“Omnichannel” has been a buzz word used by salon hair care marketers in recent years. Initially, only the brave ones were sticking their nose outside their well-known salon environment to seek new channels of distribution for their products, carefully expanding their sales into retailing due to the fear of losing their professional status. But in recent years, this has shifted. Diversion has been hurting sales, and products unwanted by marketers on physical or virtual shelves of various retailers were a reality that needed to be taken back under control, especially with the fast development of e-commerce.Continue reading
Author Archives: Agnieszka Saintemarie, Industry Manager
Healthier Hair at the Epicenter of the Salon Industry
Our recently published Salon Hair Care Global Series shows another year of robust growth for the industry that already accounts for over $14 billion globally. This is driven in part by products focused on care and treatment.
Shampoos and conditioners lead the way with over 4% growth in 2018, with treatments at the forefront of this increase. A large part of treatments is dedicated to restoring hair health from the damage caused by chemical procedures, especially hair coloring, as well as the extensive use of hot tools.Continue reading
How Far Does the Multichannel Strategy Go for Salon Hair Care Brands?
The multichannel movement among professional brands has grown in recent years, but how different companies react to it varies. Some brands are turning into hybrid brands and selling mostly or a large part of their products through retail stores as opposed to salons. Many examples of such brands can be found among newer players on the market, such as Oribe (now owned by Kao), Alterna (among Henkel’s brands portfolio), or Living Proof (a Unilever brand). Among well-established marketers that have had a multichannel approach for many years is Estée Lauder with brands like Aveda and Bumble and bumble. In the United States, Aveda even has its own vertically integrated stores.Continue reading
Three Ways Independent Stylists Are Impacting the Global Salon Hair Care Industry
Among the most important shifts that are occurring in the salon hair care industry is stylists’ migration from salons to independent businesses. The recently published edition of our Salon Hair Care Global Series revealed that an increasing number of stylists are becoming independent. Not being affiliated with a salon, these hairdressers decide to rent out space, provide services in their own homes, or become mobile and drive to their clients. How does this impact the salon hair care industry?
The Big Migration: Salon Hair Care Brands Populate Retailer Shelves
The global salon hair care market registers a compound annual growth of 3% since 2012. While the market continues to see healthy gains, the business of hair salons isn’t flourishing. With clients cutting down on the frequency of their salon visits in many key salon hair care markets, such as the United States, Russia, Germany, and France, sales of these products have shifted out of the professional arena into the general marketContinue reading
Salon Hair Care Brands Make a Move into Retail
The salon industry in both the United States and the United Kingdom witnessed healthy increases in 2015 and 2016; nevertheless, it seems like 2017 is nothing like previous years with decreases in salon revenues, as well as in salon retail.
The struggle is real for brands that stick to salons as their only clients. Kline PRO data shows a steep over 9% decrease in sell through sales for the period Q1-Q3 2017 compared to same period in 2016. We also see a similar pattern in terms of revenues from services—while growing healthily in 2016, sales for all types of services but treatments are down in Q3 2017. This is also confirmed by our preliminary results for the 2017 edition of Salon Hair Care: United States—the market is less dynamic than in previous years, and the little growth we see does not come from the salon environment, but from professional brand sales outside salons. The U.K. market, although showing a 3% increase in 2016, is also not as robust as previous years.Continue reading
New Horizons for Professional Beauty Marketers – Asia and the Middle East
Asia, which is important in size, but extremely fragmented with hundreds of local players having some important advantages over international brands, has nevertheless continued to attract foreign companies in terms of both professional hair care and nail care products. The region is the second largest after Europe when it comes to the salon hair care market, accounting for almost 30% of the global sales of professional hair care products. The three giants of Japan, China, and South Korea have experienced sluggish growth recently, and there are many smaller markets where sales show much higher dynamics. Among them, India leads the way with continuous double-digit growth. In fact, India has shown a compound annual growth rate in terms of salon hair care sales of 17% between 2011 and 2016, whereas Asia’s overall growth during that period has averaged to only 2.5%. Because the Asian market’s growth is driven by these smaller markets, such as India, our 2017 edition of Salon Hair Care Global Series will take a deeper look at 12 markets in Asia!Continue reading
Henkel Displaces Coty and ELC to become the #2 Professional Hair Care Marketer in North America
Last week’s announcement that Henkel will acquire Shiseido’s North American professional hair care business is the latest step in the company’s path to the top of the leaderboard in the global salon hair care industry. According to data from Kline’s Salon Hair Care Global Series, this plus its earlier 2017 acquisition of Pravana will nearly double Henkel’s share in North America from 7.7% to 13.6%, ahead of Coty’s 11.1% and ELC’s 8.1%.Continue reading
Salon Hair Care in Asia: Seize the Opportunities and Accept the Challenges
Most Asian markets, especially the biggest ones, such as China and Japan, are extremely challenging for global salon hair care players. Here are the top three main reasons why:
- Strong foothold of local players – The advantages they have over international brands, such as the image of being “more suitable for Asian hair,” coupled with strong distribution and education structure, results in many loyal customers. Leading companies, such as Milbon in Japan or Shanghai Shobrunn in China, continue to have a very much “hands-on” approach to their home markets with active sales representatives, a continuous pipeline of new launches, and a strong focus on education.Continue reading
What’s Igniting Growth in the Hair Salon Industry?
Over 3% global growth and the strong performance of some regions, particularly North America, are proof of another good year for the salon hair care market. Some of the most interesting developments happen on the competitive front where the race for higher shares in the quickly growing bond builders segment is intensifying due to the emergence of new brands. Olaplex, the pioneer in this segment, continues its efforts to remain the leader, not only through expansion, but also through legal action towards its competitors.
Market consolidation continues to shape the industry with two recent acquisitions—Conair adds Aquage to its portfolio and Unilever purchases Living Proof. It’s an important step for Unilever, which competed only with one master brand, TIGI, in the professional hair care arena. Unlike TIGI, which takes pride in being a brand “by hairdressers for hairdressers,” Living Proof is a hybrid brand with strong distribution in both salons and retail.Continue reading