The Canadian salon hair care market can be characterized by small, but steady growth, the dominance of leading multi-national companies, and stiff competition—not only among the large market-movers, but also the emerging independent brands making their presence notable in the industry. In the following interview, Naira Aslanian, Project Manager for Kline’s Consumer Products Practice, reveals some interesting facts about this market from the soon-to-be-published Salon Hair Care Global Series: Market Analysis and Opportunities.
Naira, what are the leading drivers of the growth in 2015?
The market is driven by small, niche brands, such as Kevin.Murphy and AG Hair, which record double-digit growth due to their hair-specific product offerings, more “natural” products, and innovative packaging. These companies also emphasize the importance of education for stylists and connecting with customers through social media.
Men’s grooming shows a robust performance as well, particularly in the styling category, with glazes, pomades, and waxes gaining momentum. Small, lesser known independent players, such as Prairie Boys Supply, seek opportunities in the developing market for men’s barbering and grooming.
What are the most important recent launches?
Olaplex entered the professional hair care space with phenomenal success, spurring growth for the overall market in the past year by more than one percentage point. The brand has created a new category of products—bond multipliers—and has been welcomed by salons that are able to offer their consumers treatments for damaged, color-treated hair.
Can you comment on any interesting findings from your research?
The Canadian salon hair care market has an appealing dynamic where it reflects the vastly differing economic, cultural, and weather climates. Cultural differences are particularly noted in consumer behavior in Quebec versus the rest of the country. Quebec natives are known for the importance they place on visiting salons, appreciation for the artistry of their stylists, and their willingness to experiment with new colors and styles. These loyal consumers are also less price-sensitive and support local businesses, as well as small, high-performance European brands.
Similar differences are likely to be noted in other product categories in the professional space as well and will be closely examined in Kline’s upcoming Professional Skin Care Global Series: Market Analysis and Opportunities report, featuring Canada, among other key countries.
What changes are we seeing in consumer behavior?
Consumers continue to visit salons, but less frequently than before. This is due to color-preserving products that offer the benefits of non-fading, longer-lasting color. Convenience, cost, and time motivate consumers to use mass-market coloring products at home.
Can you name a category that is lagging behind?
Shampoos and conditioners have been stagnant, mainly due to a lack of innovation. However, there are specific products that address particular hair types that continue to maintain the market. In addition, deep nourishing treatments fuel the shampoos and conditioners category, as consumers focus on healthier, shinier hair.
Where do the opportunities lie for next year?
The men’s category is on an upswing and will continue to grow in the next year. Small, often unknown players, mainly from the United States, will continue to flood the market with new products in innovative packaging, taking advantage of this growing opportunity.
Olaplex and similar companies will continue to fuel growth, albeit at a lower pace than what we saw in 2015. As mentioned in a previous blog post, bond multipliers is a new, developing category, and products that can compete with Olaplex on the basis of price and performance are up for success.
To learn more about the salon hair care market in Canada, as well as other interesting markets across the globe, refer to Salon Hair Care Global Series: Market Analysis and Opportunities—an annual report series that analyzes 21 countries in depth to reveal their size and growth, trends, new products, developments, challenges, business opportunities, and more.
