, transparency, sourcing and manufacturing practices and a slew of other factors that play into the final product", she adds.
There could also be a change of attitude among natural and organic beauty fans, who normally bypass preservatives and artificial ingredients. They could be forced to shift their priorities, says Hennigan. "The arrival of the novel coronavirus will further push the notion that natural isn't always better when it comes to ingredient safety and shelf-life. The future of clean ingredient formulations will rely on safe synthetic ingredients. COVID-19 is a catalyst towards this movement, with brands facing more pressure to convey safety, longevity and efficacy". A viewpoint that dovetails with Mintel research where one in 10 survey respondents agreed that clean beauty products expired too rapidly.
Green shoots in Chinese beauty market
As China returns to normalcy, cosmetic brands and retailers are looking for lessons from the epicentre of the COVID-2019 lockdown. Many beauty retailers and stores closed during the crisis and placed their faith in online sales to replace some of the slack. Predictably, sales of makeup declined, as they have in the US. But skincare sales remained upbeat and the majority of beauty sales centred on moisturisers, face masks and other skincare products as Chinese consumers were confined to their homes.
Both online and offline retailers hugely boosted their online marketing and livestreaming efforts. Early green shoots are appearing. Alibaba's Tmall has announced that its Women's Day 3.8 shopping festival ( March 5th to 8th) was a major turning point in the resurgence of sales. Imported goods purchased by Chinese consumers on Tmall increased by 52 per cent. Azoya, the cross-border e-tailing group, has reported that 72 per cent of Alibaba's 130,000 POS systems in China are back online and recruitment ads for livestreaming hosts have surged 132 per cent over the past month.
Snippets from the Wires
- Fast fashion is also under pressure from the current COVID-2019 pandemic. The two biggest players - Inditex ( the owner of Zara) and H&M - have shuttered thousands of stores. The Spanish giant has temporarily closed 3800 stores in 39 countries across its Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear and Bershka brands. The Swedish retailer has temporarily shut down 3441 of its 5062 stores worldwide.
- With many experts predicting a rise in clean and organic beauty going forward, Shiseido is pushing ahead with the launch of a new skincare brand at the end of May. Called BAUM, the new prestige range "focuses on the power of trees. Baum is also the German word for tree.
- From 2017 to 2019, The Hut Group (THG) was hardly out of the news. The UK-based online retailer bought a swathe of brands from RY.com.au, Australia's largest haircare and skincare online store, to Christophe Robin, the luxury French haircare brand. Over the past 15 years, the company has become one of the world's largest online and well-being businesses. Following soaring demand for its health, beauty and nutrition products, THG has created more than 500 permanent new jobs in the UK, Poland and the US to cope with surging demand.
