Making Headlines
04/05/2004
Hairstyling and colouring are everyday products that are good for business. But they are easy to get wrong. Market analyst Ailsa Colquhoun explains how you can make money in style.
Source: Middle East Grocer
You might not be a follower of fashion yourself, but you can bet that many of your customers are. And hair styling and colouring is definitely part of getting the look they want. In the 1990s, for example, when grunge was in, clothes were rumpled and hair was tousled. Now, the style heads want sleek matte or that ‘just-back-from-the-beach’ look. Knowing what the public wants is key to making the most of the retail hair styling fixtures, as it dictates what products you will be selling well and which you will be throwing in the bargain bin. According to data analyst IRI, gels, mousses and other non-hairspray styling aids put on 13.5% in sales in one year, on the back of a new, gelled look for hair. In a daily hair care market valued at around US$3.5 billion, that’s a lot of extra sales to be gaining - or missing out on. According to Unilever USA, the key to successful merchandising is to understand how consumers shop daily hair care. The company believes that the first decision process involves a consumer deciding what their hair care need is, if it’s cleansing, they will be drawn to shampoos, if it’s conditioning- conditioners, and if it’s styling, then their destination will be sprays and holding products.
Within hair spray, their next decision is between aerosol and non-aerosol, followed by price-value, for example, whether they are purchasing a mid-market or premium product. If the destination is styling products, rather than aerosol or non-aerosol, the decision is between gel, mousse or spritz and then on the pricing segment. Which pricing segment customers decide on ultimately makes or breaks your financial bottom line, so it makes sense to encourage trade-up to salon or premium-priced brands. These are often perceived as better quality items, which allow both a higher retail price and enhance your credibility as a specialist in the sector. Data analysts also report that they are currently the growth drivers in the market.
However, despite the growth of premium brands, retailers still need to offer consumer choices across all pricing segments. Research by Unilever found that most consumers in this sector are very committed to a pricing tier and are often unwilling to consider purchasing outside their current segment.
Although daily hair care primarily addresses a functional need, retailers should also remember that it is a very emotionally charged fixture as well. Almost everyone knows what it’s like to have a ‘bad hair day’ so selling products that give your customers the look and feel they need is crucial too. According to professional salon website, salonweb.com, salon customers’ number one complaint is that they cannot achieve their salon look once they’ve got home.
Although the daily hair care market is well established - 87% of households claim to regularly buy in this sector - it can be a challenge to know what and how many lines you should carry. In styling, brand shares are very fragmented and, as a result, it takes 20 brands to comprise 75% of sales. However, the following advice from Unilever may prove useful:
- Establish yourself as a beauty centre, specialising in other core health and beauty categories
- Create a more salon-inspired environ-ment. Include a demonstration table for blow dryers and other appliances
- Use shampoo to encourage purchases of conditioners, hair sprays and styling products. The household penetration of these subcategories is much less than shampoo, but the purchase cycle is similar, ranging from 52 to 54 days. Setting up promotions that extend across all daily hair care subcategories encourages multiple purchases and will result in incremental sales.
Setting up promotions that extend across all daily hair care subcategories encourages multiple purchases and will result in incremental sales.
Shelve shampoo/conditioners and hair spray/styling aids together, with these subcat-egories placed adjacent to one another. Within these groups, brands should be shelved based on pricing segment and need.
This will keep the shelf set consistent with consumer shopping patterns, but it will also encourage trade up to higher-priced items.
According to L’Oreal, hair colourants are also a key way of encouraging extra trade through your tills. It’s UK research shows that brand loyalty and consumers’ average annual spend in this subsector of hair care is higher than most other categories. The average customer spends £17.24 a year on colourants versus £12.76 on shampoo and conditioners and only £6.26 on hairspray. Little wonder then that in the UK, hair colourants are currently the 10th largest category in health and beauty, pulling in an estimated £167.5 million for UK retailers.
Colourants basically come in one of two types: permanent or non-permanent products. Permanent products currently account for over two thirds of all colourant sales and are currently in growth as a sector, due to factors including: the number of strong, consistent brands in the market; continuous new product development; and significant media spending by the giants such as L’Oréal. Such is the investment by the sector that estimates suggest that over 12% of the colourant category turnover is re-invested in this way.
Grocers have done well of late to increase their share of this burgeoning retail market. In the UK, the sector now accounts for around 28% of the market and is growing as consumers gain confidence in the sector. But, household penetration still remains relatively low, compared to other hair care subsectors, and fewer than two in five Americans are thought to colour their hair, even despite the well-documented ageing and greying popula-tion.
