Disrupting times

Personal care routines and where shoppers go for those needs are in a considerable state of flux.

While at present, everything is interrupted and the world feels upside down due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the health and beauty sector has been disrupted on several fronts for some time.

One of the types of disruption is where people buy their products. There has been a significant expansion of the bargain channel: since 2015 the market share has grown to 13.7%, an increase of £457 million. Last year several mainstream brands increased their presence in this way. This included L’Oreal Paris in position 11 which started to sell Wrinkle Expert in the bargain stores and Lidl. Bargain stores account for 56% spending on Galpharm which is in position 17. The brand is growing penetration very strongly, finding 10% more shoppers over the year.

Online also continues to grow with pure players such as Look Fantastic and Asos increasing their share of the market. Garnier in position 8 expanded their online presence by listing in the pure players last year. The brand also successfully recruited new buyers with the launch of Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food which is 98% natural and they also launched Garnier Organic. As well as established brands going online, the opposite is true with online-first brands moving into stores and enhancing their physical presence, the most famous of which is Harry’s.

Another very substantial disruption to the sector is the way in which people’s needs are changing. Routine simplification continues, as does the trend for longer hair and growing beards. Haircare as a category is in usage decline as long hair tends to be washed less often. The femcare category has declined 2% in the last year as hormone-based contraception means that some women don’t take a menstrual break at all.

Even the oral care category is affected as people drop mouthwash from their routine to simplify it.

The brands that break through these sorts of challenges are the ones that react to the motivations behind the change. Listerine in position 18 launched Go Tabs last year, innovating with a completely new format of mouthwash which can be consumed on the go, thus fitting into people’s increasingly busy lives. Nightly Reset was another key innovation for the brand which has continued to perform well.

Hear more about the fundamental shift in personal care habits from our consumer expert Maya Zawislak.