The Business of Sleep Technology: Getting Enough ZZZs
Sleep—both in terms of quality and quantity—is a key pillar in today’s well-being practices, along with mindful eating and physical fitness. Studies show that getting enough sleep can help to curb health concerns, including obesity and heart-related issues. It can also increase one’s performance, whether in the office or at the gym.
There has been a recent surge in devices and technologies purported to help improve sleep. There are two major forces at play that make the emerging sleep technology market so attractive. For one, consumers are increasingly incorporating technology and gadgets into their everyday lives, so they are perfectly primed to try new products like devices as a solution for getting a better night’ sleep. Secondly, with warnings in today’s headlines on the issues associated with popular over-the-counter and Rx sleep medications, consumers will be turning to alternative therapies in higher numbers than ever before.Continue reading
The Body Shop – History or Future in L’Oréal’s Pocket?
The Body Shop’s future ownership is being highly discussed after rumors that the giant is reportedly interested in selling the brand after a decade of ownership. L’Oréal acquired the company in 2006, but has been struggling with it ever since, despite its overall robust corporate performance. Once seen as a good opportunity to enter the vertically-integrated specialty channel, the sole channel in which L’Oréal was not yet present, The Body Shop is nowadays the only boutique beauty retailer chain in the United States among the top 10 that registered a sales decline in 2016, according to Kline’s Boutique Beauty Retailers: Channel Analysis and Opportunities report.Continue reading
New Natural OTCs Displayed at Natural Products Expo
This year’s Natural Products Expo West was a huge event with over 80,000 attendees walking multiple floors of the Anaheim Convention Center. Much of the displays focused on millennials with products that appeal to their desire for sustainability and natural ingredients. Farm-to-tablet sourcing was a major theme echoed by several nutritional supplement exhibitors. Mega Foods’ Blood Builder uses beets as its main ingredient and claims to help cleanse the blood. The company actively promotes that the beets used to make Blood Builder are all grown from sustainable farms in the United States.Continue reading
The Best of CEW’s Product Demonstration Continues to Excite Beauty Lovers
Last week, we attended CEW’s Product Demonstration, an annual event where beauty’s best showcase their finest creations ranging from skin care to hair care products. We were pleased to see that many of the products exposed were in line with the trends noted in our annual Cosmetics & Toiletries USA report. Here’s what caught our attention the most in each category.
In skin care, facial masks suggest this trend is certainly not close to over. Two products that we noticed catching a lot of attention were the Dr. Brandt Skincare Magnetight Age-Defier, which demonstrates innovation with an iron-infused mask that is removed using a magnetic tool, and the Glamglow Gravitymud Firming Treatment, which features an illuminating chromed color, peel-off mask that targets signs of aging.Continue reading
The Three Most Important Considerations for Rx-to-OTC Switches: Safety, Safety, and Safety
When considering a potential switch, the FDA is tasked with weighing the benefits of enhanced access against the incremental risks greater access will pose. In doing so, the FDA will generally consider the efficacy and safety profile of a drug based upon the studies conducted to gain Rx approval, as well as the clinical knowledge gained from first-hand experience of the product usage on the Rx marketplace. In addition, the FDA requires additional studies with consumers demonstrating that they can use the product safely in an OTC setting without third-party intervention.Continue reading
The Foreseeable Challenges of the Global Wax Industry
Written by: Eric Pimenta and Pooja Sharma
The wax industry faces a future of changing wax supplies. While global wax demand is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.3% until 2022, wax supply growth will be relatively slower at a CAGR of 0.8% during the forecast period. Despite a strong increase in the supply of synthetic and natural waxes, growth in the overall supply will not suffice to meet the rise in demand.Continue reading
Diversion – Hot Topic at the Annual Academy of Dermatology Meeting
Industry buzz was across the board at this year’s AAD conference held in sunny Orlando, FL, as marketers, suppliers, and dermatologists converged to discuss emerging medical technologies, new treatments for skin conditions, and the impact of a new administration on the healthcare system. The exhibit hall showcased new products—both topical and devices. It was also a place where marketers chatted with us openly about areas like amalgamation of dermatologist groups and how to curtail diversion.
From a business standpoint, marketers acknowledged their frustrations with the diversion epidemic, which is rampant in this industry. Marketers spoke about the merits of Amazon’s new professional platform, but realized it has limitations as well. Other diversion-curbing platforms at the show were RegimenMD, which is slowly ramping up its physician bases of subscribers. The problem is an internal one as well, with marketers agreeing that they must do a better job of tracking sales to accounts who blatantly overorder.Continue reading
Beauty Gets Personalized: Connectivity is Key
From skin care to hair care, a new class of tech-driven beauty products has emerged in the market, allowing consumers to self-treat their issues in real time. While Kline has reported on beauty device companies launching complementary apps to beauty devices, 2017 marks the year of personalization’s emergence in the field. Beauty companies and tech companies alike are playing in this new space that links high–priced devices to phone apps.
Companies more advanced in Internet of Things (IoT) are pinpointing gaps in the beauty devices market and entering it to offer innovative solutions to customized beauty. At CES 2017, Samsung, a company famous for its electronics, unveiled two new beauty concepts—the S-Skin and Lumini devices. Continue reading
Taking a Break from Nail Gels Creates New Opportunities
A few years of healthy to very healthy growth of the gels category, driven particularly by the gel-polishes phenomenon, comes at the price of weaker nails. As consumers are becoming more health-conscious, they turn to different solutions while taking a break from gels. This shift creates new opportunities on the market, especially in the treatments area, where we see innovative twists in products formulated with underlying care benefits.
Maintaining or restoring the health of nails is a major factor that marketers are emphasizing. Orly introduces its Breathable Treatment + Color—an all-in-one nail treatment and color lacquer product line that helps repair damaged nails and stimulate nail growth while coloring. Continue reading
New Scientific Guidelines for Probiotics Emerge
Transparency, ingredients, and clear labeling are important to consumers of nutritional supplements and probiotics. These are also substantial to reputable manufacturers in these markets looking to educate consumers on product benefits and to distance their brands from products on the market with less science supporting their claims and benefits.
In January 2017, the Council for Responsible Nutrition and the International Probiotics Association collaboratively published “Best Practice Guidelines for Probiotics” as a proactive set of voluntary, scientifically-based guidelines to encourage responsible production and marketing of dietary supplements and functional foods that contain probiotics. Continue reading
