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Beauty and Personal Care Retailing - UK - January 2021 - Executive Summary
Beauty and Personal Care Retailing - UK - January 2021 - Executive Summary
SUMMARY
BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE
RETAILING
UK, JANUARY 2021
BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE RETAILING - UK - JANUARY 2021 2
CHANGES IN PEOPLE’S LIFESTYLES AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE LOCKDOWNS HAVE
AFFECTED USAGE HABITS AND LED TO MAJOR SHIFTS IN THE TYPES OF BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE
PRODUCTS CONSUMERS ARE BUYING. ONE OF THE BIG OPPORTUNITIES IS FOR BRANDS TO FOCUS ON IN-HOME
BEAUTY TREATMENTS AND DIY KITS THAT ALLOW PEOPLE TO IMPROVE THEIR SKIN AND APPEARANCE WITHIN
THE COMFORT OF THEIR HOMES, WHILST ALSO CATERING TO GROWING DEMAND FOR SELF-CARE. THERE IS
SCOPE TO DRIVE PURCHASING IN THE WORST-HIT CATEGORIES SUCH AS FRAGRANCES THROUGH EXTENSIONS
WITH OTHER CATEGORIES SUCH AS PERSONAL CARE AND HOUSEHOLD WHICH HAVE BEEN LESS IMPACTED BY
THE PANDEMIC.
Specialists suffer big decline FIGURE 2: MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST FOR CONSUMER SPENDING ON
BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS (INCLUDING VAT), 2015-25
Retail sales through specialist health and
beauty retailers are estimated to have
fallen 9% in 2020 to £11.4 billion. While
many of the specialists remained open
during the lockdowns, the sector has
struggled as many consumers have been
reluctant to travel to visit stores amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. Boots has been
hard hit, with sales at its health and beauty
division declining by 16% for the fiscal year
ended 2020.
Source: ONS/Mintel
Companies and brands FIGURE 4: ESTIMATED MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST FOR ONLINE
CONSUMER SPENDING ON BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS,
Charlotte Tilbury ramps up SPLIT BY BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE, 2016-20
influencer marketing
Boots is the retailer with the highest level FIGURE 5: ATTITUDES TOWARDS AND USAGE OF SELECTED BRANDS,
of consumer trust and one that is seen to DECEMBER 2020
provide a great online service. However,
the brand could do more to stand out.
Boots is less highly differentiated than
other brands such as Lush, which is
perceived as being more innovative and
fun. While both Boots and Superdrug are
viewed as accessible brands, Superdrug is
more closely associated with offering good
value.
Base: internet users aged 16+ who have heard of the brand
Bubble size represents usage (% ever used)
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
The consumer FIGURE 6: BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE ITEMS PURCHASED IN THE LAST
12 MONTHS, OCTOBER 2020
Rise in personal care purchasing
Mintel’s consumer research shows a “Which of the following products have you bought for yourself or others in the
slight increase in purchasing of personal last 12 months? Please select all that apply.”
care items to 90% in 2020, up from 88%
in 2019. The top five most purchased
categories all fall within the personal
care sector, with soap, bath and shower
(SBS) having overtaken deodorants. By
contrast, there has been a 2-percentage
point decrease in purchasing of beauty
items to 64% in 2020. While the changes
in levels of purchasing are small, they
are significant as levels have previously
remained stable.
Value brands most popular despite
decline in purchasing
Base: 1,869 internet users aged 16+ who have bought beauty and personal care products (excluding accessories
and electricals) in the last 12 months
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
Shift towards buying online FIGURE 8: HOW THEY PURCHASED BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE
PRODUCTS IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, OCTOBER 2020
There has been a big increase in online
purchasing of BPC products, with over half “How have you shopped for beauty/personal care products in the last 12
having purchased via this channel in 2020, months?”
up 8 percentage points compared with
2019. The first lockdown period triggered
an increase in online shopping which
has remained high as consumers remain
hesitant to shop in-store, with 51% of
adults being worried about exposure to the
virus when asked between 8-19 October,
and 45% limiting the time spent in-store.
Brands and retailers have been adapting
their online offerings by investing in more
online content and virtual consultations.
They have also been streamlining
delivery services as well as offering more
contactless delivery, but there remain
opportunities for more BPC retailers
to offer delivery passes to increase
purchasing frequency.
Supermarkets continue to
dominate Base: 1,884 internet users aged 16+ who have bought beauty and personal care products in the last 12 months
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
The UK grocers continue to hold a
dominant position in the beauty and FIGURE 9: WHERE THEY PURCHASED BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE ITEMS
personal care sector as almost three IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, OCTOBER 2020
quarters (73%) of consumers have bought
BPC items from a supermarket in the last “Where have you bought beauty/personal care products either in-store or online
year, but there has been no change in the in the last 12 months?”
proportion buying there in the last year.
Consumers have increasingly been adding
essential beauty products to their online
food orders, driven by a combination of
convenience and necessity.
Base: 1,826 internet users aged 16+ who have bought beauty and personal care products in the last 12 months
and specified how they shopped
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
Amazon grows in popularity FIGURE 10: WHERE THEY PURCHASED BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE
ITEMS IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, OCTOBER 2020
Amazon has outperformed and in the
last year it has strengthened its already “Where have you bought beauty/personal care products either in-store or online
robust position in the BPC sector, making in the last 12 months? Please select all that apply.”
it the third most popular place to buy
beauty and personal care products, up
from sixth place in Beauty and Personal
Care Retailing – UK, January 2020. Close
to a quarter (23%) of shoppers have
purchased from the e-tail giant, peaking
among consumers aged 16-34 who fall
into the C2DE socio-economic groups.
Amazon’s strength in BPC lies in its Prime
membership, which gives consumers
access to fast and convenient delivery, but
it has also expanded its Prime membership
to encompass an array of benefits beyond
delivery, giving subscribers access to
premium content, sampling services and
promotions. After even stronger sales than
anticipated in the second quarter, Amazon
launched its delayed Prime Day in October
2020, which was a record success (see
Amazon – Creating an Ecosystem: Inc
Impact of COVID-19 – UK, January 2021).
“Since the COVID-19/coronavirus outbreak, I have... Please select all that ap-
ply.”
Base: 1,826 internet users aged 16+ who have bought beauty and personal care products in the last 12 months
and specified how they shopped
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
Women most drawn to in-store FIGURE 12: INTEREST IN INNOVATIONS WHEN SHOPPING FOR BEAUTY OR
innovations PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS, OCTOBER 2020
Women are more interested than men in “Which of the following would you be interested in when shopping for beauty/
in-store innovations, peaking among young personal care products? Please select all that apply.”
female shoppers aged 16-24. COVID-19
has accentuated demand for ways to
make shopping in-store more hygienic
and almost a quarter of female shoppers
are interested in touch-free dispensers,
rising to 36% of female under-25s. This
ties in with research showing that female
shoppers are significantly more aware of
hygiene when shopping in-store than their
male counterparts compared to before
COVID-19.
Base: 1,826 internet users aged 16+ who have bought beauty and personal care products in the last 12 months
and specified how they shopped
Source: Lightspeed/Mintel
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