The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out contrary reactions in the demand for at-home beauty devices in the China and U.S. markets. While growth of the market for at-home beauty devices has slowed considerably in China, demand for these devices has caused an uptick in sales in the United States in 2020.
Although the market for at-home beauty devices in China continues to witness double-digit gains so far in 2020, much stronger than in other developed countries, there has been a considerable fall in the growth rate, to almost half at 16%. The sharp fall in growth in 2020 is primarily due to the pandemic, stemming from lower consumer confidence and a significant decline in offline sales. Moreover, some of the international brands of at-home beauty devices, those that are imported into the country, have experienced a supply shortage, caused by the lockdown in some countries.
Anti-aging continues to be the leading category in China, addressing a higher-than-average market growth rate, due to an expanding consumer base, with increasing numbers of young consumers opting for these devices. Hair removal is the fastest-growing category, surpassing cleansing to become the second-leading category in China. In addition to the increasing awareness for hair removal among female consumers, IPL devices, with high cost-effectiveness backed by advancement of technology, enable a relaxed treatment at home.
The U.S. market experiences a surge in demand for at-home beauty devices, growing at almost 7% in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a major role in this, as consumers were left with no choice but to adopt an at-home beauty regimen during lockdown times. Although the anti-aging category is the winner in terms of sales, the cleansing category continues to lead the U.S. market for beauty devices in 2020. Despite the exit of market leader, Clarisonic, in 2020, the cleansing category has seen an abundance of less expensive devices entering the market and available for purchase through e-retailers such as Amazon. Sales of anti-aging devices, such as NuFace, are impacted by the lockdown, encouraging consumers to adopt an at-home regimen, as a result of the closure of many spas, salons, and dermatologist clinics.
For more insights into the performance of the at-home beauty devices market in 2020, stay tuned to our soon-to-be-published Beauty Devices: Market Brief series, offering a succinct view of the at-home beauty devices market in China and the United States, which focus on the size and growth, importance of skin care concerns, product trends and notable new launches, technology landscape, key changes in distribution, and the competitive landscape.