Adverse media coverage of colourants active ingredients has almost certainly played a part in putting would-be purchasers off. But, for most, the problem lies nearer to home - at the point of sale itself, where consumers find choosing a colourant a confusing task, made worse by the fact that at the back of their minds is the fear that it will all go horribly wrong at home.
To avoid sending the customer away empty-handed, correct merchandising is key. Clearly segmented sections for permanent or non-permanent, coupled with clear colour sections, will do much to unravel what can be a sea of meaningless boxes.
Remember too, to segment for emerging markets, such as men, younger users and would-be blondes.
Male style icons such as England footballer David Beckham or actor Ben Affleck have proved high profile motivators to gain buy-in from men in traditionally female markets. Retailers in the UK have been quick to entice the deep, male trouser pocket into their stores through the use of ‘retailtainment’ or entertain-ment in-store. Things to try include running free in-store health checks for men or celebrity hairdresser visits. users of this age group.
For the younger user, the key communi-In 2002, the blonding sector was showing cation is fun. Remember, these customers are 2.7% growth and now accounts for 9% of not colouring to hide grey. Merchandising the total market. Specialist brands exist for funky temporary colours is the way to get in this niche. It’s time to stock them in.
The top selling shampoo brand in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman during 2003 & Shoulders, which was designed to prevent the recurrence of flaking/itching scalps was Pantene, manufactured by Proctor & Gamble. Pantene was also the second associated with dandruff, is the top brand in Kuwait and second in all the other top brand in Kuwait and third in both Bahrain and Qatar. Proctor & Gamble pretty GCC countries apart from Oman where it sits behind P&G’s Pert Plus brand. much dominate the shampoo market in the region in one way or another as Head
Note: Conditioners includes: Conditioner, Tonic, Hair Cream, Hair Oil
As you can see from the table above, Brylcreem Hair Cream is popular throughout the GCC countries, being the top brand in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman during 2003. In the Middle East, Brylcreem is marketed by Zetra, a company with over 50 years' experience in managing brand development for world-beating brands.
Another popular hair product is Dabur Hair Oil, which is the brand leader in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar for the period January to December 2003, in UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, whilst taking second and third place in Saudi Arabia respectively. Dabur Oil is manufactured by Dabur India Limited, a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of herbal, nature-based products.
You might not be a follower of fashion yourself, but you can bet that many of your customers are. And hair styling and colouring is definitely part of getting the look they want. In the 1990s, for example, when grunge was in, clothes were rumpled and hair was tousled. Now, the style heads want sleek matte or that ‘just-back-from-the-beach’ look. Knowing what the public wants is key to making the most of the retail hair styling fixtures, as it dictates what products you will be selling well and which you will be throwing in the bargain bin. According to data analyst IRI, gels, mousses and other non-hairspray styling aids put on 13.5% in sales in one year, on the back of a new, gelled look for hair. In a daily hair care market valued at around US$3.5 billion, that’s a lot of extra sales to be gaining - or missing out on. According to Unilever USA, the key to successful merchandising is to understand how consumers shop daily hair care. The company believes that the first decision process involves a consumer deciding what their hair care need is, if it’s cleansing, they will be drawn to shampoos, if it’s conditioning- conditioners, and if it’s styling, then their destination will be sprays and holding products.
Within hair spray, their next decision is between aerosol and non-aerosol, followed by price-value, for example, whether they are purchasing a mid-market or premium product. If the destination is styling products, rather than aerosol or non-aerosol, the decision is between gel, mousse or spritz and then on the pricing segment. Which pricing segment customers decide on ultimately makes or breaks your financial bottom line, so it makes sense to encourage trade-up to salon or premium-priced brands. These are often perceived as better quality items, which allow both a higher retail price and enhance your credibility as a specialist in the sector. Data analysts also report that they are currently the growth drivers in the market.
However, despite the growth of premium brands, retailers still need to offer consumer choices across all pricing segments. Research by Unilever found that most consumers in this sector are very committed to a pricing tier and are often unwilling to consider purchasing outside their current segment.
Although daily hair care primarily addresses a functional need, retailers should also remember that it is a very emotionally charged fixture as well. Almost everyone knows what it’s like to have a ‘bad hair day’ so selling products that give your customers the look and feel they need is crucial too. According to professional salon website, salonweb.com, salon customers’ number one complaint is that they cannot achieve their salon look once they’ve got home.
