The world of beauty moves fast. A short decade ago, mass outlets and department stores were practically the only places U.S. consumers shopped at for beauty products. The Internet was in its infancy and touted by many in the cosmetics and fragrance industry as being “negligible” or “insignificant” since the play and scent factors were missing. Specialty stores emerged as a channel to be taken seriously, but to this day, these outlets continue to mystify industry players while their market share steadily rises. Television shopping has also since established itself as a credible outlet, thanks to the seemingly overnight success of infomercial brand Proactiv. Today, these newer, alternate channels have become even more important, while fresh retail concepts like mobile shopping have emerged.
Top Five Fastest Growing U.S. Beauty Channels
| Rank | Channel | CAGR, 2007-2012 |
| 1 | Internet | +26% |
| 2 | Home shopping networks | +18% |
| 3 | Apparel specialty stores | +18% |
| 4 | Dollar stores | +15% |
| 5 | Infomercials | +11% |
SOURCE: Kline’s Beauty Retailing USA 2012 database.
Tracking these alternate channels has been a challenge for industry participants—until now. Kline’s new service, Beauty Retailing USA: Alternate Channel Monitor, which is a companion to our biannual Beauty Retailing USA: Channel Analysis and Opportunities report, will offer semi-annual updates for these fast-paced and hard-to-track channels.
This service will help you monitor sales and growth by sub-channel in the key areas of fragrance, hair care, makeup, and skin care, as well as assist in identifying trends, opportunities, growth patterns and reacting faster to changes. Results will be delivered via an interactive online database updated every six months in half-year increments with sales and growth data by channel/sub-channel and product class/category, as well as brief presentation-style reports with highlights on the key trends and dynamics in each channel.
Beauty Retailing USA: Alternate Channel Monitor will offer you greater visibility into the dynamics of alternate channels and will serve as an invaluable tool in strategic planning. To find out more about this service, please contact our team.
