The Best Selling Skin Care Products in Mass Outlets

SymphonyIRI’s John Deputato updates us on consumers’ favorites, and says that understanding the path to purchasing beauty products is the next great challenge for mass beauty manufacturers.

AUTHOR BIO: John Deputato is a senior vice president and leader of the Beauty and Personal Care, Client Team Vertical, at SymphonyIRI Group. With more than 25 years’ experience in the health and beauty care industry, he has held a number of CPG marketing positions, including senior marketing executive for the Stetson brand at Coty and product manager for Old Spice at The Shulton Company.

One of my favorite TV shows from this past season was “Men of a Certain Age.” You can probably guess why.

One of my favorite scenes was when Ray Romano was making a point about how hard it was to maintain his youthful glow as he referred to all the creams he was now using, numbering four different products for his face, eyes, body and, oh yes, his toes.

Baby boomers are now seeking the fountain of youth. And, while only half of beauty shoppers (55%) find these types of products affordable, almost all (87%) say they must have them, according to a recent SymphonyIRI survey.

Today’s $4 billion facial skin care market has been stable throughout the recession with some shifting of dollars from department stores to mass outlets, which are up 0.3 share points in the 52 weeks ending April 18, 2010. A total of 85% of facial skin care units are now sold in mass outlets (FDMx), with dollar sales of those units representing a little more than half of total sales at 52%.

Since the decision to buy a skin care product is made in the home 63% of the time, according to the SymphonyIRI Beauty Survey 2009, we should probably help Ray Romano in selecting the best performing skin care products in the mass market.

In mass outlets, facial skin care is a $2 billion-plus category, up 2% in dollar sales for the 52 weeks ending April 18, 2010. Category growth is driven entirely by anti-aging products at the expense of basic hydration. But, don’t give up your hydrating product yet, Ray. I’ll tell you why in a second.
Just to confuse matters more, the industry is giving Ray choices between daytime products, nighttime products and products focused on just the eye.

For daytime use, despite the declines in hydration, the top-selling products (three of the top five) are, in fact, hydration products. Olay holds the top three spots with Olay Complete (hydration lotion), Total Effects (anti-aging cream) and Regenerist (anti-aging cream). Neutrogena Moisture and Aveeno Positively Radiant round out the top five with their hydrating lotions.

In the evening, anti-aging products make up 92% of the category. The top three represent 28% of the night segment led by Olay Regenerist, Olay Age Defying and L’Oréal’s Revitalift.

From a growth perspective, Neutrogena holds three of the top five spots with their Ageless lines (Intensives and Essentials). L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Deep Set Wrinkle and Garnier Ultra Lift Pro Deep Wrinkle round out the top five with new line extensions built on targeting deep wrinkles.

And for the eye, anti-aging makes up 98% of the category. The top three selling items are serums from Garnier Nutritioniste (Skin Renew) and Olay Regenerist (two from Olay), combining for almost 25% of this segment’s sales. Garnier and Olay have both introduced a roller application.

I don’t believe for a moment that I would be able to reduce Ray’s medicine cabinet of skin care products. In fact, we may have just added a few to his daily regimen. One thing we can do, though, is make the skin care shopping experience easier and more focused for him. Understanding the path to purchasing beauty products is the next great challenge for mass beauty manufacturers.