US beauty product sales continue to grow despite soaring inflation

Amid the inflationary environment in the United States, consumers cut spending and sales in various retail categories declined, but sales of beauty products continued to grow, performing well.

Data shows that in 2021, retail sales in the U.S. beauty and personal care market will exceed $85 billion, an increase of $7 billion from sales in 2019. Even with soaring inflation and relatively difficult economic conditions this year, sales of U.S. beauty categories continue to grow.

The NPD Group conducted a survey of retail categories such as apparel, technology, toys and beauty products. Survey data showed that beauty products were the only non-essential retail category in the United States that saw sales growth in the first half of this year. Larissa Jensen of the NPD Group said that despite the decline in consumer confidence, sales of other beauty products such as lipstick have risen .

It is understood that in the second quarter, cosmetics sales revenue in the United States reached 2 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 18%. Even though it is lower than the pre-pandemic level in 2019, the cosmetics category exceeded the pre-pandemic unit sales by 1% in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2019. Lipstick is the big winner in the beauty industry, with sales revenue increasing by 28% in the second quarter; total sales of perfume increased by 13% in the second quarter to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars; skin care sales increased by 12% to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars; hair care is the smallest but fastest growing category in the beauty market, with sales increasing by 24% over the same period last year to 781 million U.S. dollars.

But inevitably, the beauty industry is also affected by inflation, and some categories are severely premium. It is reported that in the field of perfume, the current average price is 25% higher than three years ago. In the second quarter alone, the average price of perfume rose by 6% compared with 2021, which is twice that of other beauty industries. According to surveys, most of the growth in the beauty category comes from households with an annual income of more than $100,000, so discount stores and small businesses may find it difficult to keep up with the trend of sales growth in the beauty category. In this case, large retailers such as Target and Walmart are also changing their beauty businesses to attract more consumers.

This summer, Walmart opened new beauty shows in 250 of its stores, showcasing Mario Badescu, Patchology and other brands typically seen at specialty beauty stores or makeup counters in department stores. It added about a dozen well-known beauty brands to select stores. And it entered the beauty space further with a deal with British beauty retailer Space NK to increase its product assortment and develop its own brands . Separately, Target plans to add more than 250 stores this year, opening stores in 800 locations, about 40% of its U.S. business. Since January, Target has introduced more than 40 brands into its stable of beauty products, including "clean" products that do not contain certain ingredients and brands owned and founded by Black people.

Beauty Products

Inflation