Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Consumer spending
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- Figure 1: Italy: Annual % change in total consumer spending on beauty and personal care and total consumer spending, 2015-20
- Sector size and forecast
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- Figure 2: Italy: annual % change in retail sales, 2015-20
- Channels of distribution
- Companies and brands
- Key metrics
- Market shares
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- Figure 3: Italy: leading BPC specialists’ estimated share of all spending on beauty and personal care, 2019
- Online
- The consumer
- Beauty and personal care products purchased
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- Figure 4: ITALY: bEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS PURCHASED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, November 2019 and October 2020
- Online and in-store shopping for beauty and personal care products
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- Figure 5: Italy: in-store and online buyers of beauty and personal care products, November 2019 and October 2020
- Where beauty and personal care products are purchased
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- Figure 6: Italy: where beauty and personal care products were purchased, November 2019 and October 2020
- Attitudes to innovations in BPC retailing
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- Figure 7: Italy: attitudes towards shopping in-store for beauty/personal care products, October 2020
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- Figure 8: Italy: attitudes towards shopping online for beauty/personal care products, October 2020
The Impact of COVID-19 on Beauty and Personal Care Retailing
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- Short, medium and long term impact on the sector
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- Figure 9: Short, medium and long term impact of COVID-19 on beauty and personal care retailing, February 2021
- Opportunities and threats
- But the online experience can go so much further
- Virtual consultations
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- Figure 10: Bobbi Brown Virtual Services Homepage, August 2020
- Product recommendations using AI
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- Figure 11: The Inkey List #askINKEY Campaign, 2020
- Figure 12: Boots No7 Personalised Skin Analysis, 2020
- Adding the human touch with live-streaming
- Making beauty shopping more fun
- Making shopping safe will pay off
- Cash-strapped consumers may restrict BPC spend
- How COVID-19 will reshape the industry
- Delivery and click-and-collect will continue to ride on convenience
- Social media will play a greater role
- The store-experience will need to be even better
- BPC online audience has grown and specialists must embrace this
- Sustainability will continue to be high on the agenda
- Health and beauty specialists struggle in 2020
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- Figure 13: Europe Big Five: total health and beauty specialist retailers’ sales and forecast, 2015-25
- Figure 14: Europe Big Five: total health and beauty specialist retailers’ sales and forecast, by country, 2015-25
- The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour across Europe
- Concerns around exposure to COVID-19 rise as second wave hits
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- Figure 15: Europe: those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, March 2020-January 2021*
- The financial impact of COVID-19
- Furlough and job losses
- Spending falls and consumers look to save where possible
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- Figure 16: Europe: financial impact of COVID-19, January 2021*
- Changes to shopping behaviour
- Non-essential spending reduced
- Desire to spend less time in-store
- Cash is no longer king
- Localism rises up the agenda
- Online shopping receives major boost
- Second wave leads to renewed stockpiling
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- Figure 17: Europe: changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, January 2021*
- Consumers are trying not to handle/touch products in-store
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- Figure 18: Europe: people who would feel uncomfortable handling/touching products in-store, November 2020*
- Spending intentions
- Beauty sector sees planned spending decrease
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- Figure 19: Net balance* of expected spending on selected items in the next month, January 2021**
- German consumers the only group planning to spend more on beauty
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- Figure 20: Europe: net balance* of expected spending on beauty products and toiletries in the next month, January 2021**
- How the crisis is impacting on key consumer segments
- Women and older people most concerned about the pandemic
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- Figure 21: Europe: those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, by gender and age, January 2021*
- Women and older age groups also trying to limit time in-store
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- Figure 22: Europe: consumers trying to limit the time they spend in-store, by gender and age, January 2021*
- Online shopping boom is relatively uniform
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- Figure 23: Europe: consumers shopping more online, by gender and age, January 2021*
- Younger and middle-aged consumers more likely to be cutting back on non-essential spend
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- Figure 24: Europe: consumers cutting back on non-essential spending, by gender and age, January 2021*
- COVID-19: market context
- UK
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
Issues and Insights
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- COVID-19 impact on livelihoods and lifestyles will hit BPC retail
- Economic impact will drive increased focus on value
- Structural shifts will lead to lower store footfall and stronger online demand
- A growing localism/nationalism movement
- What advantages can multichannel retailers leverage over online-only rivals?
