The competition structure in the global professional nail care market is expected to get a major facelift, as market leader OPI has been put up for sale. Although experiencing a sales decline in recent years, OPI remains the dominant professional nail care marketer in the United States, with an approximate 21% market share in 2019. The brand particularly shines in the United States in the dipping powder segment thanks to the introduction of the Powder Perfection product line in 2017, in sync with the rapidly growing dipping powder trend.
The popularity of dipping powders has increased to the extent that they are having a cannibalizing effect on the sales of gels and acrylics. Dipping powder’s ability to offer odor-free, quick and inexpensive services makes it preferred over gels and acrylics among nail technicians and clients alike. While established brands such as OPI, Gelish, Artistic Nail Design, and Cuccio have already jumped on the dipping powder bandwagon, it is surprising to see that other established brands, such as CND, Essie, and Orly, have yet to do so. Due to low barriers of entry, the dipping powders product form has witnessed an influx of numerous inexpensive Asian brands doing rather well among the value salons.
Care products continue to be in demand with the latest uproar over manicure and pedicure kits, which are going beyond the basic three-step process to include additional steps. Brands such as Morgan Taylor and Voesh offer disposable manicure and pedicure kits with additional steps going up to six.
Despite dipping powders having a cannibalizing effect on the sales of acrylics, there has been an uptick in demand for acrylics beginning Q3. Still, it remains to be seen how much the trend will pick up in the future.
Traditional hard gels, a product form that hasn’t seen innovation in quite a few years, finally sees some change with respect to packaging formats with new products. One example is the Young Nails Synergy Gel Precision being packaged in tubes as opposed to the conventional jar formats.
To find out more about the performance of the global professional nail care market, stay tuned for our soon-to-be-published Professional Nail Care: Global Market Brief, analyzing key countries such as the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, China, and Japan. The study highlights major company and category profiles to help paint an accurate picture of the latest market developments.