Although the daily hair care market is well established - 87% of households claim to regularly buy in this sector - it can be a challenge to know what and how many lines you should carry. In styling, brand shares are very fragmented and, as a result, it takes 20 brands to comprise 75% of sales. However, the following advice from Unilever may prove useful:
- Establish yourself as a beauty centre, specialising in other core health and beauty categories
- Create a more salon-inspired environ-ment. Include a demonstration table for blow dryers and other appliances
- Use shampoo to encourage purchases of conditioners, hair sprays and styling products. The household penetration of these subcategories is much less than shampoo, but the purchase cycle is similar, ranging from 52 to 54 days. Setting up promotions that extend across all daily hair care subcategories encourages multiple purchases and will result in incremental sales.
Setting up promotions that extend across all daily hair care subcategories encourages multiple purchases and will result in incremental sales.
Shelve shampoo/conditioners and hair spray/styling aids together, with these subcat-egories placed adjacent to one another. Within these groups, brands should be shelved based on pricing segment and need.
This will keep the shelf set consistent with consumer shopping patterns, but it will also encourage trade up to higher-priced items.
Creative colouring
According to L’Oreal, hair colourants are also a key way of encouraging extra trade through your tills. It’s UK research shows that brand loyalty and consumers’ average annual spend in this subsector of hair care is higher than most other categories. The average customer spends £17.24 a year on colourants versus £12.76 on shampoo and conditioners and only £6.26 on hairspray. Little wonder then that in the UK, hair colourants are currently the 10th largest category in health and beauty, pulling in an estimated £167.5 million for UK retailers.
Colourants basically come in one of two types: permanent or non-permanent products. Permanent products currently account for over two thirds of all colourant sales and are currently in growth as a sector, due to factors including: the number of strong, consistent brands in the market; continuous new product development; and significant media spending by the giants such as L’Oréal. Such is the investment by the sector that estimates suggest that over 12% of the colourant category turnover is re-invested in this way.
Grocers have done well of late to increase their share of this burgeoning retail market. In the UK, the sector now accounts for around 28% of the market and is growing as consumers gain confidence in the sector. But, household penetration still remains relatively low, compared to other hair care subsectors, and fewer than two in five Americans are thought to colour their hair, even despite the well-documented ageing and greying popula-tion.
Adverse media coverage of colourants active ingredients has almost certainly played a part in putting would-be purchasers off. But, for most, the problem lies nearer to home - at the point of sale itself, where consumers find choosing a colourant a confusing task, made worse by the fact that at the back of their minds is the fear that it will all go horribly wrong at home.
To avoid sending the customer away empty-handed, correct merchandising is key. Clearly segmented sections for permanent or non-permanent, coupled with clear colour sections, will do much to unravel what can be a sea of meaningless boxes.
Remember too, to segment for emerging markets, such as men, younger users and would-be blondes.
Male style icons such as England footballer David Beckham or actor Ben Affleck have proved high profile motivators to gain buy-in from men in traditionally female markets. Retailers in the UK have been quick to entice the deep, male trouser pocket into their stores through the use of ‘retailtainment’ or entertain-ment in-store. Things to try include running free in-store health checks for men or celebrity hairdresser visits. users of this age group.
For the younger user, the key communi-In 2002, the blonding sector was showing cation is fun. Remember, these customers are 2.7% growth and now accounts for 9% of not colouring to hide grey. Merchandising the total market. Specialist brands exist for funky temporary colours is the way to get in this niche. It’s time to stock them in.
Shampoo and conditioners – sales volumes and top 3 brands
The top selling shampoo brand in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman during 2003 & Shoulders, which was designed to prevent the recurrence of flaking/itching scalps was Pantene, manufactured by Proctor & Gamble. Pantene was also the second associated with dandruff, is the top brand in Kuwait and second in all the other top brand in Kuwait and third in both Bahrain and Qatar. Proctor & Gamble pretty GCC countries apart from Oman where it sits behind P&G’s Pert Plus brand. much dominate the shampoo market in the region in one way or another as Head
Note: Conditioners includes: Conditioner, Tonic, Hair Cream, Hair Oil
As you can see from the table above, Brylcreem Hair Cream is popular throughout the GCC countries, being the top brand in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman during 2003. In the Middle East, Brylcreem is marketed by Zetra, a company with over 50 years' experience in managing brand development for world-beating brands.
Another popular hair product is Dabur Hair Oil, which is the brand leader in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar for the period January to December 2003, in UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, whilst taking second and third place in Saudi Arabia respectively. Dabur Oil is manufactured by Dabur India Limited, a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of herbal, nature-based products.
