Jamie Matusow, Editor-in-Chief03.16.16
This first-look at 2015 year-end results was presented at NPD’s 19th annual “Hot Off The Press” event at The Harmonie Club in New York on January 28. CEW hosted the program for the fourth consecutive year.
“The beauty industry has been growing at a rapid and consistent pace for the last few years, but what is happening below the surface, at the category level, is changing considerably,” said Karen Grant, global beauty industry analyst, The NPD Group—and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors. “For example, in 2015 we saw even more concretely how the roles of makeup and skin care are becoming intertwined.
The prestige market outpaced the U.S. mass channel, where sales grew 2% for total beauty in 2015, versus 2014, as per Nielsen. As in prestige, the mass growth was driven by the makeup category; both skin care and fragrance sales were down for this channel in 2015.
“Consumers are shopping for and using makeup differently, which is a factor in softer sales of skin care products,” added Grant. “Looking at some of the top performing brands, we’re also seeing that consumers are increasingly drawn to emotional rather than functional appeal. This craving for a more sensory experience is having a positive influence on fragrance sales as well. Successful brands and manufacturers listen and find compelling ways to respond to the increasingly diverse crowd of consumers, who are being influenced and inspired by society in ever-changing ways.”
For a full recap of the “Hot Off The Press” event, see BeautyPackaging.com