Is Now The Perfect Time To Capitalise On The Upcoming Post-Pandemic Beauty Boom?
The last eighteen months have seen incredible damage wrought on virtually every business, industry and sector in the world but few industries have been as detrimentally affected as the beauty industry.
The beauty and cosmetics industry has been considered for many decades as one of the most resilient industries in the world, normally remaining unaffected by economic turmoil and capable of not only weathering such storms but normally actually gaining ground.
However, as we know, the Covid pandemic upended all of our expectations of normal and unfortunately, the beauty industries long held belief that their products (often seen as an affordable luxury, even in times of economic strife) was confounded.
The beauty industry, for many years, has been overtly proud of what they refer to as the “lipstick index”, an industry barometer first mentioned by Leonard Lauder (of Estee Lauder fame) that shows both industry confidence and the perceived market resilience.
Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic hit the beauty industry to such a degree that this barometer effectively failed to such a degree that it became useless.
Such a barometer relies on some degree of economic certainty based upon past experience, but as we know the last eighteen months we have been in uncharted waters, and no past economic crises even comes close to the level of challenge, hardship and sheer number of individuals and businesses affected, by the current economic situation brought about by the pandemic.
The beauty industry’s stability and resilience, long thought to be insurmountable, was destroyed in a matter of weeks as the closure of beauty salons, hairdressers and spas, left large portions of the industry without the ability to ply their trade and sell beauty products.
To make matters worse, with guidance to stay home, wear masks and the closure of supermarkets , the demand for and opportunity to purchase cosmetic products continued to fall, with some retailers reporting that demand for lipstick and foundation fell by as much as 70%.
This lack of customers and trade has seen the fall of some major industry players, with Debenhams being one of the most well known brands to be finished off by Covid, and those that have survived have had to endure months of uncertainty, stress and fear that they may be next.
It should also be pointed out that many of the smaller companies and businesses, particularly the self employed individuals have had to survive with little to no help from the government and their continued survival is a credit to their own personal strength and resilience in what must have been pretty terrifying times.
But all is not lost, and there appears to be real hope in the air that the beauty industry as a whole is ready to make an amazing comeback and start beautifying us all again.
The first and main reason for optimism is that with societies reopening appearing to soon be back on the cards, and with the last restrictions easing and businesses once more being allowed to open up again, the demand for beauty products and beauty treatments is rising once more.
Consumer enthusiasm is readily apparent and not just for reopening shops and being able to shop as we used to, but also for preserving their local high street and helping local businesses protect themselves from more closures.
The second reason to be hopeful is that there was a specific beauty niche that actually grew during lockdown, namely; perfume.
While consumers didn’t feel the need to purchase lipstick, foundation or mascara during the pandemic, there appears to have still been a strong desire to still smell great, and as such perfume sales surprisingly grew during the pandemic and even now, continue to increase as restrictions are slowly eased.
It would appear that consumer desire to indulge in extravagant gifts for themselves and their friends and family has increased and as the high street rapidly gets back to normal, the gift of choice appears to be perfumes.
Industry expert and Account Manager for NPD UK Beauty Emma Fishwick, recently stated;
“The popularity of fragrance (during lockdown) can be attributed to a number of factors. Fragrance doesn’t require touch when applying or appreciating it.”
Emma goes on to explain; “Retailers are also utilising unsold gift sets to encourage consumers back into store using price promotion,” and discounted gift sets like these are exactly the sort of deals that consumers are looking for.
The pandemic and being forced to do all our shopping online has made a lot more individuals aware of discounts, deals and offers and they have come to expect these as standard.
More importantly consumers are now much more cautious about keeping a tight hold of their purse strings and as such are becoming savier and much more discerning when parting with their money.
As Emma put it “Consumers are now increasingly price conscious and opting for products that are perceived as value for money”
The desire amongst consumers to get value for money is now so great that they have even begun purchasing perfumes from new and emerging fragrance companies
These new fragrance companies, whilst lacking the brand recognition of some of the major fragrances, make up for it with their high quality and low prices.
These new fragrance companies are becoming increasingly more popular around the world as consumers are being made more aware of what they have to offer via exciting marketing strategies that have been designed to capture public attention.
FM Fragrances, for instance, is a new and emerging fragrance company that offers a collection of perfumes, that utilise the same ingredients as the major perfume houses, but are able to sell their fragrances at extraordinary prices due to their clever and unique marketing structure.
FM Fragrances offer a 33% discount to customers for life – ideal for customers that are looking for exceptional value for money.
With new and exciting fragrance companies like FM fragrances emerging on the scene, the time has never been better to purchase affordable scents and help invest in the beauty industry once more.
