Brand Familiarity, Affordability Still Important

More than 90% of surveyed shoppers cite brand familiarity as the most important influencer when purchasing beauty products, far surpassing the 73% consumer packaged goods (CPG) benchmark, according to new research from the “Beauty Shopper Report” by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI).

Price, while important for many decisions, was a distant second. Brand preference, in addition to a continued focus on affordability, remains paramount and underscores the rapidly evolving and unique nature of shopper attitudes and behaviors shaping the $11.5 billion U.S. beauty market.

“The beauty industry is characterized by significantly different dynamics than other CPG market sectors, creating a major opportunity for beauty marketers and retailers that can quickly and effectively leverage the nuances,” said John Deputato, senior vice president, Client Solutions, IRI.“Even within the hair care, skin care and cosmetic segments of the industry, shoppers often exhibit behaviors unique to each of those categories. Shopper behavior diverges a great deal among these segments particularly in times of changing economic climates, such as today’s emergence from the recession, where some consumers are exhibiting a new confidence, while others are keeping their frugal practices in place.”

“The IRI Beauty Shopper Report empowers us to understand and adjust to the needs of our core shoppers, who we want to retain and leverage to drive growth across our L’Oreal beauty portfolio of brands,” said Mark Anton, vice president, Consumer and Market Intelligence, L’Oreal Consumer Products Division.”These insights have proven to be valuable and actionable, given our ongoing efforts to incorporate ‘shopper behavior’ into our key go-to-market strategies.”

IRI’s report reveals that, as with many markets, the recession has caused significant shifts.Beauty dollar sales for the 12-month period ending September 2009 were flat versus 2008, as manufacturer price actions were not offset by increased unit sales.As dollar sales at department stores sagged more than 4% in 2009, value retailers, such as supercenters and mass outlets, attracted increased consumer interest.

Shoppers also continued to employ multiple trade-offs to save money, including moving to lower-priced brands and switching retail outlets, buying products in bulk or smaller sizes of their favorite products, attempting to make products last longer, as well as sharing products in the home or purchasing multi-use products.


Further, in-home versus in-store purchase decisions vary widely depending on the beauty product and can be influenced by price or feeling of “need to have” or “have to have.”While shoppers believe there is a quality difference among channels, with spas/salons, department stores and specialty stores ranked as having higher quality, shoppers are flocking to value outlets anyway.