- Online-only penetration is growing fast
- Amazon increases its penetration of the beauty market
- Expertise combined with personal and personalised service
- Online can complement the offline offer
- Blurring the lines between physical and digital
- The ability to personalise products and offers
- Multi-channel business models cover all bases but role of stores is changing
The Market – Key Takeaways
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- Italian consumer spending power under pressure
- Retailers are having to adjust their product mix
- Sector declines by 7.1% in 2020
- Pandemic reverses trend away from supermarkets
Consumer Spending
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- Figure 25: Italy: consumer spending on beauty and personal care (including VAT), 2015-20
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Sector Size and Forecast
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- Figure 26: Italy: health & beauty specialists’ sales (excluding VAT), 2015-20
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- Figure 27: Italy: health & beauty specialists’ sales, Forecasts (excluding VAT), 2021-25
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Inflation
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- Figure 28: Italy: consumer prices * of personal care items, annual % change, 2015-19
- Figure 29: Italy: consumer price inflation (HICP *) on personal care products and services, annual % change, January 2019-December 2020
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Channels of Distribution
Companies and Brands – Key Takeaways
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- Increased online presence should be a priority for Acqua & Sapone
- Douglas and Tigotà have performed the best
- Other players have sought to differentiate themselves
- Online
Leading Players
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- Acqua & Sapone at online disadvantage…
- …while Tigotà embraced the online channel
- Douglas Group recognises importance of online for the future
- Other players
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- Figure 30: Italy: leading beauty specialists, sales, 2015-19
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- Figure 31: Italy: Leading beauty specialists, outlets, 2015-19
Market Shares
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- Figure 32: Italy: leading BPC specialists’ estimated share of all spending on beauty and personal care, 2015-19
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Online
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- Online activity
- Shopping online
- Online BPC sales
- Leading online players
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- Figure 33: Italy: search interest on Google, selected BPC retailers, last 12 months, January 2020-January 2021
The Consumer – Key Takeaways
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- COVID pandemic drives strong shift to online
- Online buying shifts towards m-commerce
- Strong appetite for contactless technology in-store
- Opportunities in trying to replicate the in-store experience online
- Sustainability is high on consumer agendas
Beauty and Personal Care Products Purchased
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- Beauty and personal care product purchasing is universal
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- Figure 34: Italy: beauty and personal care products purchased in the last 12 months, November 2019 vs October 2020
- Women are principal buyers of haircare, skincare and beauty products
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- Figure 35: ITALY: bEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS PURCHASED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, by gender, October 2020
Online and In-store Shopping for Beauty and Personal Care Products
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- Dramatic increase in online shopping in 2020
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- Figure 36: Italy: in-store and online buyers of beauty and personal care products, November 2019 vs October 2020
- Women more likely to shop online
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- Figure 37: Italy: in-store and online buyers of beauty and personal care products, by gender, October 2020
- Online purchasing still concentrated on younger groups
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- Figure 38: Italy: in-store and online buyers of beauty and personal care products, by age, October 2020
- Strongest growth in online purchasing among over-55s
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- Figure 39: Italy: online buyers of beauty and personal care products, by age, November 2019 vs October 2020
Where Beauty and Personal Care Products are Purchased
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- Specialists still the preferred outlet but generalists made strong gains in 2020
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- Figure 40: Italy: where beauty and personal care products were purchased, November 2019 vs October 2020
- Where people shopped and what they bought
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- Figure 41: Italy: where beauty and personal care products were purchased (specialist retailers), by beauty and personal care products purchased, October 2020
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- Figure 42: Italy: where beauty and personal care products were purchased (non-specialist retailers), by beauty and personal care products purchased, October 2020
Attitudes to Innovations in BPC Retailing
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- In-store
- Hygienic in-store testing is a key priority
- Payment innovation offers customer and business benefits
- Product refill stations tap into growing sustainability trend
- Product information particularly important to older buyers
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- Figure 43: Italy: attitudes towards shopping in-store for beauty/personal care products, October 2020
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- Figure 44: Italy: attitudes towards shopping in-store for beauty/personal care products, by products purchased, October 2020
- Online
- Sustainability in online packaging is an issue
- Personalisation trend continues to offer opportunities
- Online tools have potential to bridge gap between stores and digital
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- Figure 45: Italy: attitudes towards shopping online for beauty/personal care products, October 2020
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- Figure 46: Italy: attitudes towards shopping online for beauty/personal care products, by products purchased, October 2020
Appendix
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- Abbreviations
- Data sources
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